Plastic debris is everywhere and has grabbed the attention of environmental policymakers, regulators and scholars. According to Ifenna Ilechukwu, Lecturer of Environmental Chemistry from Madonna University, “Most studies on microplastics have been conducted outside Africa. There is little or no data on microplastics occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined surface sediments from four beaches in Lagos for microplastics. This was the first attempt to investigate microplastic levels in the Nigerian coastal environment.
The plastic breaks up into smaller particles and is called microplastics and in some cases can only be seen under a microscope. There are two types of microplastics: primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are manufactured to be 5mm or less in size. Examples include microbeads used in cosmetics and household products and resin pellets used in abrasive blasting. Secondary microplastics are formed from the breakdown of larger plastic materials due to photochemical, mechanical and biological processes in the environment.
Microplastics in rivers and oceans come from littering, poor waste management, wastewater treatment plants, stormwater overflow, industrial effluents and even organic solids obtained from sewage treatment processes. Microplastics pick up and transport heavy metals and organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which can be toxic. Ilechkwu notes that the small pieces of plastic have the potential to cause cancer and they can lead to changes in the genetic makeup of organisms. The small pieces of plastic also release plastic additives into the marine environment and damage creatures that live in the sea. They block their digestive tracts, changing their feeding patterns, decreasing their immune response and altering reproductive activities.
“We found microplastics in all sediment samples collected from the beaches. The high number of fragments suggests the breakdown of larger plastic items from littering and poor waste management as the most significant source of microplastics in the beaches,” said Ilechkwu. About 127 countries have implemented policies to regulate plastic production and usage and Ilechkwu says Nigeria should not be an exception. He says that the country needs to adopt a series of policies to manage plastics said Ilechukwu. He stresses the notion that the Nigerian government should encourage citizens and organizations to embrace the “new plastics economy” where plastic never becomes waste. He also added that individuals can also take action by reducing their plastic footprint.
