McMaster researcher warns plastic pollution in Great Lakes poses serious risks

(Photo Credit: Alliance for the Great Lakes)

A Hamilton researcher says pollution from plastics is as much of a problem in the Great Lakes as it is in the world’s oceans.

Gail Krantzberg, an engineering and public policy professor at McMaster University, says microplastics are increasingly being detected in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Krantzberg is an international expert on the health of the Great Lakes and says the small bits of plastic pose a serious risk to human health and the overall ecosystem of the lakes.

She says small organisms often mistake the tiny particles for plankton, eat them and spread the toxins throughout the food chain.

Her findings were recently published in the new Journal of Waste Resources and Recycling.

Krantzberg says it’s impossible to recapture all the plastics in the lakes, but the elimination of unnecessary items like plastic cutlery, bags and other disposable waste will make a difference.