The answer depends on how high risk your location is. The students sampled two Crown Land beaches in high-risk pollution areas and two in low-risk areas. In high-risk areas, the results ranged from 10 to 21.5 microplastics per gram. To put that in context, this is higher than levels measured on Lake Ontario and Lake Superior beaches, which is a surprising comparison for our isolated headwater lake.
In low-risk areas, the concentration was less than 1 microplastic per gram, much lower than at the high-risk beaches and closer to values from non-urban areas in the Great Lakes. This suggests that beach exposure to microplastics is not uniform around the lake, and factors such as location, wind and wave direction, and nearby sources are influential.
Beaches can collect debris that blows or washes up above the high-water line. Over time, this debris degrades into microplastics, which settle into the beach sand. If your grandkids are making sandcastles, microplastics could stick to their hands. Is it a problem if they swallow any? Scientists do not know yet.
