WC140 JanFeb 2025 - Magazine - Page 10
ASK A LAWYER
Plastics
Under Pressure
From microbeads to microplastics,
addressing contamination.
BY AARON ATCHESON AND AIDAN ATCHESON
HERE’S A GREAT FUTURE in plastics.
Think about it.” From the promise of being
the industry of the future in the Dustin Hoffman classic The Graduate, to being a highly
researched issue of concern globally, plastics
pervades every part of our society.
One of the effects of plastic production and use is
microplastics contamination. Microplastics are tiny plastic
particles under five millimeters in diameter, either purposefully designed as microplastics or originating from the
degradation of larger items. Microplastics have been found
nearly everywhere, from the depths of the Mariana Trench
to the top of Mount Everest.
Microplastics have become a larger topic of study since
being found in the organs and blood vessels of humans.
One study discovered a correlation between microplastics
in plaques in arteries and 4x increased risk of heart attack
and stroke. Animal studies have shown that microplastics
can spread to all major organs and even into the brain.
After ingestion, alterations to microplastics composition are
suspected to contribute to the formation of tumors and to
interfere with biological processes including disruption of
the immune and endocrine systems and negatively impacting reproduction. Pathways for microplastics to enter our
bodies include skin absorption, inhalation and ingestion.
A primary area of concern relates to ingestion of liquids,
including water. Based on the results of testing in humans,
it is reasonably expected that microplastics are having detrimental effects on fish and animal life as well.
“T
Aidan Atcheson is a Co-op student at the
University of Waterloo studying Biology with a minor in
Management Studies, with an interest in the biological
effects of environmental toxins.
Aaron Atcheson is a Partner with Miller Thomson LLP in
London, Ont., and is the leader of the firm’s Projects Group.
Aaron practices real estate, environmental, and business law
with an emphasis on energy and infrastructure projects.
10
WATER C AN ADA • JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2025
Given how serious these concerns are, what are we doing to reduce the effects? As reported in the previous issue
of Water Canada, UN negotiations on an effective global
plastics treaty are facing an uphill climb. Much of the
focus is on reducing the production of plastics, especially
single use plastics, but without concerted efforts to avoid
plastics entering exposure pathways, it will be decades
before lessened effects would be seen in humans, animals
and fish.
Have national governments made significant regulatory changes to minimize the effects of plastics pollution?
In Canada, while significant studies have been done and
a “Zero Plastic Waste Agenda” has been published, little
concrete action has occurred. A notable exception was the
2017 publishing of the Microbeads in Toiletries Regulation,
which involved prohibition of manufacture or importation
into Canada of toiletry products containing microbeads,
and the listing of microbeads to Schedule I of CEPA.
While the EU has no comprehensive legislation covering microplastics, their stated goal is to lower microplastic
releases by 30 per cent by 2030, through reducing plastic pollution, restricting the use of intentionally added
microplastics to products and reducing unintentional
microplastics releases. A 2023 initiative focused on the
phasing out of plastic glitter in various products. But this is
a limited effort, with very generous transition periods – you
will be able to purchase cosmetics containing plastic glitter
in the EU until late 2035.
What about sub-national governments? There has been
some movement, and California is a good example. With
a state-wide microbead ban in place since 2015, California
has had its Statewide Microplastics Strategy in place since
2022. But government action is still rare, and regulation at
all levels appears to be in its infancy.
Unlike other contaminants, where the focus is on safe
levels of the substance, how do you develop concentration
limits for something that is part of or degrades from items
that are entwined with the lives of most of the human population? What are safe levels of microplastics in its various
exposure pathways, and how do we move towards them?
While this massive problem must be attacked from
many directions, one of the most important is to develop
standards providing guidance on safe amounts of microplastics in drinking water, to ensure our municipally-supplied
drinking water is not becoming a significant pathway to
exposure. Without numerical values for drinking water
safety, how can we evaluate success? And how can we force
legislative change without understanding the magnitude of
the health issue?
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
