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Our clothes are .

Unlike cotton, which comes from a plant, polyester and the well-known spandex or lycra—which make clothes more stretchy—do not grow in nature. These are artificial fabrics made from plastic that are used in the production of synthetic textiles.

When we wash them, tiny plastic fibers come off our clothes and pass into the pipes. Once they arrive at the wastewater treatment plant, they thwart the elimination process due to their microscopic size (hence their name, microplastics) and end up in our aquatic ecosystems.

We recently conducted an assessment of the microplastics present in the surface water of the St. Lawrence River and its estuary.

Elsewhere in the world, we have found similar results. In the Caspian Sea, for example, textile fibers were also .

We want to paint a portrait of this intriguing situation.

Spotlight on microplastics

Microplastics ranging in size from the thickness of a human hair to a toothpick have been detected everywhere on the planet, including in , , , , , and and .

Globally, it's estimated that (the size of which is greater than the thickness of the aforementioned toothpick).

Microplastics are recognized as being the products of the degradation of macroplastics. Think of .

The result? A substantial proportion of today's macroplastics will degrade and transform into tomorrow's microplastics.

The adverse effects of exposure to microplastics on the health of living organisms have been widely documented.

The range of documented health effects of microplastics is likely just the tip of the iceberg, as global research efforts continue to study various species.

Microplastics can, among other things, accumulate in fish that are caught and raised in aquaculture. They eventually end up on our dinner plates.

A demonstrated the presence of microplastics, including synthetic textile fibers, in the flesh of commercial fish intended for human consumption. The amount of microplastics was also greater in carnivorous fish that feed on other fish.

, could therefore reduce the amount of microplastics in our meals.

The St. Lawrence River and its estuary

By traveling along the river, microplastic contamination can eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean.

Why is this situation worrisome? It helps predict future loads of microplastics in marine waters, and because the river is home to several million animals, invertebrates and plants.

In our study, we evaluated the portion of microplastics that float in the

Our results are unequivocal: microplastics are present at all sampling sites. The most abundant categories of microplastics were textile fibers, followed by fragments (from, for example, ) and spheres (from, among others, .

These data provide valuable information on the distribution and behavior of microplastics in order to better preserve and manage our freshwater resources.

Fighting the problem

, a small Québec company, has designed a net that attaches behind a canoe or kayak to collect microplastics that float on the surface.

In collaboration with —a Quebec non-profit organization that aims to encourage the involvement of local communities in the protection, rehabilitation and development of the St. Lawrence—

The Kunming-Montréal Biodiversity Agreement signed in 2022—also known as COP15—once again recognized

What if we reduced our consumption of plastic? The question "do we really need it" has never been more relevant than today, both for the wallet and for the environment.

For example, municipal household compost management should avoid the use of at all costs. In fact, even bags . It's better to put food scraps directly into our compost bin and wash it regularly.

Proper disposal of plastics at source is essential, as is investing in wastewater treatment technologies that can remove microplastics.

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