May 10 2022

 May 10 2022 written: 11:00

I worked on my paper some more today, and now it is finished until I get edits to make for the final draft. This is what I wrote: Following plastics as they make their way through the ocean and break down chemically incorporating into the environment is one way to see how much of an impact plastics have on ecosystem health. In gyres and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, there are significant challenges faced in the removal of plastic and microplastics because it has made its way into every crevice of earth. The ocean is all interconnected and the plastics pile up in some areas like in the Eastern Pacific ocean between Hawaii and California. From there many animals consume plastic via first and secondary succession. A sea turtle might eat a plastic bag, many small fish eating phytoplankton confuse microplastic particles with plankton, from there if a larger fish eats the small fish they could receive chemicals especially if they biomagnify. After an animal consumes plastic, it may pass through their digestive system, or it may leach chemicals into their body as it's being digested. These chemicals can be carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, basically they can give organisms cancer and effect reproduction. These are among the many side effects the chemicals in plastic have. Plastics can also be found in the food humans eat. This is an issue many people do not know about, that plastics containing easily transferable chemicals can pass into the food one eats or drinks. The use of these chemicals and just plastics can be harmful to the ecosystem and humankind. Plastics are chemicals that can be dangerous and lifesaving, when used in an appropriate manner. I also…

Total hours today: 6h

Total hours:  12h 30 mins