Microplastics in our BC Waters

As a person who is out on the water, a couple hundred days a year or more, so far I am seeing the odd floating item of trash out in Indian Arm which is where I primarily goof around. Of course, I will alter course in a moment to go and grab anything I see bobbing around, but what about the things I can't see? 

I've been growing more and more curious about microplastics in our oceans around the planet. So concerned, I have become that now I'm looking to test the waters I frolic in to see just how far the epidemic has travelled. Luckily, there are others who have got there first. Here is a collection of some of the articles I've found that pertain to microplastics in our very own home town of Vancouver, BC.

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• 'Alarmingly high' amounts of plastic microbeads found in B.C. shellfish farming areas
• Scientists find microplastics in B.C. water samples, launch campaign
• Swimming in it: Microplastics abound in Sunset Beach water
• Canada’s top oyster growing region widely contaminated by microplastics
• Microplastics Ocean Wise® is researching the journey of plastic – from its source to the sea.

I have been looking to find a testing facility who will test for microplastics in water samples however, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to do so. Many testing facilities will test for toxins in samples, but aren't yet testing for microplastics. I find this a disturbing trend; that we create a problem that we are so blind to fixing that we aren't even testing for it more aggressively!

​If you have any tips on who I can call for a microplastics testing resource, please drop me a line! When I find one and get my results back, I'll update this post.