“Plastic is everywhere. We see, use, and integrate it into our lives every day,” said Helen Wong. Initially inspired by the lessons she learned from an environmental science studies class by Dr. Anna Hippmann, Wong became “inspired to do [her] own research, especially on microplastics which we don’t typically see at first glance, and learn more about their impacts on the world around us.”
Microplastics are defined as particles of plastic that can permeate through soil, water, and air, and can be caused by the breakdown of plastics in the environment, like cigarette butts, cosmetics, and polyester clothing. Over 460 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, while less than 9% are properly recycled. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), microplastics can be absorbed through the skin, and have been found in placentas.
Wong, a fourth-year environmental science student at SFU, is conducting a sample study of microplastics along beaches in the Lower Mainland, where she aims to “understand the relationships and correlations between microplastics on beaches, oceans, and coastlines.” The Peak reached out to Wong for more information on her studies.
Wong’s surveys of these beaches require hours of collecting samples of sand, which “involves digging, sorting, and filtering” it to search for microplastics. These samples are then further sifted with a sieve to collect pieces of microplastics buried in the sand. “Any pieces [ . . . ] larger than one millimetre could potentially be a microplastic,” Wong explained. “I squeeze, examine, and collect the pieces in glass vials to bring back to the laboratory to analyse afterwards.”
These samples Wong collects aren’t necessarily microplastic, she said. “In the laboratory, I examine the pieces using a special microscope that will tell me their properties,” such as the size and colour of the material. These samples are then sent to a separate laboratory for a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The FTIR machine uses infrared light to scan for organic or inorganic material, like plastics. “I’ll be able to determine if the pieces are plastic using FTIR and be able to quantify them from there.”
Wong has plans for furthering her studies of microplastics, noting that she “only collected data over the span of four months from September to December.” She said these months may not be “representative of an entire year’s worth of data,” since the currents and tides of the shoreline change over a year. Wong is aiming to conduct a “literature review on research done during other times of the year, as well as winter, to get the bigger picture and understand how they relate or influence one another.”
The samples of sand Wong collected are from Jericho Beach, Kitsilano Beach, Sunset Beach, Hadden Park, and Barnet Marine Park in 2023. She will use this data for her honour’s thesis. With plans to extend beyond her thesis project, Wong wants to “determine which beaches might be good candidates for a potential beach survey program.” After her program ends, she plans to continue her research in this field of environmental sciences.
