Invisibles
The Plastic Inside Us
An Investigative Report By: Chris Tyree, Journalist, and Dan Morrison, Journalist
ONE WORLD, ONE STORY
ORB AUDIO
DAGUPAN, PHILIPPINES. A YOUNG BOY CLIMBS OVER PLASTIC DEBRIS IN A 50-YEAR-OLD DUMP OVERLOOKING THE OCEAN IN THIS SEASIDE TOWN. MOST OF THE BIODEGRADABLE ITEMS HAVE LONG SINCE ROTTED, LEAVING A MOUNTAIN OF MULTICOLORED PLASTICS THAT FLOAT OUT TO SEA ON THE COASTAL WINDS.
THE STUDY ON WHICH THIS STORY WAS BASED HAS NOW BEEN PUBLISHED IN PLOS ONE, A PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL, WHICH MEANS THAT A GROUP OF OUTSIDE EXPERTS HAS FOUND ITS METHODS AND CONCLUSIONS TO BE SOUND. THE PLOS ONE ARTICLE BROADENS ITS DESCRIPTION OF THE FIBERS FOUND IN GLOBAL TAP WATER SAMPLES TO INCLUDE PLASTIC AND OTHER MAN-MADE SUBSTANCES. IN HER MAY 16, 2017, LAB REPORT TO ORB MEDIA, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR MARY KOSUTH HAD IDENTIFIED THE FIBERS AS “PLASTIC,” A SYNTHETIC POLYMER. HOWEVER, IN PLOS ONE, KOSUTH AND CO-AUTHORS SHERRI MASON AND ELIZABETH WATTENBERG USE THE TERM “ANTHROPOGENIC,” OR MAN-MADE, TO DESCRIBE THESE FIBERS. THE AUTHORS SAY THEY OPTED FOR THIS DISTINCTION IN PLOS ONE BECAUSE THE FIBERS KOSUTH FOUND IN GLOBAL TAP WATER SAMPLES WERE NOT CONFIRMED AS PLASTIC WITH AN INFRARED SPECTROSCOPE. SINCE THE ROSE BENGAL STAIN USED IN THE STUDY BINDS ONLY TO NATURAL SUBSTANCES, THEY WRITE, “IT IS LOGICAL TO ASSUME THAT THE PARTICLES FOUND ARE AT LEAST SYNTHETIC AND MOST LIKELY COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS MICROPLASTICS, BUT AS SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSES SUCH AS FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FTIR) ARE REQUIRED IN ORDER TO CONFIRM THIS ASSUMPTION, WE USE THE MORE GENERAL TERM THROUGHOUT THIS REPORT.”