Tiny plastics, big problems

Something as simple as taking a shower or washing clothes made of polyester or nylon can affect the water where we swim, play and fish. That’s why Kapp, a member of the faculty at Central Wyoming College in Jackson, is involving her students in her microplastics research.

From picking up garbage left at Trail Creek Pond in Victor, Idaho, to collecting water samples from the Snake River that might contain microplastics, Kapp’s students have learned an important lesson meant to change how they purchase bath and body products and how they dispose of trash.

Some of them have even had the opportunity to be assistants for Kapp’s extensive research project, a chance few undergraduate students get.

“When you have early experiences in scientific research there are far more opportunities you have in the future,” Central Wyoming College Director Susan Thulin said. “Not only is the experience Kirsten offers an immense benefit to the students while they’re at community college, it will also benefit them in the future.”

Kapp is still in the midst of the project she started last October, when she and research assistant Greg Van Gilder accumulated samples of water from the Snake River.

“We took 19 samples between the Moose-Wilson bridge and Swan Valley last October,” Kapp said.

The process they went through to gather the samples they now are looking at with Raman spectrometry — a technique that uses a high-tech microscope to shoot a laser beam of light to identify types of plastics — included several steps.

On Oct. 16 Kapp and Van Gilder used their extensive collecting method when they launched a drift boat at the South Park Boat Ramp to collect five samples.

The sun was beating down as the boat floated from the launch ramp to Astoria Hot Springs. As beads of sweat dripped down Kapp’s and Van Gilder’s faces, the two were careful to not let anything contaminate the samples they gathered.

After anchoring the boat they attached a 100-micrometer net to a wooden beam that went off the side of the boat.

“The board is there so the water coming off the boat doesn’t contaminate the sample, and so the net is right in the current,” Kapp said.

The science educator and her student anchored the boat several times that day. Sometimes they were unable to properly anchor and had to wade in to get a sample that was filtered through the net, rinsed with distilled water and placed in a clean jar.

“As long as the current is not too strong I can wade out and get a current to the side,” Kapp said. “Sometimes knowing how to collect samples can be challenging, especially because not many people have looked at rivers of this type.”

Most microplastics research is gathered from ocean water tests. In fact, few studies of freshwater have occurred in the U.S.

Researchers just started looking for microplastics in freshwater systems. A 2015 scientific journal article, “Microplastics in Freshwater Systems: A Review of the Emerging Threats, Identification of Knowledge Gaps and Prioritisation of Research Needs,” said early investigations suggest that the presence of microplastics in freshwater is equal to what is observed in marine systems.

According to the article, “Microplastics have been found in North America in the Los Angeles Basin, the North Shore Channel of Chicago, the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.”

While bigger rivers in Europe have been studied, none are similar to the Snake River, which is why Kapp has fashioned a unique testing process.

Kapp said she is always seeking new ways to research important and often popular topics, which also is why she involved her students in learning about microplastics.

Kapp’s microplastics education initiative began when she started looking at the presence of microplastics in the Atlantic Ocean. At the time she was involved in a project off the coast of Maine coordinated by the Rozalia Project, which aims to protect and clean the ocean.

“When I was invited to participate in marine debris studies as a guest scientist for the Rozalia Project I jumped at the opportunity,” Kapp said. “It was from this that my involvement studying microplastics in local waters grew.”

Kapp brought several Atlantic herring back to Jackson to give her research assistants and volunteer students the chance to learn about dissection and to look for microplastics in the fishes’ digestive systems.

“Herring are filter feeders,” Kapp said. “They open their mouths and are not specifically targeting prey. They are very important forage fish for whales and other species in the Gulf of Maine.”

Kapp has taught those students that microplastics harm fish.

“You will see some pretty shocking examples of fish ingesting plastic,” Kapp said. “The most obvious would be it blocks their intestinal tract and they starve to death.”

“You can think of it as a plastic acting as a sponge or sticky surface with a chemical,” Kapp said. “It serves as a vector for an organism that may not absorb those tissues into their system as quickly as they would when they eat plastic.”

Several scientists are worried about bioaccumulation through microplastics, which is why Kapp brought back Atlantic herring to see how often the fish are ingesting fibers or beads.

Kapp, Van Gilder and a volunteer spent Oct. 30, 2015, searching for plastics in the herrings’ systems.

They measured each fish before removing its gastrointestinal tract, which was then placed in a petri dish.

“We cut open their guts and looked at them through a microscope,” Kapp said.

Kapp and her assistants carefully examined each dish under a microscope, making sure to remove any small pieces that could possibly be microplastic.

Kapp plans to publish her Atlantic herring findings in a scientific article.

Cailen McDevitt, a former student at the Central Wyoming College, has been involved in the Atlantic herring and freshwater studies.

“It was such an amazing experience to work with her,” McDevitt said. “She made me rethink my options of what I wanted to do.”

McDevitt, who is in Washington state working toward a master’s degree in nursing, said she learned a lot from Kapp and is conscientious about the products she uses and the clothes she wears.

“It’s not just the environment that is being affected,” McDevitt said. “There is a human component to be considered. We are eating these creatures that could potentially be accumulating toxins. It’s not only an environmental issue, but it is something that applies to health.”

McDevitt is glad she can apply Kapp’s research to her desired profession. But she thinks anyone can see significance of her former teacher’s studies, which is why she is glad Kapp teaches about microplastics in the classroom in addition to working with student research assistants and volunteers.

Kapp’s general biology and environmental science classes have been to places such as Trail Creek Pond to collect and count trash that could potentially break down to pieces of plastic that are 5 millimeters or smaller.

The students who went to Trail Creek Pond were asked to show their findings and to come up with solutions for reducing the amount of trash at the fishing spot.

“It was their task to figure out how to best display the information so they presented drafts of it,” Kapp said. “They created a fact wheel for kids because it was a family fishing area.”

Kapp also has brought samples of sand from Lake Champlain, which is located in Vermont, New York and Canada.

“The entire class sorted through those sand samples looking for microplastics,” Kapp said. “The sand samples were really intriguing. The students were really interested in it.”

Though Kapp is on sabbatical to finish her microplastics research and will not be teaching the curriculum in the classroom, she still thinks it’s important to involve students in her research. The preliminary findings suggest microplastics are present in the Snake River.

In the spring Kapp and Van Gilder found a piece of blue plastic that was identified as polycarbonate. The two used Raman spectrometry from Snowy Range Instruments in Laramie to decipher the type of plastic.

Kapp said she will continue to take advantage of the stereoscope that uses Raman spectrometry as she looks at more water samples. She already suspects that a red bead she found is microplastic.

In July, Kapp will break from studying her samples to collect more with student Ellen Yeatman. She plans to gather samples from the Snake River to the Columbia River.

Kapp’s research started at the ocean, which is where she will finish it. She has graphed five locations in the Columbia River for her to take samples from in order to end at the Pacific Ocean.

More than anything Kapp hopes her students and the Jackson community will be more aware of the products they use.

Thulin sees it the same way.

“I feel that all this hard work and research will benefit our community,” Thulin said. “The more people know about this, the more they will start asking questions and looking at our environment critically.”