Greenpeace raises alarm over microplastics ingested by Hong Kong wildlife September 09, 2024
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- Sep 8, 2024
- 2 min read
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Greenpeace raises alarm over microplastics ingested by Hong Kong wildlife
Xinqi SU
Microplastic particles appeared in the vast majority of waste samples collected from Hong Kong wildlife in a Greenpeace study, the group said on Monday, suggesting that animals still ingest plastics even if they are not feeding in urban areas.
The report was released ahead of November's talks in South Korea, where governments will seek to strike a potentially groundbreaking deal to tackle the problem of plastic pollution.
The scale of the issue is vast: microplastics have been found in the depths of the oceans, on the peaks of the highest mountains, in the atmosphere, and even in breast milk.
Although it is best known as a city of skyscrapers, Hong Kong is also home to huge undeveloped rural areas, where animals such as buffalo, wild boar, wild cattle, monkeys, and porcupines - the species included in Greenpeace's research - live.
The group, together with researchers from local and Taiwanese universities, collected 100 samples of feces from seven sites in 2022 and found that 85% of them contained microplastics, Greenpeace said in a press release.
“The findings of this study are important, proving that wild animals can ingest microplastics in the countryside, where they are far from urban areas and human activities,” said researcher Christelle Not from the University of Hong Kong.
“As an increasing number of studies find microplastics in various natural environments, in wildlife and even in human bodies, plastic pollution has become a global problem that needs to be urgently addressed,” she added, calling for a strong global treaty on plastics to help meet reduction targets.
The most common types of microplastics detected in the Greenpeace study were polyethylene and polypropylene, commonly found in single-use packaging, takeaway containers, and disposable utensils.
During a recent AFP visit to the Pui O River on Hong Kong's Lantau Island with researchers, buffalo could be seen bathing in the stream a short distance from the plastic waste strewn along the banks.
“If animals ingest microplastics from the environment, they could invade our ecological system layer by layer and affect human health,” Leanne Tam, a Greenpeace activist, told AFP.
Little is known about the specific impacts of microplastic particles on human health and the environment.
Hong Kong, a city of 7.5 million inhabitants, sends more than 2,300 tons of plastic waste to landfills every day, according to the government's 2022 waste report.
In April, the city imposed a ban on polystyrene utensils in restaurants, both for customers who dine there and for those who take them home.
But the total ban - which covers more plastic materials used by companies - “still doesn't have a clear timeline”, said Greenpeace.
su-dhc/smw
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