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Photo: Researchers Alexis Schultz, left, and Nike McCampbell at Smitty’s Cove in Whittier, Alaska. (Rachel Cassandra / Alaska Public Media)
Studies show microplastics can be found throughout our ecosystem – and plastic pollution disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities.
So scientists at Alaska Pacific University (APU) in Anchorage are studying how these tiny particles of plastic move through Alaska water – and they’re developing the first in-state lab accredited to test water samples for microplastics, as Alaska Public Media’s Rachel Cassandra reports.
Nike McCambell pulls on her diving dry suit and walks down a concrete ramp to the edge of the water at Smitty’s Cove in Whittier, Alaska.
She puts on fins and dives below the surface.
McCambell will travel underwater about 80 yards from shore to collect water samples.
She says the point is to get samples at different depths to study how microplastics are transported through ocean currents.
“We’re going to see where microplastics are moving. We’re going to see if there’s any sort of correlation in certain areas through certain time periods, if the wind and the waves are showing similar patterns and traits.”
The students are part of a new team at APU. Last year, the APU team got a $5 million grant from NASA to study microplastics in Alaska.
Microplastics have already been found in the most remote corners of the state, so APU’s research aims to expand that understanding by looking at how microplastics enter all water sources including oceans and rain.
Kian Muldoon is a graduate student on the research team. He says the ultimate goal of their work is to help reduce the harmful health effects of microplastics.
“We’re not so concerned as necessarily showing that they’re there, but knowing where they came from, and how they move, and hopefully using that research to either inform cleanup efforts or anything to try to mitigate harm.”
Back at the APU lab, Muldoon and his colleagues can use new specialized equipment to help identify various microplastics in the samples.
The team has already collected samples from the summit of Denali, the Eklutna Lake watershed, and Prince William Sound where Smitty’s Cove is.
That’s according to Dr. Dee Barker, a chemist and head of the research team. She says with new instruments funded by the grant, the team can identify particles small enough to likely pass through human tissues. And they can study the chemistry behind the microplastics they find.
“To find out what type of plastic is most likely to be found of a size that would enter into the human body, and then what size would transport through human tissues, and then the chemistry of that particle. How does that interact with the chemistry of a human being?”
She says that understanding is missing from much of the existing microplastics research – and she says testing water sources is the first step in understanding how communities could protect themselves from the tiny plastic particles.
Megan Dicken, a public health and aging associate at the International Assocation for Indigenous Aging, holds a copy of the nonprofit’s Wandering Toolkit. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ)
Native Americans are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia than white or Asian Americans.
And because tribal members are already at risk of being murdered or going missing, it means having culturally sensitive resources for when elders stray from home.
KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more.
Megan Dicken is from the United Houma Nation in Louisiana and with the nonprofit International Association for Indigenous Aging. She recently presented a new toolkit which aims to help when Native elders wander.
“It’s very customizable, and so every community can utilize it in a way that suits them, and we encourage that.”
Dicken says tribal police departments are often the first responders.
“But a lot of times, law enforcement is stretched thin. They don’t have enough officers, or they don’t have enough resources, or they have other crimes happening. So it can aid in community policing.”
Her group says 80% of people with dementia will wander from home multiple times, while 90% may die if they are not found within 24 hours.
“When they pass on, a lot of times, that knowledge disappears, and we certainly don’t want that to die with them prematurely, because they went wandering and were not found in time.”
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