Event 2 Jessica Irish

 Event 2 Ecology & Art

Jessica Irish's film "This Mortal Plastik" was extremely informative about not only the process of creating plastics themselves but the progress of plastics as a commodity.  Something that we created to be the fourth kingdom of existence could potentially be our eventual downfall. I had heard of microplastics before but I did not realize the extent to which the microplastics had entered every single ecosystem and are in our very bloodstreams.  A wild fact that I learned was that quite soon there will be more plastic in the ocean by mass than sea life itself.  I believe that the creative minds of artists will be pivotal in the creation of techniques and ideas that can be used to clean up the plastics.  An interesting idea that I have had but don't totally know is feasible would be using static electricity to add a charge to the microplastics then use electromagnetism to draw them together.  The issue is that there is so much plastic and waste to deal with that the manpower and  resources required would be astronomical and most people with that level of capital would be unwilling to contribute the necessary means.  One of the most efficient ways to combat the issue would simply not be adding more.  However due to capitalism as well as the lack of restrictions in third world countries I honestly do not believe we will be able to fix this issue given our current technology.  

https://ngs-space1.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/am/uploads/mediaGallery/image/1648200762211.jpg-
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https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2022-03/processed/WhiteBubblesInRedBloodStream_1024.jpg







Image Sources:

IANS. “Scientists Find Microplastics In Human Blood For First Time.” AhmedebadMirror, 23 May 2022, https://ahmedabadmirror.com/scientists-find-microplastics-in-human-blood-for-first-time/81826105.html. Accessed 18 May 2022.

Mcrae, Mike. “It's Official, Microplastics Were Found Circulating in Human Blood For The First Time.” ScienceAlert, 25 Mar. 2022, https://www.sciencealert.com/four-out-of-five-people-tested-were-found-with-plastic-floating-in-their-blood. Accessed 18 May 2022.

 References:

  Karapanagioti, Hrissi K., and Ioannis K. Kalavrouziotis. Microplastics in Water and Wastewater  / Edited by Hrissi K. Karapanagioti and Ioannis K. Kalavrouziotis. Ed. Hrissi K. Karapanagioti and Ioannis K. Kalavrouziotis. London: IWA Publishing, 2019. Print.

  Talvitie, Julia et al. “Solutions to Microplastic Pollution – Removal of Microplastics from Wastewater Effluent with Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies.” Water research (Oxford) 123 (2017): 401–407. Web.

  Cox, Kieran D et al. “Human Consumption of Microplastics.” Environmental science & technology 53.12 (2019): 7068–7074. Web.




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