Surfrider Europe Investigates Plastic Debris on Atlantic Beaches

Biofilters wash up on Atlantic beaches

October 12, 2010 | Words By: Howard

The beaches of the Atlantic are sprinkled with small plastic wheels: this new phenomenon sparked the suspicions of Surfrider Europe, who launched an investigation that is still underway. A brief interview with François Verdet, manager of Surfrider’s Chapter 64 and lead investigator into the mysterious bio-filters, provides an update on the situation. Elodie Melenec asks the questions.

SFE: How long has the Surfrider Foundation been aware of this form of pollution?

François Verdet: Living on the Basque Coast since July in 2007, I recall seeing these little pieces of plastic on the beaches since my arrival. But in November of 2009, the numbers spiked and the Surfrider Chapter of the Basque Coast took the decision to launch an investigation. Initially, it was challenging because nobody was interested in this type of pollution. We heard rumours that they were packing material for large cargo aboard freighters or even wastes from patrolling submarines! The answer arrived from Corsica. The local Surfrider Chapter, responding to an invitation from the city of Ajaccio for a presentation on a new waste water treatment plant, recognized the little plastic bio-filters on the cover of some printed documents. We could finally put a name and a purpose to the mystery objects that were populating Atlantic beaches in their thousands.

SFE: Can you explain what the bio-filters are and how they wound up on the beaches?

F.V.: These bio-filters, or bio-carriers (médias filtrants or biomédias in French and biosoportes in Spanish) are actually substrate for micro-organisms used in waste water treatment plants and also in certain industries. It’s very simple: generally speaking, wastes are screened through progressively finer mesh to retain suspended particles. They are then treated chemically or with UV light and the final stage is a biological filtration to eliminate micro-residues. It’s in this final stage that bacteria are at work to break down the wastes. Researchers noticed that this process was more effective if they had some kind of support to attach to. This is why, starting in around 2000, more and more waste water treatment plants as well as industrial plants, were filling their biological ponds with millions the plastic wheels for the bacteria to attach to. Unfortunately, some of the ponds containing the bio-filters overflowed and the filters washed into nearby streams, and then into the ocean. For example, we found instances where this occurred in the Seine in Paris, the Oria River in the Basque Country, and the Minho River in Portugal. In each instance, hundreds of thousands, even millions of the bio-filters, were released into the environment.

Credit: Antenne 64 Surfrider

SFE: What specific demands and what goals are you targeting with this project?

F.V.: Our objective is obviously to get this new form of pollution to stop. It’s so paradoxical to pollute the environment while trying to clean it! Today, a half-dozen people at Surfrider are working on this via several angles:
1. Fieldwork to gather more information and eyewitness accounts for confirmed cases of bio-filter pollution to lodge formal complaints against the emitters.
2. Exposure and media campaigns to raise awareness and improve alert response and also inform responsible authorities and lobby for improved standards for waste water treatment plants. As well, work with the manufacturers and the consultants who recommend the product to clients with the goal to encourage them to improve the process. Overall, we are putting a lot of energy into this bio-filter project because it’s representative of the core principles of Surfrider: the campaign against water pollution. If the concept of providing bacteria with substrate to improve efficiency (we’re talking about a 30% gain in efficiency), the idea isn’t new. For some time now, some wastewater treatment plants have used volcanic rocks as bacterial substrate. It’s of little consequence to see this material escaping into streams and oceans. Unfortunately, for economic and production reasons, plastic has been favoured over natural rock – but the plastic isn’t biodegradable and will incrementally pollute the aquatic environment.

SFE: So how it going today? How is the project going?

F.V.: For the media, information and lobbying efforts, we have contacted all the relevant French departments and the elected representatives responsible for coastal management, like the Minister of the Environment, nature-based and aquatic sports organizations. The campaign is part of our Brussels program and we are working on awareness raising in Spain. The 45 Surfrider Chapters in Europe are on alert to react swiftly in case of a new pollution event. Case in point, the Chapter in Picarde has recently encountered this situation. In any case, we are pursuing our investigation into the situation of greatest concern; the coastal Atlantic from Cantabrie (Spain) to the Vendée (France). We have received more than 50 reports on this situation. Unfortunately, several clues lead us to believe that the releases are from one or two entities located on a waterway in northern Spain near the French border. Assuming we’re confident that we’ve identified the responsible parties and the dates of the events, we’re now trying to get information on the quantity of the spill. This could unfortunately reach the tens of millions of individual pieces of plastic!

Translation: Dan McDonald

Rise Above Plastics: Minimizing Disposables

Many Blue Water Task Force volunteers have expressed concerns over the amount of plastic disposables used and discarded while collecting and analyzing water samples. Single use plastics are used to maintain a sterile environment and to avoid contamination of water samples. As our chapter water testing programs have become more established, accrue more experience and resources, and form valuable partnerships with other laboratories, many have chosen to cut back on the number of plastic disposables by sterilizing glassware in an autoclave instead. Although glassware is initially more expensive than plastic supplies, it is well worth the investment if your chapter has an established testing program, enough funds and space to set-up an autoclave (or one you can borrow). Read more about reducing your water testing program's plastic footprint and making the transition to re-usable glassware below.

1) Autoclave

An autoclave is used to sterilize equipment and supplies by subjecting them to high pressure steam at 121 °C or more. Autoclaves are widely used in microbiology, tattooing, body piercing, medicine and dentistry. Autoclaves can range anywhere from the size of a large refrigerator to a big cooking pot.

There are two types of small autoclaves available (about the size of a microwave oven). Steam autoclaves work like a pressure cooker, they are inexpensive (approximately $500) but they can be a bit dangerous and time intensive to run. They shouldn’t by used by children because of the risk of getting burned by the steam, and someone needs to constantly monitor the autoclave for the 1-2 hours it takes to run to make sure the heat levels stay in the appropriate temperature range. The other option is a dry autoclave, which you are able to set up and leave unattended. When you need the glassware next it will be sterile and dry. These are more expensive; roughly $2,500 - $3,000 for a small model that can accommodate the glassware used by our labs. Dry autoclaves, however, are much safer to use and are therefore recommended for BWTF labs.

With a little bit of detective work, however, your chapter might be able to find a good dry autoclave that you can borrow without having to buy one yourselves. Contact any university, state or federal laboratories that might be in your area to see if they have any old models they could donate to your program. These labs often upgrade their equipment and are left with older models stockpiled. Sometimes high school science teachers have autoclaves packed away in their closets collecting dust and don't even know they are there. So check around with science teacher friends, environmental and microbiology labs, even tattoo parlors, you never know where you might find one. Local labs may also be willing to autoclave your glassware if you set up a regular schedule with them.

2) Glassware

You can purchase glass collection and mixing vessels, pipettes and test tubes (if using the multiple test-tube method) to replace their plastic disposable counterparts. There are autoclavable plastic vessels available that can be reused, but our labs have found that glassware stands up better over time.

Some products that we recommend are 125 ml graduated sample bottles, which can be used to both collect samples and mix with reagant and glass pipettes.

3) Accessories

You will need some tin foil and autoclave indicator tape to verify that your glass ware is sterile coming out of the autoclave. You should also store your sterile equipment by sealing the autoclave tape along tin foil wrapped glassware or plastic. This seal will keep fingers, dust, and other possible contaminants away from sterile products. Indicator tape varies with the type of autoclave you are using, some different options are available here.

You may also want to purchase an autoclave bin to hold your glass pipettes in the autoclave during sterilization.

Please contact Mara Dias at mdias@surfrider.org with any questions about autoclaves and glassware or to purchase any of the above items. Many of these items can be purchased by Surfrider for less than the prices posted on the internet.

Santa Monica Teach & Test Mentorship Program

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

Teach and Test Mentorship Program

Pictured above: Member of the Teach and Teach and Test program Jacob Hasset takes water quality samples with students from Lincoln Middle School and SMASH by the Santa Monica Pier

Yesterday members of the Teach and Test Program at Santa Monica High School taught students from Lincoln Middle School and SMASH all about water quality testing and the importance of keeping our oceans clean. We took the students down to the beach where they each took a sample of the water and filled out a data sheet. Then they each were given the opportunity to process their sample in the laboratory and put their finished sample in the incubator. We tested their knowledge of what they learned with a game of Teach and Test Jeopardy! It was wonderful experience inspiring the youth to make a positive change in the world.


Pictured above: Members of the Teach and Test program Kou Collins and Daniel Franco teach a student from Lincoln Middle School how to process their sample in the lab.

More pictures from this field trip are posted here and unfortunately include many shots of plastic and other trash strewn across the beach. Hopefully while the Santa Monica students were helping to motivate a global movement of care for the coast, everyone was also inspired to Rise Above Plastics.