Study finds Lake Michigan, Chicago River, other Illinois waterways polluted with microplastics

From Lake Michigan to the Chicago River to streams and creeks across the state, there are tiny bits of plastic in Illinois waterways, according to a new report from an environmental advocacy group.

Starting last fall, Environment Illinois Research and Education Center harnessed the power of citizen scientists for a survey.

"We wanted to look at the freshwater all across Illinois," associate director Emily Kowalski said.

Volunteers collected jars of water from 31 Illinois waterways and tested them for four types of microplastic pollution – fibers, primarily from clothing and textiles; fragments, primarily from harder plastic products or plastic pellets; film, primarily from bags and other packaging; and beads, primarily from facial scrubs and other cosmetics.

"We can't see those microplastics, but unfortunately, based on the results of our survey, there are likely microplastics in this water," Kowalksi said as she held a jar of water from the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Kowalski said their survey found at least one type of microplastic at every site they tested in all of the waterways they checked throughout the state:

• 100% of sites sampled had microfibers;
• 77% of sites sampled had microfragments;
• 52% of sites sampled had microfilms;
• And microbeads were not found at any site.

"That tells me that there is truly plastic everywhere," she said.

Map of water sampling sites

Researchers found plastic pellets in the North Branch of the Chicago River, along with plastic fibers from clothes and plastic film from bags or packaging.

"Our data is actually replicable by anyone who's interested in understanding more about the waterways in their back yard," Kowalski said.

Academic and government research on microplastics is ongoing, looking at the potential harm to humans, but environmental advocates are already worried.

"Wildlife can be harmed, or even suffocate and die when ingesting plastic," Kowalski said.

They've tested the waters, and don't like what they've found.

"We need to rethink our relationship with plastic, because we need healthy waters, healthy wildlife, and a healthy environment for the future," Kowalski said.

You can read the full report from Environment Illinois Research and Education Center in the PDF below: