Colorado could soon join the fight against a hidden source of plastic pollution, reported KMGH.
Sen. Lisa Cutter and Rep. Lesley Smith have introduced Senate Bill 26-016, which would ban the release of tiny manufacturing plastics, known as nurdles, into Colorado's rivers and streams. The measure would also block the state from issuing permits that allow plastic to enter waterways.
These small pellets, roughly the size of a lentil, serve as raw material for plastic products. They often spill into the environment when being made, packaged, or moved on roads and railways.
The legislation seeks to safeguard both wildlife and public health. Because nurdles look similar to the eggs of fish, aquatic animals frequently mistake them for food. Once ingested, the material builds up in their systems and could affect anyone who later catches and consumes that fish.
Your drinking water may benefit as well. Smith, who worked for three decades as a water scientist at the University of Colorado, explained that these materials splinter into minuscule particles that can reach municipal water systems. Scientists have detected microplastics in human tissue.
If you want to help keep plastics out of your local rivers, backing legislation like this is one practical step. California remains the sole state with a law addressing pellet contamination, so Colorado's proposal could inspire other states to act.
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"These pellets are small, round bits of plastic, sort of lentil-sized," said Rachel Jaeger, an Environment Colorado campaign associate, per KMGH. "They can resemble fish eggs. … If fish were to eat these bits of plastic and then plastic bioaccumulates in their bodies and then one of our sportsmen here in Colorado fishes a trout out of a river and eats it for dinner, it's very possible that they could be exposed to the plastic and also to any chemicals that the plastic carries."
"It just adds an extra layer of caution so that organizations know that when they're using or transporting these really tiny little plastic pellets … that they have to take extra caution," said Cutter.
"Plastics have been found in 100% of the waterways in which they're tested. … It's really important that we do our part in protecting those waterways."
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