You may have heard about the garbage patches that exist in the oceans – where specific ocean and atmospheric conditions ensnare debris, small pieces of plastic, which accumulate into large amounts of trash hundreds of kilometres from coastlines.

Recent research has just discovered that the Great Lakes, the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem, are also being affected by plastic pollution.

Collecting water samples from Lakes Superior, Erie and Huron researchers found plastic concentrations ranging from 600 to 650,000 plastic pieces per square kilometer.

While these plastic particles aren’t always visible, they’re there, absorbing toxic chemicals from the water, entering the food chain and impacting wildlife.

For more information on issues impacting Canada’s water resources and actions we can take to help curb our impacts, please visit Rivers To Oceans.