Experts say research not surprising but water safe when distributed to households

MANILA — Filipino scientists have found the presence of microplastics in the surface water of Laguna de Bay, which they attributed to plastic pollution in various areas facing the lake, a recent study showed.

This is the first time scientists documented evidence of microplastics in the surface water of Laguna de Bay, considered as the country’s largest lake, based on the study led by Hernando Bacosa and Cris Gel Loui Arcadio of the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology.

The research, published in the Environmental Science and Pollution Research journal, showed that the presence of microplastics was “abundant” in the lake’s West Bay due to “more intensive anthropogenic activities.” Areas facing this portion of the lake include cities in Metro Manila.

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Laguna Lake covers areas in the cities of Taguig, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Muntinlupa and provinces of Rizal, and Laguna and sources around 9 percent of water to Metro Manila and portions of Cavite.

Aside from these, the lake has been a steady source of fish livelihood to many communities, with fish production reaching 151,000 metric tons in 2012, based on data from the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

“The results show that there is a higher microplastic density in areas with high relative population density, which necessitates implementing proper plastic waste management measures in the communities operating on the lake and in its vicinity to protect the lake's ecosystem services,” the study read.

“Our results demonstrated that the surface water of Laguna Lake is contaminated with microplastics,” it added.

“Microplastics were ubiquitously detected in all sites with the concentration highest in areas of the lake characterized by intensive human activities such as but not limited to household discharges, effluents from chemical industries, and intensification of economic activities.”

Population and domestic waste generation were correlated, said Arcadio in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

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“Ibig sabihin, kapag mataas ang population, mataas din ang domestic waste na puwedeng ma-generate,” Arcadio said.

“The presence of microplastics is really there. Wala namang microplastic kung walang macroplastic. Basically that is the idea. But then, when I conducted the study and found out it exists (microplastics), it is alarming in a way na these contaminants normally should not be in our waters,” he added.

Arcadio feared that more microplastics could be found in the deeper part of Laguna Lake and its sediments.

“There are studies that these microplastics could sink in the bottom part of the lake,” he said.

Analysis from the study also stated that microplastics found on the surface water were possibly from disposable face masks and traces of “large plastic materials,” with 30 percent or the “most abundant” plastic type assessed were polypropylene plastic products.

Some of the common polypropylene plastics include plastic bags, storage containers, microbeads in personal care products, and some commercially-available face masks.

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“Ito ang problema, wala tayong standard. Microplastic is not part of water quality standards. Hindi siya katulad ng nitrates, phosphates, ng heavy metals kasi nasa standard natin ‘yun… Yung sa microplastics, we cannot say if it is alarming or not but definitely, yung ating finding it says this is higher than other lakes sa Italy, China,” Bacosa said in the same interview.

A total of 100 microplastics were found in 10 sites in Laguna de Bay with a mean density of 14.29 items/m3, based on the study. This is higher than in Chiusi Lake, Italy (3.02 items/m3); Bolsena Lake, Italy (2.51 items/m3); and Taihu Lake, China (0.123 items/m3).

“Kapag mag-increase ang microplastic density in water, that could also clog the filtration system of filtering the water… Ang iba kasing contaminant, nagka-clog lang. Nagdi-disintegrate siya, pero ang microplastic will never disintegrate during the filtration system,” Bacosa said.

NOT SURPRISING

Climate Change Commissioner Albert Dela Cruz said the study’s results were not surprising but he was banking on a whole-of-government approach to address the problem.

Dela Cruz told ABS-CBN News that their “fearless forecast” is that microplastics are not only present in Laguna de Bay but could also be found in many, if not all, bodies of water in urban areas.

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The commissioner, an environmental planner and pollution control specialist, said local governments and agencies must be strict in the issuance of environmental permits to establishments.

“We do have a lot of laws. That is the political level. Ang tanong kung anong dapat gawin, we should have reverse osmosis and distillation na. Fini-filter niya at the same time, ‘yung distillation, hindi lang niya after i-filter, madi-distill pa hindi lang ‘yung microplastic pero pati na ‘yung mikrobyo diyan,” said Dela Cruz.

Bacosa, for his part, said it would be relevant to study in the future whether or not fish catches in Laguna Lake were also contaminated by microplastics.

“Kumakain tayo ng isda, hindi natin alam kung gaano karami ang microplastic sa isda and it is important to know that,” Bacosa said.

“In terms of water, ano ba ang implication nito sa water na kino-consume natin sa Metro Manila?... We are not just talking about microplastics here. [It] can be a carrier of living and non-living entities, it can be a vector of bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, puwede silang kumapit doon,” he added.

Microplastics were also seen to aggravate the problem of blue-green algae, based on studies in other countries, he added.

WATER STILL SAFE

But Engineer Patrick Dizon, a division manager at the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s (MWSS) site operations management, assured the public that the water sourced from the lake is clean, potable, and free from microplastics when distributed to households.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Dizon said 3 treatment plants, which use state of the art membrane filtration, are currently operational in Metro Manila and Rizal while 2 more treatment plants are underway in Muntinlupa and in Rizal.

One treatment plant in Rizal will use a dissolved air flotation system, multi-media and granular activated carbon filters and a Reverse Osmosis system, the MWSS had said in a statement.

“Yung role ng MWSS, since we are drawing water from the Laguna Lake, we wanted to protect it as much as possible na hindi ma-pollute kasi ginagamit natin siya for drinking water,” Dizon said.

“Lahat bago lumabas sa planta, dapat pasado siya sa Philippine national standards for drinking water,” he added.

In an earlier interview, the expert warned that aside from the threat of the blue-green algae, pollution from the informal settlers, and the lake's high turbidity could block water filtration systems. This can also lead to possible water interruption in various parts of Metro Manila and Cavite as the countries face El Niño.

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The cities of Taguig and Muntinlupa were among the areas that pollute the lake the most, he said.

“Yung mga basura doon, industries na kumukuha din o ginagamit ang tubig from Laguna Lake. Yun ang nagiging causes or source ng pollution dito,” he said.

“Pag nagkakaroon ng high turbidity o labo ng tubig dito sa Laguna Lake, talagang napipilitan kami sa hinuhugot na tubig sa Laguna Lake kasi nagbabara siya dito sa ating filters. Kapag kino-continue namin ang paghugot kapag high turbidity at kapag may algae, ito ang nagko-cause ng pagbabara sa mga filters,” he said.

“Ine-ensure namin na dapat matanggal yung impurities dito sa tubig. Kapag tinest mo, kapag lumabas sa planta at tinest mo, dapat pasado siya sa Philippine national standards.”

He also described their filtration as “stringent.” Dizon said their system catches microplastics so the water is free from contamination at the preliminary treatment process.

“Kung may pumasok man na microplastics dito sa ating planta, natatanggal na siya ng preliminary treatment pa lang dahil ang microplastic ay magaan siya so kapag nagkaroon ng bubble dito sa ilalim, magfo-float lang ‘yan and after mag-float niyan, ise-scrape lang yan ng dissolved air flotation,” he said.

The MWSS, the official said, is in constant coordination with localities regarding the pollution in the Laguna Lake to identify problem areas.

Dela Cruz said studies like these should be eye openers to Filipinos.

“Kung ‘yang mga science-based studies na ‘yan ay hindi pa sapat para magising tayong lahat, eh kailan pa? Problema pa lang na ‘yun ang dumarating sa atin,” he said.