Major
Environmental Science
Anticipated Graduation Year
2026
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Pollution of aquatic ecosystems by trash, including plastic, is a critical environmental and public health issue. The input and abundance of plastic to the environment is increasing and is worsened by climate change. Plastic litter poses a direct threat to both human and wildlife health through ingestion and entanglement. In addition, plastic particles leach toxic chemicals as they break down in the environment, creating low-level and persistent pollutant exposures. Lakes and rivers in urban areas are critical sites of litter input because they are closely connected to litter sources. Lakes and rivers are key sources of litter to oceans, and are far lower in volume. Thus, urban lakes and rivers are critical sites for litter prevention and removal. The objective of this study was to determine the types of litter that enter a Lake Michigan marina in Chicago. Marine debris was collected over eight weeks from Montrose Harbor in a Marina Skimmer. This device is largely submerged underwater, and uses a pump to draw in water and floating trash into its 15 m3 container. Trash was removed from the device approximately weekly. In the lab, the trash was dried, sorted, categorized, and weighed. Results indicated that the most prevalent type of debris collected was plastic. By category, the main types of litter were fragments larger than 3 mm and food related trash. Future research on this topic can be used to inform public education campaigns and policies relating to the most prevalent litter types at the site.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Tim Hoellein
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Trash Trap: Categorizing Plastic Pollution in Chicago's Montrose Harbor
Pollution of aquatic ecosystems by trash, including plastic, is a critical environmental and public health issue. The input and abundance of plastic to the environment is increasing and is worsened by climate change. Plastic litter poses a direct threat to both human and wildlife health through ingestion and entanglement. In addition, plastic particles leach toxic chemicals as they break down in the environment, creating low-level and persistent pollutant exposures. Lakes and rivers in urban areas are critical sites of litter input because they are closely connected to litter sources. Lakes and rivers are key sources of litter to oceans, and are far lower in volume. Thus, urban lakes and rivers are critical sites for litter prevention and removal. The objective of this study was to determine the types of litter that enter a Lake Michigan marina in Chicago. Marine debris was collected over eight weeks from Montrose Harbor in a Marina Skimmer. This device is largely submerged underwater, and uses a pump to draw in water and floating trash into its 15 m3 container. Trash was removed from the device approximately weekly. In the lab, the trash was dried, sorted, categorized, and weighed. Results indicated that the most prevalent type of debris collected was plastic. By category, the main types of litter were fragments larger than 3 mm and food related trash. Future research on this topic can be used to inform public education campaigns and policies relating to the most prevalent litter types at the site.