Fish from Regina's Wascana Creek contain 'lots of microplastics': Researcher

Researchers studying the contents of fish stomachs in Regina's Wascana Creek are finding the fish are ingesting plenty ofplastic.

Britt Hall, an environmental scientist at the University of Regina, is leading the research on microplastics in the bellies of fish found in the creek.

Microplastics are tiny particles of plasticsoften found in bodies of water near large urban populations, and include microbeads found in products like toothpaste and body wash.

CBC News talked to Hall in February, and since then she and her student, Samatha Campbell,havebeen examining the contents of fish stomachs from the creek.

"We were finding all different types and colours of microplastics. We were finding anything from small fibers to the microbeads that you see in toothpastes," said Campbell.

• RELATED:Microplastics at 'alarming levels' in Canadian lakes and rivers

So far, the results are about two to 20 microplastics per stomach. And Campbell says that number is a conservative estimate.

"We're actually finding a lot of clear fibers are coming from just the air in the lab and they're landing in our samples. We decided to remove everything that could possibly be contamination," Campbell said.

One of the concerns about these microplasticsis that they could be vectors for contaminants like mercury, according to Hall.

"The contaminants will stick to the plastics and then when the fish starts to digest them, they can't digest the plastics but they can digest all the gunk on the plastics," Hall said.

Hall said the possible health implications of microplastics still needs to be examined, and is still a fairly new field. It also isn't something the team will be looking into as part of the current study.

Looking downstream

For now, Hall is setting her sights downstream.

The researchersreceiveda grant to study plastics in sediment in Pasqua Lake, which runs from Wascana Creek.

"We can look down and say, 'You know, are they there?' And if they are there, when did they really start to show up?"

Hall said the new research should help find some answers about how much of an impact people are having on the environment.