Most people are familiar with the garbage patches of our world’s oceans, but Lake Erie is experiencing its own problem with microplastics.
“There has been a dramatic increase in microplastics within the Great Lakes in the last 10 years, but we still have no regular monitoring for them,” said Sherri “Sam” Mason, the director of the freshwater research program at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. She noted that the Great Lakes Commission passed a resolution to begin microplastic monitoring last month, but it is unclear when that monitoring will begin.
The amount of microplastic particles per kilometer doubled at a sample site off of the coast of Cleveland between 2014 and 2024. This particular sample site saw the smallest increase in Lake Erie. The highest sample site at the eastern end of the lake saw a 54-fold increase.
What are microplastics?
Microplastics – or tiny plastic particles that measure between one micron and 5 millimeters, around the width of a human hair to the size of a pencil eraser– have been infiltrating every corner of the planet.
“I like to think of it like skin. Our skin is always shedding tiny little bits. And that’s the same with plastic products,” said Melissa Valliant, communications director at Beyond Plastics, an organization working to end plastic pollution through local, state and national policy.
What do we know about how microplastics are impacting our health?
As these plastic particles spread across the planet, they are also infiltrating our bodies. Microplastics have been found in our blood, livers, kidneys and brains. A 2025 study in Nature Medicine found that the concentration of microplastics in our brains has increased by 50% from 2016 to 2024. The study also found that the brain tissue of deceased patients with dementia had higher concentrations of microplastics than those without.
While our brains tend to have higher concentrations of microplastics than other organs, the concerns about their impacts on the body are far-reaching. A 2024 study found that patients with microplastics in their arteries had a higher risk of heart attacks and stroke. The study of how microplastics are impacting human health is relatively new, so scientists are just beginning to understand the effects they will have on the body. Many studies have focused on the quantity of microplastics in the human body, like the two noted above. While both studies show a correlation between higher microsplastic concentrations to negative health effects like heart attack and dementia, it is too early to determine whether microplastics are the cause.
What do we know about microplastics in Lake Erie?
Lake Erie provides drinking water to more than 11 million people in the United States and Canada.
While water treatment plants can filter out most microplastics, nanoplastics – or plastic particles smaller than one micron – are able to pass through the filters. Still, it is important to note that tap water has far fewer microplastics than bottled water, which can contain more than 200,000 plastic particles.
Monikered the walleye capital of the world, Lake Erie boasts a $1 billion sports fishing industry that also provides an avenue for human consumption of plastic particles. Walleye and perch both bioaccumulate – or gradually accumulate – microplastics and nanoplastics in their tissues and organs.
What can be done?
Scientists are still working to understand the overall impacts of microplastics on human health and the environment, but it is clear the abundance of plastic particles in our bodies and the environment is only increasing. “Plastics come from us,” Mason said. If we want to reduce the microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes, it has to start with reducing plastic consumption.
“People should not underestimate the power of their own voice,” Valliant said. “They can urge their lawmakers and local officials to pass policies that reduce the amount of plastic produced and used. They can even work to create plastic free environments in their communities, schools, churches, and work places.”
