We shouldn't be surprised that plastics make their way into the Great Lakes. But, did you know that about 22 million pounds of plastic get into the Great Lakes each year? A study by the University of Toronto found that 90% of Great Lakes water samples over the last 10 years have unsafe microplastic levels. On the September episode of North Coast Chronicles: Tales from the Great Lakes, we share that in a study of microplastics on 37 National Park beaches, microfibers were found at every site and made up 97% of the microplastic debris. But, the highest concentration of microplastics in this national study was found at the Apostle Islands National Seashore in Wisconsin! Andrea Densham, sustainability expert with the Alliance for Great Lakes joins us to explain the sources of these toxic microplastics, the impact on the Great Lakes ecosystem, and ways to address the crisis.

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