BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 14, 2022
Blue tarps are as much a part of the Maine landscape as pine trees and chickadees. They are a common sight on farms and in yards across the state. It turns out those ubiquitous sheets of colored plastic could be contributing to the presence of microplastics in the soil. Microplastics are the most abundant form of solid waste. One of the indications blue plastic tarp microplastics are affecting Maine was discovered during a University of Maine student research study by Rachel White, a PhD student in ecology, which showed that the stomachs of snails and slugs contained blue microplastics. “We really don’t know all the kinds of damage these microplastics can do,” White said.