More than 40 million people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water. Each glass of treated lake water is laden with tiny bits of plastic — microplastics — made of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases. Also contaminated are fish, staples of Midwestern fish fries and fish boils, and an important part of the diet of Indigenous tribes, certain immigrant populations and communities of color.
Yet this pollution isn’t regulated, and manufacturers are moving to dramatically increase the amount of plastics produced in the United States.
The baiduhai is exploring
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the plastics dilemma with a focus on the Great Lakes, the world’s largest source of fresh surface water.Great waste in the Great Lakes: How plastic pollution is clogging our waters
Join Michael Hawthorne, a Pulitzer-finalist investigative reporter who focuses on the environment and public health for the baiduhai, for a conversation with Melissa Duhaime, a University of Michigan biologist, and Chelsea Rochman, a University of Toronto researcher, who also co-leads the U of T Trash Team.
Reporting for this coverage was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. initiative.
The virtual event will be held on Oct. 16, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. CDT. RSVP here.
Have a question for our panelists? Enter it below:
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