EnvironmentWednesday, November 11
Microplastics turned up at every Chesapeake watershed site a new report tested
The Daily Rockville team
If you've followed Maryland's push to cut plastic, there's new evidence. Environment America announced Tuesday that citizen scientists found microplastics at all 15 sites sampled across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, five of them in Maryland waterways. The group tested 90 samples from Maryland, Washington, D.C. and neighboring states.
15watershed sites tested, all with microplastics
Five were in Maryland waterways, including the Patapsco, Choptank, Nanticoke and Susquehanna rivers.
Sources: Maryland Matters, WBAL NewsRadio 1090/FM 101.5
Several local environmental groups say the results are strong evidence that lawmakers should move forward with legislation this year to curb plastic pollution, including a "bottle bill" return program that would reimburse Marylanders who drop off plastic drink containers. The bottle bill has been introduced in each of the past four years but has yet to win approval from the full House or Senate. Advocates also point to results from past bans.
- Baltimore's trash wheels: 768,000 pounds of debris collected in 2025
- Polystyrene collected by trash wheels: down 83%
- Plastic bags collected after local bag bans: down 55%
Every site had microfibers, and 93% had microfragments
Source: Maryland Matters
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Microfibers | 100% |
| Microfragments | 93% |
| Microfilm | 47% |
| Microbeads | 27% |
Sources: Maryland Matters, WBAL NewsRadio 1090/FM 101.5