A raw sample taken from open water in Lake Ontario during the suimmer of 2013 by a citizen scientist froma sail boat. Raw samples are sieved and oxidized to remove organic material. What is left behind are the plastics including films, pellets, beads, fragments, foams, lines and fibers. Sherri Mason, Associate Professor of Chemistry at SUNY Fredonia, studies micro plastic pollution across the Great Lakes. Micro plastics are introduced to the lakes through consumer products and poor waste management practices. Mason collects samples on the open waters of the lakes. Photo: Brendan Bannon, Fredonia, NY 12/3/2013