„I checked to see what the EU, US or Canada does – and I also found nothing“

Everyone is exposed to microplastics nowadays. Nevertheless, humanity is not doomed yet, microplastics researcher Dana Zhaxylykova says. Not only consumption choices could have an impact.

Dana Zhaxylykova is a 26-year-old environmental scientist and microplastics researcher who just finished her master´s degree at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig. Her Instagram account (@dankazh) that is dedicated to educate about microplastics has more than 100,000 followers. With luhze-editor Caroline Tennert she talked about myths around microplastics, the public discourse around the topic and the app „Microplastic Free“ that Zhaxylykova co-founded.

luhze: What made you start posting about microplastics on social media? 

Zhaxylykova: It has been my hobby to film and edit videos since I was a child. I made videos for my family and then I made some for my own personal account. Nothing serious – something about outfits and stuff like that. Then I started reading a lot about microplastics. People didn’t know much about it, because the topic itself was new and it’s a bit more difficult to explain. Climate change is also a very difficult topic but there are many people talking about it and there are lots of ressources to learn about it. But about microplastics, at least when I started, there were none – there was only very little information about it. Especially in a more or less digestible way. And I was like: „Okay, what if I try to combine my passion for the environment and microplastic research and my passion for making videos?“ 

How did people respond? 

I started creating these videos last year. I saw a huge outreach from people. They were very interested. You can see that from my account. In just one and a half years, I grew from zero to over 100,000 followers. It’s clear that people are hungry for information about microplastics. 

Being a scientist and an influencer at the same time, do you feel like you face conflicts combining these roles? 

To be honest, I do. Maybe it’s something internal as well but I don’t feel professional when I mention my Instagram account. I usually don’t tell my colleagues in science about the account. But eventually they find out and usually people are okay with it. But I also encountered some feedback that was not really good. For example, when I presented my master´s thesis, my professors found out about my account and I heard rumors. I don´t know if that´s true or not but according to what I´ve heard they wanted to be a bit mean during the question session. And to be honest, the question session should have been 15 to 20 minutes. But mine was 40 minutes.

You mean they meant to challenge you more than usual? 

Yeah, they were asking a lot of questions. In general, it’s a bit conflicting. Because people see influencing as something that is not serious. Something superficial. But I don’t know, it’s the 21st century. Right now everyone uses social media and it’s a great tool to reach people.

Before moving to Leipzig, you’ve already lived in a couple of different countries. Can you describe that journey? 

Originally, I’m from Kazakhstan. I´ve lived there my whole life. I did my bachelor’s in civil and environmental engineering there. After I finished my bachelor’s, I worked there as a research assistant and did research on microplastics. That was the first ever research on microplastics in Kazakhstan and the whole of Central Asia. We published a paper in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. After that, I realized that I wanted to learn more about microplastic. I then applied for a master’s at the Erasmus program. It was in environmental contamination and toxicology. My first semester was in France. Then I spent two semesters in Spain, where I also continued my research on microplastics. And finally, I came here for my final semester and did my master’s thesis in Helmholtz Research Centre. I just finished it in July.

Dana Zhaxylykova. Foto: ct

What are some harmful myths around the topic that you maybe have encountered while educating people about microplastic?

I know one that is very popular. It´s the belief that we ingest a credit card´s worth of microplastics – and this information is not true. The study that did this calculation was in fact a bit flawed. They didn’t use the right parameters for example. So probably there is an overestimation of microplastics. We probably ingest less. But of course, it depends on the lifestyle of the person. Some people might even ingest more. Another: One of the top comments that I get on my videos is like „We’re doomed. There is nothing that we can do to save us.“ Or that there is no point in doing anything. Microplastics are everywhere. Well, that’s true – microplastics are everywhere. But at the same time, we still have time to solve this problem. We learned about the problem before it made some irreversible changes.

How serious ist the problem with microplastics really? 

The problem is huge, and it affects everyone. Even those people who don’t use plastic , they will still be exposed to microplastics. Even people that are in remote areas, because microplastics are spreading everywhere.

Has your growing knowledge on the topic influenced your daily routines? 

Yes, I’m trying to be as sustainable as it’s possible because I feel like it’s very important and when you talk about sustainability and you’re not being sustainable, it will not count as genuine. For example, I don’t shop for clothing anymore, only for secondhand. I also bought a water bottle made of metal, changed food containers from plastic to glass ones.

What can we do specifically? What´s the impact one has as a consumer? 

The basic and pretty easy one is trying to reduce your plastic consumption, especially when it comes to single use. For example, instead of drinking from plastic bottles, have a reusable bottle. Small stuff like this really has an impact. And then it’s trying to push industries and governments for more regulations in terms of microplastics. Because there are almost none. During my first time research on microplastics in Kazakhstan we took some water from a wastewater treatment plant and then had results of the microplastic concentration, – of how much microplastics are discharged with the water into our river. And I’m thinking: „Okay, is it a big number or a small number? Is it okay for the wastewater treatment plant to discharge this amount of microplastics?“ And I’m trying to find different regulations or limits. I find nothing on Kazakhstan’s side. Then I checked to see what the EU or US or Canada does – and I also found nothing.

Have you noticed that the discourse around microplastics varies in different countries? 

I wouldn’t say it differs a lot. I feel like there are no people who would say that microplastics don’t exist. Or like: „Microplastics are good for us, let’s have more.“ When it comes to climate change, there’s a lot of discussion about it. There are people who deny it. But when it comes to microplastics and plastic, people more or less have the same opinion – or they don’t know about the microplastic problem. In Kazakhstan, it’s a problem that is not discussed at all.

You said that microplastic is not a much discussed issue in Kazakhstan. What sparked your interest then?

At first it was just my professor’s idea. He was like: „Do you want to do something related to microplastics? It’s a very hot topic in other countries.“ I wasn’t interested at all to be honest. At that time I thought it’s not such a big problem and it hadn´t been part of my studies until then. I rather wanted to do something related to climate change or renewable energy. Then I decided to give it a try. I started reading papers to get an idea about microplastics and I was shocked. There are so many hidden sorts of microplastics that we don’t know about. Or the lack of regulation itself is a big topic. It was something new for me and I really wanted to study this further.

You´ve co-founded an app. What does it do?

When I started creating videos, that was the way for me to share my knowledge. After some time I realized that it’s a bit difficult with social media: There is no structured way for people to learn. I considered creating a website. But then there was a guy – a software developer – who reached out to me. He had an idea of a scanner – where you can take a picture of different things and you get its microplastic score. And I was like: „Okay, maybe we can discuss it.“, and we started creating. My husband is also part of the project. He is an UI designer. We added different educational lessons in a very simple way so people can get to understand the topic. The scanner is also implemented.

What are your plans for the future?

Right now, I’m stepping out of academia for some time. I will work in industry – for  a company called Microbubbles here in Germany. They are creating a new technology that removes microplastics from water using bubbles that attach to the hydrophobic microplastic. Bubbles usually go to the surface. And then it’s easier to remove them from there on. I’m really excited to start working on that. In the future, I would really like to do something more related to regulations because I feel like that would have the biggest impact. Maybe that will involve creating an organization that tackles microplastic waste and microplastic contamination.

Titelbild: Sébastien Vincon via Pexels

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