Microplastics: tiny crustaceans can fragment them into even smaller nanoplastics

The discovery that such a common animal can rapidly produce vast numbers of nanoplastics is particularly worrying.

Alicia Mateos Cárdenas, Postdoctoral Researcher, University College Cork • conversation
July 31, 2020 • ~6 min
Tags: microplastics marine-biology freshwater-biology microplastic crustaceans

How your car sheds microplastics into the ocean thousands of miles away

New research reveals how roads channel microplastics from car tires and brake pads to remote ocean habitats.

Claire Gwinnett, Professor in Forensic and Environmental Science, Staffordshire University • conversation
July 14, 2020 • ~6 min
Tags: cars microplastics plastic-pollution roads ocean-plastic

Microscopic animals are busy distributing microplastics throughout the world's soil

Our research on a remote Antarctic island found microplastics in the intestines of tiny animals.

Tancredi Caruso, Associate Professor, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin • conversation
June 25, 2020 • ~6 min
Tags: antarctica microplastics plastic-pollution microplastic

Seafloor currents sweep microplastics into deep-sea hotspots of ocean life

Here's how microplastics from your clothes end up in the deep sea.

Michael Clare, Principal Researcher in Marine Geoscience, National Oceanography Centre • conversation
April 30, 2020 • ~5 min
Tags: pollution microplastics marine-ecosystems deep-sea ocean-currents marine-plastic-litter seafloor

Balloon releases have deadly consequences – we're helping citizen scientists map them

Releasing balloons at weddings and other celebrations is festive, until they break into pieces and become plastic pollution. A citizen science project is spotlighting the problem.

Shannon Brines, Applied Geographer, Lecturer and Manager, Environmental Spatial Analysis Laboratory, University of Michigan • conversation
March 18, 2020 • ~8 min

Tags:  data  citizen-science  wildlife  gps  plastic  mapping  litter  microplastics  great-lakes  plastic-pollution

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