Collaborate Disseminate
Microplastics are a growing environmental problem, but a new study could help cut out a decent chunk of them. The authors showed that silk could be a biodegradable replacement for microbeads and plastic particles that are often added to cosmetics, pain… Continue reading MIT’s silk capsules aim to take a bite out of microplastic pollution
Scientists in the Netherlands studying the spread of plastic waste have turned their eye to meat and dairy products, and discovered high rates of contamination in farm animals. The findings shed new light on the way microplastics move through the food … Continue reading Microplastics found in the meat, milk and blood of farm animals
There is a lot for us still to learn about the dangers microplastics pose to the environment and the health of living organisms, but one thing is clear, their presence is widespread and only becoming more-so. Scientists have come up with a novel cleanu… Continue reading Light-activated fish-shaped robot soaks up microplastics from the water
The ongoing discovery of microplastics in remote, seemingly pristine corners of the world continues to add important detail to a troubling picture of widespread pollution, and the latest finding takes the threat into new terrain. In freshly fallen snow… Continue reading First microplastics discovered in freshly fallen Antarctic snow
Because they feed by filtering seawater, mussels are particularly vulnerable to pollutants present within that water. According to new research, it now looks like waterborne microplastics could keep the molluscs from growing to their regular size.Conti… Continue reading Ingestion of microplastics could hamper mussel growth
The evidence is starting to build around the ability of tiny fragments of plastic to make their way into all corners of the human body, with these particles recently discovered in living lungs and the bloodstream for the first time. What this means for… Continue reading Fruit fly experiments shed new light on dangers of plastic ingestion
The sludge that is created through sewage treatment processes is rich in nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen, making it an excellent source of fertilizer for agriculture. But not all that it contains is good for the environment, with a new study de… Continue reading Fertilizer turning Europe’s farms into massive reservoirs of microplastics
The way plastic moves through the environment and endangers living organisms is of great concern to scientists, and a first-of-a-kind study has unearthed disconcerting new information on both these fronts. The authors have demonstrated that the type of… Continue reading Microplastics found to spread deadly land-based pathogens far out to sea
Scientists are continuing to uncover the true extent of our plastic pollution problem, and increasingly we are seeing an emphasis placed on its potential effects on the human body. The latest development in this area comes from scientists in the Nether… Continue reading Plastic particles found in the human bloodstream for the first time
If you’ve ever eaten okra, then you’ll know that the stuff can be pretty … gooey. According to new research, that quality could allow a compound from the plant to be used in a less toxic method of removing microplastics from drinking water.Continue Rea… Continue reading To remove microplastics from drinking water … just add okra?