microplastics
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Chemistry
Microplastics found in multiple human organ tissues correlate with pathologies
Graphical summary. Credit: TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2024.118114 A study led by China’s Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University conducted a metadata survey on the presence of microplastics in humans. They report a worrying relationship between micro- and nanoplastic (MNP) concentrations in injured tissues and associations with multiple health conditions. Plastic usage has skyrocketed from 1.5 million tons…
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Nanotechnology
Removing microplastics and nanoplastics from water in a low-cost way
Overview of the purification process: Water contaminated by microplastics (PET). Addition of magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with polydopamine and lipase. A magnet is used to remove nanoparticles contained in microplastics. Credit: Enrique Eisi Thoma Researchers at Brazil’s University of São Paulo (USP) have developed a new nanotechnology-based solution to remove micro- and nanoplastics from water. Their research is published in the…
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Environment
Tracking microplastics: Helps researchers discover how microplastics move to improve stormwater management
Nasrin Alamdari, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, poses next to the central pond stormwater culvert at Innovation Park in Tallahassee. Professor Alamdari studies the transport of microplastics from urban environments to water resources via stormwater runoff. Credit: Scott Holstein/FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Microplastic pollution is a serious environmental problem that harms animals and…
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Science
Microplastics may enter the brain through breathing – new research
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Tiny plastic particles are everywhere: in the soil where our food is grown, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. They get there from the plastic we throw away and end up in landfills, rivers and oceans. There, plastic waste slowly breaks down, releasing tiny particles called microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics into the…
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Environment
Scientists review 7,000 studies on microplastics, and their startling conclusions are a warning to humanity
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It’s been 20 years since the journal Science published a paper showing the accumulation of tiny plastic fragments and fibres in the environment, particles that the journal dubbed “microplastics”. This paper opened up an entirely new field of research, and since then, over 7,000 studies have been published demonstrating the pervasiveness of microplastics in the environment,…
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Environment
A possible explanation for the ‘missing plastic problem’: New detection technique finds microplastics in coral skeletons
Various microplastics collected from corals off the coast of Koh Sichang in the Gulf of Thailand. As can be seen from their color, shape and size, the corals have ingested a variety of microplastics, many of which are thinner than a human hair. Photo courtesy of Kyushu University/Isobe Laboratory Researchers from Japan and Thailand investigating microplastics in corals have discovered…
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