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A mallard duck among plastic in polluted water in Cardiff Bay on Sept. 22, 2018 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. Matthew Horwood / Getty Images
The gruesome images of whales and deer dying after mistaking plastic for food has helped put into perspective just how severe the plastic waste crisis is. Now, a new study finds that it is not just land and sea animals eating our plastic trash. It turns out that birds are eating hundreds of bits of plastic every day through the food they eat.
<p>The scientists from Cardiff University, the University of Exeter and the Greenpeace Research Laboratories found that birds along Britain's rivers are eating hundreds of fragments of microplastics daily because the worms and insects they feast on have also swallowed the plastics, making this the first study to show how plastic pollution makes its way up the food chain, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52762120" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported. The study was published in the journal <em>Global Change Biology</em>.</p><p>Previous research has noted that half of the insects in the rivers of south Wales contain microplastic fragments.</p>
<p>"The fact that so many river insects are contaminated makes it inevitable that fish, birds and other predators will pick up these polluted prey — but this is the first time that this type of transfer through food webs has been shown clearly in free-living river animals," said Joseph D'Souza, one of the study's researchers, to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52762120" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The Cardiff University researchers analyzed at plastic pollutants found in a bird known as a dipper, which wades or dives into rivers in search of underwater insects. They looked at droppings and regurgitated pellets from the birds and found microplastic fragments in roughly half of 166 samples taken from adults and nestlings at 14 of 15 sites studied.</p><p>"These iconic birds, the dippers, are ingesting hundreds of pieces of plastic every day," said Steve Ormerod, a professor at Cardiff University's Water Research Institute to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52762120" target="_blank">BBC</a>. "They're also feeding this material to their chicks."</p><p>"In almost 40 years of researching rivers and dippers, I never imagined that one day our work would reveal these spectacular birds to be at risk from the ingestion of plastics — a measure of how this pollution problem has crept upon us," said Ormerod, as <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/british-birds-rivers-insects-microplastics-dippers-2861787" target="_blank">iNews</a> in the UK reported.<br></p>
<p>Similarly, another <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32388295/" target="_blank">study</a> published in the journal <em>Environmental Pollution</em> recently found that birds of prey in Florida swallow tiny bits of plastic debris at a rate of hundreds a day, particularly microplastic fragments made of polyester, polypropylene and nylon, as <a href="https://www.sustainability-times.com/environmental-protection/birds-of-prey-swallow-plenty-of-plastic-research-finds/" target="_blank">Sustainability Times</a> reported.</p><p>In that study, the researchers examined dozens of birds of prey, including hawks, ospreys and owls retrieved from the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Florida. From the 63 birds examined, representing eight different species, all were found to have microplastics in their GI tract, according to the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32388295/" target="_blank">study</a>.</p><p>"Birds of prey are top predators in the ecosystem and by changing the population or health status of the top predator, it completely alters all of the animals, organisms and habitats below them on the food web," said Julia Carlin, the study's lead author, in a University of Central Florida <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/news/ucf-study-finds-microplastics-in-floridas-birds-of-prey-for-1st-time/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
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A biologist looks at microplastics found in sea species at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research near Athens, Greece on Nov. 26, 2019. LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP via Getty Images
New research suggests there may be far more microplastics in the ocean than initially estimated.
<p>Microplastics, which breakdown into miniscule pieces of plastic are notoriously tricky to catch. Their small size allows them to get buried in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">ocean</a> sediment and to escape through nets.</p><p>Now, a team of researchers, led by scientists at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in England, used a finer net to get a more accurate picture of the amount of plastic in the ocean. Their research suggests the seas may be holding as many as 125 trillion microplastic particles, according to the study published in the journal <em><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749120310253#!" target="_blank">Environmental Pollution</a></em>, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/microplastics-ocean-vastly-underestimated-125-trillion-particles-floating-around-1505404" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p>
<p>Microplastics are usually defined as tiny pieces of plastic that measure less than five millimeters across. However, despite the abundance of microplastics in the ocean, scientists have actually had a difficult time quantifying and classifying them. Usually, researchers gather samples with nets with a mesh size of 333 micrometers, or 0.333 millimeters, but these do not account for smaller pieces of plastic debris, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/microplastics-ocean-vastly-underestimated-125-trillion-particles-floating-around-1505404" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>The Plymouth Marine Laboratory scientists, along with researchers from the University of Exeter, used nets with a mesh size of 100 micrometers, or 0.1 millimeters, to get a more accurate picture of the microplastics swirling around coastal waters, according to a University of Exeter <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-05-underestimating-microplastics-marine-environment.html" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>"It is quite well known what impact larger pieces of plastic have on marine animals, like turtles eating plastic bags mistaking them for jellyfish, but we wanted to know if microplastics are a problem to smaller marine animals like mussels or zooplankton," said Pennie Lindeque, lead author of the study from Plymouth Marine Laboratory, to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/microplastics-ocean-vastly-underestimated-125-trillion-particles-floating-around-1505404" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>.</p><p>"However, first we needed an accurate picture of how many small microplastics there are in the sea, and what sort of plastic they are. We are interested in really quite small microplastics—around 100 micrometers in size, similar to the width of a human hair—and suspected that the standard sampling methods using a net with pores about 333 micrometers in size, wouldn't give an accurate picture."</p>
<p>The researchers compared the efficacy of a 100 micrometer net to what's collected by a 333 micrometer net and a 500 micrometer net. They found that their net collected 2.5 times as much microplastics as the 333 micrometer mesh net. It collected 10 times more microplastic than a 500 micrometer net, according to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749120310253" target="_blank">study</a>.</p><p>The scientists then extrapolated that data to determine that there are roughly 3,700 pieces of microplastic in one cubic meter. That means that previous global estimates of 5 to 50 trillion particles of microplastics are severely low. The true number, according to the data in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749120310253" target="_blank">study</a>, is somewhere between 12.5 and 125 trillion particles.</p>
<p>"There is often a mismatch between the number and type of microplastics used in experimental studies and those found in the natural environment," said Rachel Coppock, Marine Ecologist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and a co-author on the study, in a <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-05-underestimating-microplastics-marine-environment.html" target="_blank">statement</a>. "This study confirms that microplastic concentration increases with decreasing size and also provides a framework for determining microplastic concentrations in exposure studies, particularly with animals such as zooplankton that eat micron-sized food."</p><p>The researchers focused on coastal water since that is where microplastics are likely to have the greatest impact on marine life. They sampled the water on both sides of the Atlantic, choosing a spot off the coast of Maine and another in the English Channel, according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/microplastics-ocean-vastly-underestimated-125-trillion-particles-floating-around-1505404" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>.</p><p>"I was surprised at the extent that we had been underestimating the microplastic abundance in the marine environment; I was also surprised how consistent the results were on both sides of the North Atlantic, the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and the southwest coast of the UK," Lindeque told <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/microplastics-ocean-vastly-underestimated-125-trillion-particles-floating-around-1505404" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>.</p>
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The beach of Mimiza in France where researchers measured microplastics on the sea breeze. NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP via Getty Images
Around eight million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans every year, but researchers still don't know where it all ends up.
<p>Last month, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/microplastics-in-ocean-2645891531.html" target="_self">researchers discovered</a> surprisingly high concentrations of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics" target="_self">microplastics</a> on the seafloor. And now, a paper published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0232746&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+plosone%2FPLoSONE+%28PLOS+ONE+-+New+Articles%29" target="_blank">PLOS ONE Tuesday</a> finds the ocean is spitting some of them back in our faces in the form of the sea breeze.</p><p>"We keep putting millions of tonnes of plastic into the ocean every year," study co-leader and University of Strathclyde Ph.D. candidate Steve Allen told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/12/microplastics-discovered-blowing-ashore-in-sea-breezes" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "This research shows that it is not going to stay there forever. The ocean is giving it back to us."</p>
<p>The study is the first to show microplastics being released into the atmosphere by the ocean itself. The researchers found up to 19 microplastic pieces per cubic meter of air along the Bay of Biscay in France, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/sea-breeze-microplastic/" target="_blank">Wired reported</a>. They also demonstrated in a lab how the popping of bubbles could fling microplastics into the air.</p><p>Microplastics are just the latest addition to the messy bursting of ocean bubbles, the researchers explained.</p><p>"That bubble actually acts as like a sponge for tiny particles like sea salt, viruses, bacteria, and—potentially—plastics, as it comes up through the water column," University of Strathclyde microplastic researcher and co-study leader Deonie Allen told Wired. "So the outside of that bubble is now sort of coated in particles."</p><p>When the bubble pops, those particles shoot into the air.</p>
<p>All this means you may have to reassess your idea of a sea breeze. The researchers estimated the ocean spray ejects 136,000 tons of microplastics every year.</p><p>"Sea breeze has traditionally been considered 'clean air' but this study shows surprising amounts of microplastic particles being carried by it," Steve Allen told The Guardian. "It appears that some plastic particles could be leaving the sea and entering the atmosphere along with sea salt, bacteria, viruses and algae."</p>
<p>The research challenges a wide consensus about what happens to plastics once they reach the ocean.</p><p>"Current plastic pollutant research has generally assumed that once plastics enter the ocean they are there to stay, retained permanently within the ocean currents, biota or sediment until eventual deposition on the sea floor or become washed up onto the beach," the researchers wrote.</p><p>But this hypothesis doesn't explain the "missing" plastic, Deonie Allen told The Guardian. She said the amount of plastic on the seafloor was actually less than would be expected given all the plastic that enters the oceans.</p><p>If plastic is moving from the ocean to the air, this could have implications for the climate, Wired explained.</p>
<p>Particulate matter from the sea can "seed" clouds, or gather enough moisture to form a fluffy white cloud. If microplastics can do this also, that could lead to whiter clouds that reflect more of the sun's heat.</p><p>"So that'll have a positive effect for us for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a>," Steve Allen told Wired.</p><p>But there's a catch.</p><p>"It'll gather the moisture that's in the air, and not produce rain," he said. "That rain can move somewhere else. So we would get rain somewhere it doesn't belong, and we don't get rain where we need it."</p>
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On March 2, 2019, the Schiavonea beach in Calabria, Italy is littered with microplastics lifted from the seabed following a storm in the Ionian sea. Alfonso Di Vincenzo / KONTROLAB / LightRocket / Getty Images
Scientists have discovered the highest concentration of microplastics ever recorded on the seafloor—1.9 million pieces in one square meter (approximately 11 square feet) of the Mediterranean.
<p>But the finding, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/29/science.aba5899" target="_blank">published in Science Thursday</a>, suggests a much broader problem as deep-sea currents carry <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastics</a> to microplastic "hotspots" that may also be deep-sea ecosystems rich in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a>. For study coauthor professor Elda Miramontes of the University of Bremen, Germany, the results were a call to action.</p><p>"We're all making an effort to improve our safety and we are all staying at home and changing our lives - changing our work life, or even stopping work," she told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52489126" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, referring to the global response to the new coronavirus. "We're doing all this so that people are not affected by this sickness. We have to think in the same way when we protect our <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a>."</p>
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<p>Of the more than ten million tons of plastic that enter the world's oceans every year, less than one percent of it stays on the surface. Researchers at the University of Bremen, IFREMER in France, the universities of Manchester and Durham and the National Oceanography Centre in the UK set out to discover what happens to the remaining 99 percent, a <a href="https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/scientists-find-highest-ever-level-of-microplastics-on-seafloor/" target="_blank">University of Manchester press release explained</a>.<br></p><p>They determined that it doesn't settle on the bottom evenly, but is instead pushed together with other sediments by deep-sea currents.</p><p>"Almost everybody has heard of the infamous ocean 'garbage patches' of floating plastic, but we were shocked at the high concentrations of microplastics we found in the deep seafloor," lead study author Dr. Ian Kane of the University of Manchester said in the press release. "We discovered that microplastics are not uniformly distributed across the study area; instead they are distributed by powerful seafloor currents which concentrate them in certain areas."</p>
<p>Because these currents also distribute oxygen and nutrients, the microplastics may be concentrating in important deep-sea ecosystems.</p><p>Since this is the first study to uncover the connection between these currents and microplastic concentration, it can drive research into other seafloor hotspots and their impact on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a>. Other studies have shown that toxic chemicals from plastics can block the digestive systems of insects and marine animals, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/30/toxic-microplastic-hotspots-are-accumulating-on-the-ocean-floor-in-record-levels.html" target="_blank">CNBC pointed out</a>. They can also harm their development and reproductive systems. Microplastics have been found in 114 freshwater and ocean species to date.</p><p>The research took place in the Tyrrhenian basin between Italy, Corsica and Sardinia, but there is nothing unique to that area that could not occur in other ocean regions with strong deep-ocean currents, BBC News explained.</p>
<p>The microplastic fibers on the seafloor mostly come from textiles and clothing, the University of Manchester said. They end up there because wastewater treatment plants do not filter them effectively.</p><p>Roland Geyer, a professor of industrial ecology at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara, was not involved with the current research, but is part of the broader effort to understand how plastics enter the oceans.</p><p>"We still have a very poor understanding of how much total plastic has accumulated in the oceans. There seems to be one emerging scientific consensus, which is that most of that plastic is <em>not</em> floating on the ocean surface," he told BBC News. "Many scientists now think that most of the plastic is likely to be on the ocean floor, but the water column and the beaches are also likely to contain major quantities. We really should all be completely focused on stopping plastic from entering the oceans in the first place."</p>
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Icebergs and sea ice in the waters off the Australian Antarctic Division on Jan.17, 2008. Fairfax Media via Getty Images
For the first time, microscopic plastic pollution has been found in Antarctic sea ice samples collected more than a decade ago, suggesting that microplastic concentrations in Southern Sea ice may be higher than previously believed.
<p>A total of 96 microplastic particles from 14 different types of polymer were discovered in an ice core sample collected from Casey Station located in East <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica">Antarctica</a> in 2009. As ice freezes in the region, scientists believe that small pieces of plastic may become trapped in ice, which acts as a reservoir for pollution until it is released again by ice melt.</p>
<p>"The remoteness of the Southern Ocean has not been enough to protect it from plastic pollution, which is now pervasive across the world's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a>," <a href="https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/news/news-items/microplastic-pollution-recorded-for-first-time-in-antarctic-sea-ice" target="_blank">said</a> lead study author Anna Kelly who published her findings in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111130" target="_blank"><em>Marine Pollution Bulletin</em></a>.</em></p><p>Plastic particles measuring less than 5 millimeters have become common in remote marine habitats, from nearly every corner of the world to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plastics-deep-sea-fish-2536726086.html" target="_self">bellies of the world's most remote organisms</a>. Since researchers began tracing microplastics six years ago, they have found plastic pollution in Antarctic <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308738818_Microplastics_in_the_Southern_Ocean" target="_blank">surface waters</a> and sediments as well as in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> sea ice. Though these regions are remote, concentrations of microplastics have been found to rival those found in more urban settings.</p>
<p>"Forming from seawater, around 80 percent of Antarctic sea ice melts and reforms each year, providing seasonal opportunities for microplastics on the sea surface to become trapped in the ice," said Kelly, who worked with a team of scientists from the <a href="file:///C:/Users/admin/Desktop/Madison%20Dap,%20LLC/Ecowatch/imas.utas.edu.au" target="_blank">Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies</a> and the <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/" target="_blank">Australian Antarctic Division</a>. Researchers wore a Tyvek suit both when collecting the ice core and when processing it, and a cotton lab coat was worn 11 years later to prevent potential cross-contamination.</p><p>An average of nearly 12 particles of microplastic were found in every examined liter of coastal land-fast sea ice, which is sea ice "fastened" to the coastline, according to the <a href="http://psc.apl.washington.edu/nonwp_projects/landfast_ice/about.php" target="_blank">Polar Science Center</a>. This number is slightly lower than what previous studies in polar regions have detected, but the overall size of each was larger, which indicate that the pollution came from local sources as it had "less time to break down into smaller fibers than if transported long distances on ocean currents."</p><p>"Local sources could include clothing and equipment used by tourists and researchers, while the fact that we also identified fibers of varnish and plastics commonly used in the fishing industry suggests a maritime source," Kelly said.</p>
<p>It could be that tourists or scientific researchers visiting the continent contribute microplastic pollution from their clothing fibers and other equipment, especially considering that the ice core sample was collected near a research facility that sees a steady stream of visitors. Microplastics trapped in ice rather than sinking to the deep ocean allows the pollutants to "persist for longer near the surface," making them more likely to be consumed by small marine organisms like krill who mistake it for food. Additionally, the findings suggest that sea ice could serve as a reservoir for microplastic debris in the Southern Ocean, posing potential biogeochemistry consequences.</p><p>"It is worth noting that plastic contamination of West Antarctic sea ice may be even greater than in our ice core from the East, as the Antarctic Peninsula hosts the bulk of the continent's tourism, research stations and marine traffic," said Kelly.</p><p>The researchers conclude that the findings present a "crucial need for stringent methods" when it comes to both to recovering and measuring microplastic particles from polar regions.</p>
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Detailed analysis has estimated a LEGO brick could survive in the ocean for as many as 1,300 years. Andrew Turner / University of Plymouth
The Danish building block toy LEGO has sprouted an empire of amusement park like stores, movies, and reality TV competitions premised on building complicated characters, vehicles and settings from inter-locking pieces of plastic. Unfortunately, all that plastic will be with us for a long, long time, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Pollution.
<p>The researchers from the University of Plymouth in England studied how the pieces from the popular toy broke down in a marine environment. It turns out, LEGO bricks can survive in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_blank">ocean</a> waters for up to 1,300 years, according to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749119364152?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">study</a>. </p>
<p>The research team conducted the study by examining 50 LEGO bricks that had washed up in Cornwall, England. As <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/lego-bricks-survive-oceans-1300-years-1492563" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported, the recovered pieces were cleaned, measured, weighed and then compared to unused bricks. The scientists checked the chemical composition of each block. By identifying chemicals no longer used in the production process, the scientists were able to estimate the age of each brick. The team compared the level of wear and tear by comparing the bricks to pristine LEGO pieces from the 70s and 80s.</p>
<p>By conducting that complex comparison, the researchers were able to estimate that LEGO bricks can survive anywhere from 100 to 1,300 years in a marine environment, meaning their durability could be harmful to marine animals, according to a <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/uop-ssl031320.php" target="_blank">statement</a> from the University of Plymouth. The researchers said their findings mean people need to be very careful about how they discard everyday household items. </p>
<p>"LEGO is one of the most popular children's toys in history and part of its appeal has always been its durability," Andrew Turner, associate professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth, said in a <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/uop-ssl031320.php" target="_blank">statement</a>. "It is specifically designed to be played with and handled, so it may not be especially surprising that despite potentially being in the sea for decades it isn't significantly worn down. However, the full extent of its durability was even a surprise to us."</p>
<p>Turner, who previously conducted extensive research on the chemical properties of items washed up as marine litter, warned about the scourge of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics" rel="noopener noreferrer">microplastics</a> as LEGO bricks wear down.</p>
<p>"The pieces we tested had smoothed and discolored, with some of the structures having fractured and fragmented, suggesting that as well as pieces remaining intact they might also break down into microplastics," he said in a <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/uop-ssl031320.php" target="_blank">statement</a>. "It once again emphasizes the importance of people disposing of used items properly to ensure they do not pose potential problems for the environment." </p>
<p>Environmental activists noted that the study shows the harm of not disposing of toys properly or being careless with them on a visit to a beach or river. </p>
<p>"LEGO has brought joy to countless children around the world for decades, but this joy comes with a heavy price, an ocean crisis," Chris Thorne, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/welsh-government-plastic-ban-ocean-waste-a9408166.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a>. "This study confirms what we already knew, that much of the plastic waste we've left in our oceans, including LEGO, will survive there for centuries, possibly even millennia."</p>
<p>"The impacts of this will be wide ranging, and harm marine ecosystems long after our generation is gone," Thorne added. "We must protect our oceans from all the pressures facing them, from climate change to overfishing and plastic pollution."</p>
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This Man Is Helping Explorers Carry out Scientific Research at the Ends of the Earth
12 March
Adventure
Gregg Treinish is the founder of Adventure Scientists and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. adventurescientists.org / our
By Robin Pomeroy
For the great explorers of the 19th and 20th centuries, the prime motivation was getting to places no one had been before: "Because it's there," is what British mountaineer George Mallory famously replied when asked why he wanted to climb Everest.
But no longer. With all the biggest peaks climbed, poles reached and jungles explored, modern-day Mallories are seeking to solve even bigger challenges.
<p>"It's not enough to be just an explorer any more, it's 'been there, done that,'" said Gregg Treinish, who recruits today's adventurers to conduct scientific research in some of the world's most inaccessible places.</p><p>Over the last decade, Treinish's organization <a href="https://www.adventurescientists.org/" target="_blank">Adventure Scientists</a> has co-opted thousands of adventure travelers to do the field research that lab-based researchers could not. One of the first projects was getting Everest mountaineers to obtain samples of plants growing at almost impossibly high altitudes. U.S. researchers were able to determine how that moss could survive in such extreme conditions and used the results to develop methods of increasing yields and protecting crops from adverse weather events.</p>
<p>On the sea, Adventure Scientists has used a network of 6,000 citizen researchers to build what it believes is the world's biggest database on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics">microplastics</a> in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a> around the world.</p><p>Treinish has been named on of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders (YGLs) for 2020 - joining an illustrious network of influential people aiming to improve the planet, alongside U.S. soccer star and gender equality campaigner Megan Rapinoe, and whose alumuni include actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, Google co-founder Larry Page and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.</p><p>In his office in Bozeman, a small city in Montana near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 30-year-old Treinish is close to nature. But he did not start life there.</p><p>Growing up far from the mountains, in Cleveland, Ohio, he was thrown out of high school for, in his words, "being a jerk." After a troubled childhood he found a form of redemption by communing with nature.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e6e68050ee891b4b333dffca3160f0c8"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MqgbTZgaBbk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>One of his first adventures was walking the <a href="https://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail" target="_blank">Appalachian Trail</a> - a hiking route in the eastern U.S. which at 2,200 miles (3,500 km) may be the longest in the world. It was there that, aged 22, he had his eureka moment.</p><p>"Half way through the trail, my girlfriend dumped me," Treinish said. In frustration, he threw a rock against a tree, gouging a hole in it - something that made him realize how selfish he was being. Heading into the wilderness was not enough – he knew he had to give something back.</p><p>For a while Treinish provided "wilderness therapy," taking teenagers struggling with drug and alcohol problems into the wild, and later turned to scientific research.</p><p>"I wanted two things: to understand ecology and to fight for plants, animals and the environment."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg3NDE0Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjAwMDcyNX0._KpNGUOjENJ8q12lM2US0ZmWz9Vk4IUw8Rdt6qOBzfA/img.png?width=980" id="dd091" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4847ea4223dfe54255a377bf7456a9c4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The reach of Adventure Scientists around the world. Adventure Scientists
<p>Adventure Scientists trains the volunteers - most of them non-scientists - on how to collect data and samples with scientific rigor. And Treinish says he now wants to encourage scientists to use his network to be even more ambitious with their work.</p><p>"Take the blinkers off - how big are the questions that scientists can ask?"</p><p>And for explorers, the big scientific questions are the challenges they are seeking.</p><p>"In the early 20th century it was the biggest, the furthest, etc," Treinish said. "People are now motivated again by <em>these </em>incredible challenges."</p><p>Find out more about the Young Global Leaders class of 2020 <a href="https://www.younggloballeaders.org/new-class" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/gregg-treinish-founded-adventure-scientists/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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The EU wants to make it easier to repair a broken phone display. baranozdemir / iStock /Getty Images Plus
All those phones, computers and tablets we rely on are dependent on mined resources. Extracting and processing those resources accounts for nearly half of our greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan calls for "initiatives for the entire life cycle of products, from design and manufacturing to consumption, repair, reuse, recycling, and bringing resources back into the economy."
<p>Essentially, the European Union wants to get rid of planned obsolescence, where manufacturers design a product with a short lifespan so consumers have to buy a new one, which leads to throwaway culture. To that end, the European Commission announced Wednesday that it will introduce laws to halve the amount of waste the EU produces by 2030. Right now, less than 40 percent of electronic waste in the EU is recycled.</p><p>The new laws will ensure that new products brought to the EU market are repairable, recyclable and designed to last longer than our current phones and tablets, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-economy-circular/eu-to-introduce-waste-reduction-targets-new-sustainable-products-law-idUSKBN20Y1DV?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>"The goal, in the end, is decoupling resource extraction from our economic growth," Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius told reporters in Brussels, as <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-commission-aims-to-clamp-down-on-waste-with-new-law/a-52720804" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a> reported. He added, "The linear growth model of take, make, use and discard has reached its limits."</p><p>The sweeping legislation will apply to a wide range of products, including mobile phones, textiles, electronics, batteries, construction and packaging, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51825089" target="_blank">BBC</a>. The legislation that will make it easier to repair a broken phone display or to replace the battery is spurred by the Right to Repair movement.</p><p>It also updates current efficiency standards to apply to a broader selection of everyday items. The efficiency laws are outdated since they only apply to computers, televisions, dishwashers and washing machines, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/eu-brings-in-right-to-repair-rules-for-phones-and-tablets" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Sinkevicius added that the electronic devices sector has "a massive impact" and "is constantly growing," as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-economy-circular/eu-to-introduce-waste-reduction-targets-new-sustainable-products-law-idUSKBN20Y1DV?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported. The European Union will not meet its target of zero-emissions by 2050 if it does not address the impact that mobile technology is having on the environment.</p><p>In addition to addressing the throwaway culture and planned obsolescence of mobile devices, batteries and other items, the European Commission wants to change the culture around textiles, which are also resource-intensive and seldom mended or recycled. In fact, only 1 percent of textiles are recycled, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-economy-circular/eu-to-introduce-waste-reduction-targets-new-sustainable-products-law-idUSKBN20Y1DV?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p>
<p>"Textile is the new plastics," Sinkevicius said, as <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-commission-aims-to-clamp-down-on-waste-with-new-law/a-52720804" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a> reported. The proposed law, which needs the approval of 27-member nations, restricts intentionally added <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics">microplastics</a> from textiles and requires measures to make recycled content and waste reduction mandatory, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-economy-circular/eu-to-introduce-waste-reduction-targets-new-sustainable-products-law-idUSKBN20Y1DV?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>One environmental advocacy group dubbed it the most ambitious and comprehensive proposal ever put forward to reduce the environmental and climate impact of the things we use and wear, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51825089" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The European Environment Bureau, an environmental group, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51825089" target="_blank">BBC</a>: "The strategy is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way we manufacture, use and dispose of our products in a way that benefits people and the planet."</p><p>Yet, some other environmental advocates felt that the plan does not go far enough.</p>"It is absurd, given that the EU consumes nearly three planets' worth of resources, that reducing absolute consumption is not at the core of the plan," said Meadhbh Bolger, resource justice campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/eu-brings-in-right-to-repair-rules-for-phones-and-tablets" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "The Von der Leyen commission's plan for a circular economy is out of touch with the reality and urgency of the planetary emergency."
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Scientists Combine AI With Biology to Create Xenobots, the World's First 'Living Robots'
21 January
Science
By Simon Coghlan and Kobi Leins
A remarkable combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and biology has produced the world's first "living robots."
<p>This week, a research team of roboticists and scientists <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/07/1910837117" target="_blank">published</a> their recipe for making a new lifeform called xenobots from stem cells. The term "xeno" comes from the frog cells (<em>Xenopus laevis</em>) used to make them.</p><p>One of the researchers <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/01/14/worlds-first-living-robot-invites-new-opportunities-and-risks/#379ef46c3caf" target="_blank">described the creation</a> as "neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal," but a "new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism."</p><p>Xenobots are less than 1mm long and made of 500-1000 living cells. They have various simple shapes, including some with squat "legs." They can propel themselves in linear or circular directions, join together to act collectively, and move small objects. Using their own cellular energy, they can live up to 10 days.</p><p>While these "reconfigurable biomachines" could vastly improve human, animal and environmental health, they raise legal and ethical concerns.</p>
<h2>Strange New 'Creature'</h2><p>To make xenobots, the research team used a supercomputer to test thousands of random designs of simple living things that could perform certain tasks.</p><p>The computer was programmed with an AI "evolutionary algorithm" to predict which organisms would likely display useful tasks, such as moving towards a target.</p><p>After the selection of the most promising designs, the scientists attempted to replicate the virtual models with frog skin or heart cells, which were manually joined using microsurgery tools. The heart cells in these bespoke assemblies contract and relax, giving the organisms motion.</p><p>The creation of xenobots is groundbreaking.</p><p>Despite being described as "programmable living robots," they are actually completely organic and made of living tissue. The term "robot" has been used because xenobots can be configured into different forms and shapes, and "programmed" to target certain objects – which they then unwittingly seek.</p><p>They can also repair themselves after being damaged.</p>
<h2>Possible Applications<br></h2><p>Xenobots may have great value.</p><p><a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/f/615041/these-xenobots-are-living-machines-designed-by-an-evolutionary-algorithm/" target="_blank">Some speculate</a> they could be used to clean our polluted <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a> by collecting <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics">microplastics</a>.</p><p>Similarly, they may be used to enter confined or dangerous areas to scavenge toxins or radioactive materials.</p><p>Xenobots designed with carefully shaped "pouches" might be able to carry drugs into human bodies.</p><p>Future versions may be built from a patient's own cells to repair tissue or target cancers. Being biodegradable, xenobots would have an edge on technologies made of plastic or metal.</p><p>Further development of biological "robots" could accelerate our understanding of living and robotic systems. Life is incredibly complex, so manipulating living things could reveal some of life's mysteries — and improve our use of AI.</p>
<h2>Legal and Ethical Questions</h2><p>Conversely, xenobots raise legal and ethical concerns. In the same way they could help target <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cancer">cancers</a>, they could also be used to hijack life functions for malevolent purposes.</p><p>Some argue artificially making living things is unnatural, hubristic or involves "playing God."</p><p>A more compelling concern is that of unintended or malicious use, as we have seen with technologies in fields including nuclear physics, chemistry, biology and AI.</p><p>For instance, xenobots might be used for hostile biological purposes prohibited under international law.</p><p>More advanced future xenobots, especially ones that live longer and reproduce, could potentially "malfunction" and go rogue, and out-compete other species.</p><p>For complex tasks, xenobots may need sensory and nervous systems, possibly resulting in their sentience. A sentient programmed organism would raise additional ethical questions. Last year, the revival of a disembodied pig brain <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01216-4" target="_blank">elicited concerns about different species' suffering</a>.</p>
<h2>Managing Risks</h2><p>The xenobot's creators have rightly acknowledged the need for discussion around the ethics of their creation.</p><p>The 2018 scandal over using CRISPR (which allows the introduction of genes into an organism) may provide an instructive lesson <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614761/nature-jama-rejected-he-jiankui-crispr-baby-lulu-nana-paper/" target="_blank">here</a>. While the experiment's goal was to reduce the susceptibility of twin baby girls to HIV-AIDS, associated risks caused ethical dismay. The scientist in question <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/30/gene-editing-chinese-scientist-he-jiankui-jailed-three-years" target="_blank">is in prison</a>.</p><p>When CRISPR became widely available, some experts called for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/13/scientists-call-for-global-moratorium-on-crispr-gene-editing" target="_blank">moratorium</a> on heritable genome editing. Others <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/crispr.2019.0016?utm_source=miragenews&utm_medium=miragenews&utm_campaign=news&" target="_blank">argued</a> the benefits outweighed the risks.</p><p>While each new technology should be considered impartially and based on its merits, giving life to xenobots raises certain significant questions:</p><ol><li>Should xenobots have biological kill-switches in case they go rogue?</li><li>Who should decide who can access and control them?</li><li>What if "homemade" xenobots become possible? Should there be a moratorium until regulatory frameworks are established? How much regulation is required?</li></ol><p>Lessons learned in the past from advances in other areas of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> could help manage future risks, while reaping the possible benefits.</p>
<h2>Long Road Here, Long Road Ahead</h2><p>The creation of xenobots had various biological and robotic precedents. Genetic engineering has created genetically modified mice that become <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/glowing-mice/" target="_blank">fluorescent</a> in UV light.</p><p><a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/e1500077" target="_blank">Designer microbes</a> can produce drugs and food ingredients that may eventually <a href="https://solarfoods.fi/" target="_blank">replace animal agriculture</a>.</p><p>In 2012, scientists created an <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/what-would-it-take-to-really-build-an-artificial-jellyfish" target="_blank">artificial jellyfish</a> called a "medusoid" from rat cells.</p><p>Robotics is also flourishing.</p><p>Nanobots can <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2013/nanotechnology-could-help-fight-diabetes-0516" target="_blank">monitor people's blood sugar levels</a> and may eventually be able to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/tiny-robots-can-clear-clogged-arteries-180955774/" target="_blank">clear clogged arteries</a>.</p><p>Robots can incorporate living matter, which we witnessed when engineers and biologists created a <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/robotic-stingray-powered-light-activated-muscle-cells" target="_blank">sting-ray robot</a> powered by light-activated cells.</p><p>In the coming years, we are sure to see more creations like xenobots that evoke both wonder and due concern. And when we do, it is important we remain both open-minded and critical.</p>
<p>
<em>Simon Coghlan is a senior research fellow in digital ethics at the School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne.<br/>
Kobi Leins is a senior research fellow in digital ethics at the University of Melbourne.<br/>
</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-bot-not-beast-scientists-create-first-ever-living-programmable-organism-129980?" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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An employee carries a banner informing customers about the ban on free single-use plastic bags at a shopping mall in downtown Bangkok on Jan. 2, 2020. MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP via Getty Images
Thailand rang in 2020 with an effort to tackle the plastic crisis filling the country's waste sites and choking its waterways. The country's ban on plastic bags at major retailers began as soon as the clock struck midnight in Bangkok. A complete ban of bags that includes smaller shops will go into effect in 2021, as Reuters reported.
<p>The campaign to reduce single-use plastics, especially plastic bags is an ongoing effort by the country's government to reduce land and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">sea</a> debris. There has been a public backlash to the plastic waste crisis in Thailand after several animals were found dead with inordinate amounts of plastic stuck in their digestive tracts, including land and sea mammals like deer and dugongs, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/476448-thailand-starts-the-decade-with-a-plastic-bag-ban-at-major-stores" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported. Green sea turtles were also found to have choked on plastic, according to <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200102-thai-retailers-ban-single-use-plastic-bags" target="_blank">France 24</a>. The epidemic of man-made litter killing Thailand's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a> led to some soul-searching from government and business leaders in Thailand.</p><p>"Thailand was ranked sixth among the world's top countries that dumps waste into the sea," said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-Archa to reporters on New Year's Day after handing out reusable bags to the public, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-environment-plastic/thailand-kicks-off-2020-with-plastic-bag-ban-idUSKBN1Z01TR" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported. "During the past five months, we were down to 10th ... thanks to the cooperation of the Thai people."</p><p>Major mall retailers and the ubiquitous 7-Eleven convenience stores will no longer distribute plastic bags under the new law. Instead, customers will have to bring in their own bag or pay a small fee for a reusable cloth-bag, according to <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200102-thai-retailers-ban-single-use-plastic-bags" target="_blank">France 24</a>.</p><p>Some consumers were offended by the idea of paying for a bag.</p><p>"Instead, I will go to the local markets because they still give us plastic bags," said Viroj Sinchairokekul, a 63-year-old said, at a Bangkok mall, to <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200102-thai-retailers-ban-single-use-plastic-bags" target="_blank">France 24</a>.</p><p>The government has launched a public awareness campaign to make plastic bags taboo. It has run television ads that pixelate plastic bags with other cultural taboos like nudity, smoking cigarettes, alcohol use and violent crime, as <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200102-thai-retailers-ban-single-use-plastic-bags" target="_blank">France 24</a> reported.</p><p>The government's effort to shame plastic bag use has already caused a drastic reduction in waste, according to government statistics. The ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that Thailand reduced the use of plastic bags by 2 billion, or about 5,765 tons last year, in its campaign to get consumers to refuse plastic bags from stores, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-environment-plastic/thailand-kicks-off-2020-with-plastic-bag-ban-idUSKBN1Z01TR" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>However, fresh markets and rural areas still rely on plastic bags and plastic bag use is woven into the fabric of daily habits. Those areas make up about 40 percent of plastic bag use in Thailand, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-environment-plastic/thailand-kicks-off-2020-with-plastic-bag-ban-idUSKBN1Z01TR" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>"It's not going to be easy to change the way of thinking and behavior of those people," said Varawut Silpa-Archa, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-environment-plastic/thailand-kicks-off-2020-with-plastic-bag-ban-idUSKBN1Z01TR" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>While Thailand seeks to make plastic use taboo, environmental activists see much larger action needed to solve the plastic crisis.</p><p>"We should stop the 'throw-away' culture in Thailand," said Pichmol Rugrod, of Greenpeace, as <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200102-thai-retailers-ban-single-use-plastic-bags" target="_blank">France 24</a> reported. She added that the cloth bags are woven from a fiber spun from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics">microplastics</a>. "Microplastic will then create another problem ... it affects the environment in terms of when it's in the soil because it has chemicals." </p>
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Researchers found a surprisingly high concentration of microplastics in London rain. Ed Schipul / CC BY-SA 2.0
Microplastics have been found everywhere in the world, from the depths of the ocean to the pristine mountaintops of the Pyrenees mountains to Arctic snow. Now a team of researchers in the United Kingdom is testing the concentrations of microplastics in cities. Sure enough, the tiny plastic particles are raining down on urban populations, as The Guardian reported.
<p>So far, the scientists have tested four cities and found microplastics — pieces of plastic roughly the size of a sesame seed or smaller — in all of their samples. The researchers expect that the pattern will continue and every city they test will show microplastics contaminating the air, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. Scientists do not yet know what health effects, if any, are associated with breathing in microplastics, though they do know that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">air pollution</a> can damage nearly every organ and affect every cell in the human body, according to <a href="https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(18)32723-5/fulltext" target="_blank">a comprehensive global review</a> published earlier this year.</p><p>The scientists were surprised about just how much plastic was found in the air.</p><p>"We found a high abundance of microplastics, much higher than what has previously been reported," said <a href="https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/stephanie-wright(06e7b1c7-2725-4437-96bf-dabc12b00e1b).html" target="_blank">Stephanie Wright</a>, from Kings College London, who led the research, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "But any city around the world is going to be somewhat similar."</p><p>"I find it of concern – that is why I am working on it," she added. "The biggest concern is we don't really know much at all. I want to find out if it is safe or not."</p><p>The concentration of microplastics in London was alarming. The researchers collected microplastics falling onto the roof of a nine-story building in central London. They found a range of 575 to 1,008 pieces of plastic per square meter per day, according to the research published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environment-international" target="_blank">Environment International</a>, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. By contrast, when researchers found microplastics in the Pyrenees in southern France, they found roughly 11,400 pieces per square meter in a month, which is about one-third of what was collected in London.</p><p>"We kind of expected to find plastics there, but we certainly were not prepared for the numbers we found," said Deonie Allen, one of the lead researchers in the Pyrenees study, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/science/what-are-microplastics.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "It was astounding: 11,400 pieces of microplastic per square meter per month, on average."</p><p>Another of the researchers in that study, Steve Allen, at the EcoLab research institute near Toulouse, France, called the findings scary. He also read Dr. Wright's study about urban microplastic pollution.</p><p>"These studies showing just how much plastic is in the air are a wake-up call," said Allen to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "The [London research] is a very well done study showing incredibly high numbers of airborne microplastics."</p><p>What Dr. Wright and her team found in London comprised 15 different types of plastics. Most were acrylic fibers, likely from clothes. Only 8 percent of the microplastics were particles like polystyrene and polyethylene, which are ubiquitous in food packaging, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Furthermore, the plastics they found were between 0.02mm and 0.5mm. That's large enough to enter the airways or to get trapped and swallowed in saliva. However, smaller particles that are particularly damaging to the lungs and can enter the bloodstream were too small to be measured by current technology, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"Currently we have very little knowledge on what effect this airborne pollution will have on humans," said Allen to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/27/revealed-microplastic-pollution-is-raining-down-on-city-dwellers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "But with what we do know it is pretty scary to think we are breathing it in. We need urgent research."</p>
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