Welcome to the Microplastics Fingerprinting project
Plastics pollution is a global and growing environmental hazard with potentially far-reaching consequences for food webs, biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. Of particular concern are microplastics because their small sizes enhance their mobility, toxicity to wildlife, and capacity to leach potentially dangerous contaminants.
The Microplastics Fingerprinting at the watershed scale: from sources to receivers projectseeks to better understand the sources, transport, fate and exposure risks of microplastics at a watershed scale in the lower Great Lakes. In doing so, we hope to inform program and policy approaches that can mitigate risks posed by plastic debris in the environment.
The project will analyze the reactivity and breakdown of microplastics in river systems and reservoirs, quantify the loads of microplastics delivered to the lower Great Lakes, optimize microplastics elimination in wastewater treatment plants, and determine the abundance and diversity of microplastics in drinking water sources.
This project is supported by the NSERC Alliance Grant competition on plastics science for a cleaner future. The project will contribute to Canada’s Plastics Science Agenda (CaPSA).
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News
Regulating microplastic pollution: What we can learn from the European Union
According to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic currently entering the ocean annually will triple by the year 2040. Much of this plastic breaks down into microplastics, less than 5 millimeters in size. These tiny particles are accumulating not only in oceans, but in all the world’s ecosystems, from the highest mountains to the Arctic’s pristine wilderness.
No agreement on a Global Plastics Treaty at fifth negotiating session in South Korea
This past November, representatives from at least 170 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea, for the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5). They were tasked with developing an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. Although this session was initially expected to conclude the negotiations, it ended without a finalized agreement. Consequently, another meeting will be scheduled for 2025 to continue the discussions.
Learning from the past: Microplastics in the Grand River watershed
Microplastics have been found in freshwater ecosystems around the world. Yet, because they are still an emerging contaminant, we lack long-term data about their abundance and sources. One way to fill this gap is by analyzing radiometrically dated lake sediment cores to generate a historical record of microplastic pollution in freshwater environments. These cores act like time capsules, preserving microplastics that have settled over the years.