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A new report, published by the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC), has taken a stab at summarizing the state of applied MP science. It discusses what is known about MP sources, distribution and environmental transport, as well as techniques and best practices for sampling and analyzing MPs. The report also outlines what is known about their risk to human health and ecosystems and provides an overview of the regulatory context.  

Asal Jaberansari is a research associate within the Ecohydrology research group at the University of Waterloo. This lab is supervised by Dr. Phillip Van Cappellen who is the Principal Investigator on the Microplastic Fingerprinting project.

Last fall, members of our research team sampled the Don River to compare microplastics sampling methods. Described as the most urban river in Canada by Canadian Geographic, the Don River passes through Toronto, flowing through a mix of urban residential, commercial, and industrial areas before it empties into Lake Ontario. This makes it a great place to sample because urban areas are major sources of microplastics.

The Microplastics (MPs) Fingerprinting project aims to understand the source, transport, and fate of microplastics at a watershed scale in order to develop risk mitigation strategies. But before we can understand the impact these contaminants have on our ecosystems, we need a methodological approach that can accurately determine the concentration of microplastics in the environment. 

The Microplastics Fingerprinting project team consists of over 25 faculty members, masters and PhD students, and support staff from various disciplinary backgrounds. We recognize this diversity as a strength that enables an interdisciplinary and holistic evaluation of the challenges and solutions associated with microplastics. Each issue of our newsletter will feature one of the project’s excellent researchers.

Juewen Liu, a member of the Microplastics Fingerprinting project, has found his way into the top 1% of citations for his field of study based on Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers™ 2022 list. The annual publication uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify individuals from across the globe who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their chosen field or fields of research.