Microplastics – Effects on Lake Ontario Ecosystem

According to a May 26, 2020 announcement https://www.rit.edu/science/news/rit-researchers-receive-grant-study-microplastic-pollution-lake-ontario researchers with the Rochester Institute of Technology have received a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant College Program to study “… how microplastics accumulate in the lake’s ecosystem … [The researchers] will examine how microplastics are transported and transformed in the lake, where they ultimately end up and what effects they have on the ecosystem … [They] will use mathematical modeling, field surveys, fluid dynamics, genomic sequencing and other experiments to look at how plastic is impacting the benthic zone and how wildlife and natural processes are transporting and further breaking down plastic … Some of the plastics they plan to study include construction materials such as PVC, clothing fibers like polyester and packaging materials including polyethylene. The ultimate goal is to effectively inform policy, mitigation, prevention initiatives, resource management strategies and technical innovations to combat microplastic pollution …” #Microplastics #PlasticPackaging #PlasticWaste #RIT #LakeOntario