New research on the plastic in the ocean – Swedish Radio

The amount of plastic debris in the oceans continue to rise, and scientists now suspect that the small micro-plastic particles represent an increasing environmental impact.

Marine Chemist Martin Hassellöv researcher at Gothenburg University and leader of the new three-year research project, funded by the State Research Council Formas.

– We are both keen on the marine organisms for the environment. But it is also human health, because we have in us of micro plastics when we eat fish or other sea food products.

The project should take a closer look on the occurrence of micro-plastics in the Kattegat and Skagerrak. Micro-plastic particles are formed partly by larger plastic items are broken down, and use the micro plastics including skin care products, exfoliating creams, and rinsed then into the sea in the wastewater.

The Skagerrak is heavily exposed to large plastic garbage brought by ocean currents from both North Sea and Baltic Sea, which among other things means that large quantities of plastic debris from various European countries blows up on the Bohuslän beaches. But how it looks with the presence of small plastic particles we know less about.

– What happens to the micro-plastic is completely unknown, and that is what we intend to study in this project, says Martin Hassellöv.

The research Martin Hassellöv results, researchers from the University of Gothenburg, SP Technical Research Institute and the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, among other things, examine the different types of plastic particles in the ocean and try to find out more about where they come from and which animals ingest plastic particles.

Something that is unique of this project is that it will be looking at much smaller plastic particles than traditional made in international research.

– We suspect that one finds more and more particles, the smaller filters and analysis methods to use and we’ve methodology so that we can work with smaller particle sizes.

Martin Hassellöv hope to increased knowledge of the micro-plastics in the ocean will eventually lead to improved waste management and a reduction of products containing micro-plastics.

– When the micro plastic well ended up in the water so it is completely impossible to clean it up. The only way to reduce the scale of the problem is to reduce the supply.

Joel Wendle
joel.wendle@sverigesradio.se