Tag: microplastics

Building a library of microplastics in the Salish Sea

Plastic debris gathered from the ocean. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
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By Shannon Black Microplastics are found throughout the Salish Sea, but “surprisingly little is known about the sources of these particles,” report Canadian scientists who presented their findings last spring at the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle. Now the group, led by Dr. Peter Ross at the Vancouver Aquarium is working to categorize the types of microplastics being found in the world’s oceans with the hope of identifying their origins and stopping the problem at its source. The team is using Fourier Transform Infra Red spectrometry (FTIR) to create […]

The perils of holiday glitter

“All That Glitter? It’s Not Good, Critics Say” Photo courtesy of New York Times.
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By Jeff Rice, Puget Sound Institute You might want to think twice before adding that extra bit of sparkle this holiday season. A growing number of environmental activists and scientists are saying it’s time to hold the glitter. PSI Director Joel Baker is quoted this week in The New York Times on the connection between glitter and harmful microplastics. Some groups, including most recently a chain of child care centers in Britain, are proposing a ban on the shimmery plastic saying it can be easily consumed, causing unknown health effects. But […]

PSI will host a wide variety of sessions and panels at the 2018 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

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The announcements are in and Puget Sound Institute researchers will be chairing or co-chairing at least five different special sessions at next year’s Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle. The sessions will include subjects as varied as Contaminants of Emerging Concern, microplastics, Pacific herring, ecosystem modeling and the potential influence of the region’s technology industry on Salish Sea recovery. Watch this space in the coming months for more details on these sessions and for in-depth coverage of the conference as it develops.  

Assessing microplastics in the world’s oceans

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Our Director Joel Baker recently co-authored Microplastics in the Ocean: A Global Assessment, an international report commissioned by GESAMP (The Joint Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection). GESAMP is an inter-Agency Body of the United Nations, comprised of a group of independent scientists providing advice to UN Agencies on a wide variety of ocean matters. The report examined the global distribution of micro plastic particles, their known and hypothesized effects on marine organisms, and evaluated potential solutions. Download the report.