PHOTO BY MATTHEW HOFFMAN
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a grant to study how microplastic particles enter Lake Ontario. The research team will also look at microplastics’ effect on the water’s inhabitants and determine ways to combat the issue through technology, policy and prevention.
RIT researchers have already found that, unlike in the ocean where plastic is often discovered in floating clumps, plastic in lakes seems to fall to the bottom, known as the benthic zone. The team will experiment to try and find out what happens to the microplastic when it gets down there.
“We want to get a better idea of the complete lifecycle of plastic once it hits the water,” says Christy Tyler, an associate professor at RIT’s Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences and the leader of the research team. “And we don’t look at plastic as a single type of material — different types can vary substantially in their transport, toxicity and persistence in the environment.”
To learn more about the project, visit rit.edu/news/rit-researchers-receive-grant-study-microplastic-pollution-lake-ontario.
