Document Type

News Article

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are tiny pieces of plastics (less than 5 mm in size) that are ubiquitous in the environment. Their existence causes immediate threat to organisms of different sizes living in the water, sediments and soils affecting the food chain. Further, their presence in the marine realm can lead to a delay in the sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the oceans. The Environmental Microplastics Group at the Department of Civil Engineering, MIT, is primarily focused on the detection of microplastics and nanoplastics in the different environmental compartments, i.e., freshwater and marine water, sediments, soils, and biota such as fish. In addition, we are also estimating the quantum of MPs that are transported by the rivers into the Arabian Sea, and also through submarine groundwater discharge. The group has got all the necessary instrumental facilities to undertake microplastics research on different samples. We have also completed two consultancy works related to microplastics in the agricultural soils and edible items like salt and sugar.

  1. Amrutha and Warrier (2020) – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140377
  2. Warrier et al. (2022) - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134556
  3. Khaleel et al. (2022) - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114043

Publication Date

Winter 11-1-2022

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