Microplastic in field, river and sea

Project

Microplastic in field, river and sea

Plastic litter and small plastic particles is a global problem and can be found from urban centers, rural areas and fields to the aquatic environment such as lakes, rivers and seas. Only little is known on concentration, fate and possible effects of plastic particles on environment and organisms including humans.

Background and Objective

The Thünen Institute investigates several aspects of the topic "plastic in the environment" in different areas of expertise. There are up to now no standardized protocols to analyze plastic in the environment. This leads to the situation that results from different studies could not be easily compared to each other. Some research questions therefore remain still unanswered. This interdisciplinary project aims to unite existing competences and experience on "plastic in the environment".

Approach

Thünen projects on microplastic

Data and Methods

Investigations include collection of quantitative data on contamination status of different terrestial and aquatic ecosystems, modelling of transport processes within the ecosystems and possible impact of microplastic on organisms. With this a general view on the the fate of plastic in the environment will be possible.

Our Research Questions

Preliminary Results

There are at the moment no interdisciplinary results available. However, the project can rely on several thematic publications of the contributung Thünen Institutes.

Thünen-Contact

Kammann, Ulrike Institute of Fisheries Ecology

Involved Thünen-Partners

Duration

7.2017 - 12.2021

More Information

Projekt type:
Project status: ongoing

Projects

Plastic mulch used for growing strawberries (©  Gabriele Planthaber pixelio.de)

Microplastic in the environment – Analyses of the Warnow catchment

Microplastic pollution in the oceans is increasing worldwide. High concentrations found at the mouth of rivers suggest a substantial contribution of contamination from inland. To what extent is agriculture responsible for these inputs?

Plastic in agricultural soil

Despite intensive research activities, knowledge about the distribution of (micro)plastics in the environment is still very limited. At present, central challenges are the development and standardisation of analytical methods, especially for agricultural soils.

PlasM - microplastic and fish in the sea

The huge amount of man-made solid waste materials ending up in the oceans was identified as one of the pressing global challenges. We investigate the amount of microplastics in marine fish and if this is a threat for the animal.

Various microplastic particles under the microscope (©  Martin Löder)

Microplastic in the environment – Analyses of the Weser catchment

To date, small plastic particles are being found world-wide in oceans, rivers and lakes. However, knowledge is still scarce about their origins and impact on the environment and organisms, including human beings.

Expertise

Plastik im Boden

In welchem Ausmaß befindet sich Plastik im Boden? Und wie wirkt es dort? Da in der Vergangenheit nur wenig zu dem Thema geforscht wurde, sind diese Fragen noch weitgehend unbeantwortet.

Plastik in der Umwelt – ein Forschungsthema am Thünen-Institut

Am Thünen-Institut wird an mehreren Fachinstituten zu der Thematik „Plastik in der Umwelt“ geforscht. Das Fachinstitut für Ländliche Räume und das Fachinstitut für Agrartechnologie gehen dabei besonders auf das bisher wenig untersuchte Plastik im Boden ein.

Mikroplastik (©  Jason Isigkeit / Thünen Institut)

Plastik in Fischen - ein Problem?

Experteneinschätzung

Publications

Results 1 - 5 of 11

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Brandes E, Braun M, Rillig MC, Leifheit EF, Steinmetz Z, Fiener P, Thomas D (2020) (Mikro-)Plastik im Boden : Eintragspfade, Risiken und Handlungsoptionen. Bodenschutz 25(3):121-125, DOI:10.37307/j.1868-7741.2020.03.10
Schütze B, Thomas D, Brunotte J (2020) Density separation of microplastics from artificial soil and compost. 2 p
Brandt J, Bittrich L, Fischer F, Kanaki E, Tagg A, Lenz R, Labrenz M, Brandes E, Fischer D, Eichhon K-J (2020) High-throughput analyses of microplastic samples using fourier transform infrared and raman spectrometry. Appl Spectrosc 74(9):1185-1197, DOI:10.1177/0003702820932926
Brandes E, Cieplik S, Fiener P, Henseler M, Herrmann F, Klasmeier J, Kreins P, Piel S, Shiravani G, Wendland F, Wurpts A (2020) Modellbasierte Forschung zu Mikroplastik in der Umwelt : Synthesepapier ; Im Rahmen des Forschungsschwerpunktes Plastik in der Umwelt, Quellen - Senken - Lösungsansätze. 26 p
Thomas D, Schütze B, Heinze WM, Steinmetz Z (2020) Sample preparation techniques for the analysis of microplastics in soil - a review. Sustainability 12(21):9074, DOI:10.3390/su12219074
pdf document (limited accessibility) 452 kb

Results 1 - 5 of 11

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