The water of lakes, streams, seas and oceans is the place where most of the plastic waste, of various shapes and sizes, is improperly disposed of. Eighty percent of the 8 million tons of plastic that end up in the sea every year comes from land and seriously threatens the balance and survival of marine ecosystems. The worst pollution is caused by microplastics and microfibers, fragments between 300 micrometers and 5 millimeters from the degradation of plastic products and synthetic fabrics.
To combat this phenomenon, MicroMar, a project to monitor microplastics and microfibers in the Mediterranean Sea, was born at the end of 2020, thanks to the collaboration between the Polytechnic of Turin, the EU Joint Research Centre, the environmental biologist Patrizia Pretto, the Scripps Oceanographic Institute of San Diego and the University Federico II of Naples.
MicroMar exploits the Citizen Science approach to be able to involve voluntary citizens and non-profit associations in the collection of water samples to be analyzed, a phase that the Politecnico di Torino deals with to quantify the presence of plastic particles. Among the realities that have already adhered there are Sea Shepherd, WWF Miramare Marine Park in Trieste, Cestha, Centro Studi Cetacei Pescara, Gaeta Marine Park, the non-profit association TartAmare in Tuscany, Free divers Erice, Free divers Torino, Egadi Passione blu and WWF Molfetta.
This research has as its ultimate goal the knowledge of the status quo regarding pollution by microplastics and microfibers in order to develop action plans regarding both the monitoring and the containment and progressive elimination of the problem. Tonia Tommasi, researcher at the Politecnico in the field of Industrial Engineering who, together with her colleague Silvia Fraterrigo Garofalo , is working on the project, said: "With this project we intend to strengthen the link between scientific research and citizens, where the latter are an active part of a path that aims at knowledge and awareness of the serious environmental consequences due to the use of plastic and its improper disposal. This task sees a strong commitment of the Politecnico and is closely linked to the objectives and measures adopted by the European Community to reduce the use of plastic, especially disposable, from next July".
(📷 © AP images / European Union - EP)
