![Microplastics on national clean-up radar Microplastics on national clean-up radar](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/SZjBdCvXzdW4Ygt94axh3r/8ea0c1a4-857b-4964-ab44-c4a236d27961.jpg/r0_247_2362_1575_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It seems like yesterday, but it has been a year since we last had Clean Up Australia Day. What to do this year?
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Plastics have had a good run and we are getting better at bringing our bags for shopping but still we have the concept of microplastics as a rapidly emerging contaminant of global concern polluting our waterways and oceans. Dr Thava Palanisami at UON is spearheading the largest team in Australia to develop new knowledge on the risk assessment of microplastics and lay the foundation for regulatory guidelines.
Microplastics form both from physical, chemical and biological process that break down plastics, and from the commercial use of microplastic beads in everyday products such as shampoos, cosmetics, and toothpastes, which make their way into the sewage system and then into waterways. These minute plastic particles are making their way into the marine food chain, and through their highly absorptive surfaces, they facilitate the adsorption of contaminant chemicals into the food chain also.
You might like to join the Earth Guardian Sunset Cleanup at Nobbys on March 4 at 6.30pm. As Bob Skelton (AKA the Minmi Magster) wrote: “The cleanup is done with voluntary labour; No monetary payments do apply; But you’ll get a thing called ‘Pride of Achievement’; And that’s something that money can’t buy”.
My PhD student Thanh Ba Ho showed in his thesis that if we look hard enough we can find bacteria that will eat plastics, in his case he found some eight different species that could digest polystyrene, so there is hope that eventually such bacteria will be commercialised and will be used to dissolve that most recalcitrant of plastics. However, we also need to clean up the air and if you live in a city, you will know of the particle pollution of the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engines. Indeed cities are now banning diesel cars in an effort to relieve air pollution.
My pet project to alleviate this problem, is to move us all to solar-powered electric transport.
Visit my stand at the Newcastle Show and learn how to build an electric car powered by solar energy.