Because rivers are in near-constant motion, researchers previously assumed lightweight microplastics quickly flowed through rivers, rarely interacting with riverbed sediments. With new simulations, ...

Haley Mast is a freelance writer, fact-checker, and small organic farmer in the Columbia River Gorge. She enjoys gardening, reporting on environmental topics, and spending her time outside ...

New research reveals that PET-based glitter microplastics can actively influence biomineralization processes in marine environments, raising fresh concerns about the long-term environmental impact of ...

Globally, the coastal lagoons of Lagos (Nigeria), Sakumo (Ghana) and Bizerte (Tunisia) —close to large urban centres and without waste and sewage treatment systems— are among the most affected water ...

Concentrations of microplastics in the oceans have surged in the past 18 years, with researchers now estimating there are 2.3 million tonnes floating in the sea worldwide. Microplastics – defined as ...

Plastic waste in the ocean can break down into microplastics, which researchers measured near U.S. coastlines to study possible links to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Microplastic fibers from synthetic clothing have quietly become one of the most pervasive forms of pollution in rivers, ...

Twenty years ago, Richard Thompson, a marine biologist at the University of Plymouth, and his colleagues first used the term microplastic to describe the microscopic bits of plastic they were finding ...

The widespread presence of microplastics in the environment is a consequence of improper plastic waste management and the continuous rise in global plastic production, which increased from 1.3 million ...

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A federal agency is investing in Portland State University’s research on the pollution plaguing parts of the Oregon Coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...