Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) launched its first scientific research expedition to investigate the extent of microplastics pollution in the Antarctica. Argentine President Javier Milei and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi led the launch of the expedition at the Marambio and Esperanza Argentine Antarctic Bases.
The project includes a two-person research team that will set off for one month to assess the impact of microplastics by investigating its occurrence and distribution in seawater, lakes, sediments, sand, discharge water and animals of the Antarctic ecosystem.
The IAEA expedition in the Antarctica is being carried out under the agency’s NUTEC Plastics Initiative. Established in 2020, NUTEC is a flagship initiative of IAEA to address the global challenge of plastic pollution with nuclear technologies. This is being done through a network of NUTEC Plastic Monitoring Laboratories, which use nuclear and isotopic techniques to produce data on marine microplastics distribution. The precise data is an important step in developing plastic pollution mitigation plans and disposal measures and policies.
In the recent years, scientists have voiced concerns on the rising presence of microplastics (plastic particles below 5mm in diameter) in the polar ice. The first evidence of microplastics in the Antarctic coastal ice dates back to 2009, following a sea-ice sampling study in East Antarctica by the University of Tasmania researchers. However, data throughput and follow-up studies on the matter remains largely absent.
– https://maritime-executive.com/article/iaea-uses-nuclear-tools-to-study-antarctic-plastic-pollution