Optimizing Nuclear Techniques to Assess Microplastic Pollution in Coastal Areas

Plastic pollution has become one of the major global environmental challenges of the century; projections show that by 2050 the oceans may have more plastic than fish. In the marine environment, microplastics are being sequestered across a variety of sedimentary environments globally, at a seemingly increasing rate. Marine sediment can thus be considering a sink of marine plastic pollution, and this can serve to survey marine plastic pollution.
Microplastic analyses applied to marine sedimentary records dated using nuclear techniques can reveal the history of plastic contamination and the efficacity of remediation efforts.  To that effect, it is necessary to assess whether the temporal trends of plastic accumulation in marine sediments reflect evolution of production and use of plastics on land. The need to design harmonized protocols to be used for monitoring the concentrations and polymer composition of marine microplastics has been discussed for many years, but it has been difficult to consensuate how to achieve this goal. Establishing a standard and improved technique will be highly beneficial for comparing spatial and temporal variations between different studies and will allow correlating microplastic production trends with the transport mechanisms and their ultimate fate in the seafloor.
Through this CRP, the IAEA will support the development, refinement, and application of techniques to assist Member States in assessing the marine plastic pollution status in their marine environment.