New research from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar Research finds that microplastics, roughly the same size as pollen, are now airborne and being transported through the atmosphere to the Swiss Alps and the Arctic. They mainly found microplastics originating from nitrile rubber, acrylics and paint. With concentrations as high as 150,000 particles per litre of snow, this research reveals a potentially dangerous new pathway of exposure to humans and wildlife.

Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung ... See more

In snow samples collected across the Arctic and Europe, researchers find tens of thousands of microplastic particles per liter of snow—even in remote areas.

As part of Operation Clean Sweep, @Tangaroa Blue is working with the plastics industry, local councils and the Victorian EPA to identify hotspots of plastic resin pellet "nurdle" loss. This is a sample from one stormwater "Drain Buddy" that we installed with the help of Cleanwater Group and the City of Greater Dandenong in front of a factory that we've been monitoring for 5 years, and who has rated between a 4 and 5 out of 5 rating for plastic resin pellet loss every time we've visited the site. This sample is from just 9 weeks since the last time we emptied the trap. We hope that this evidence will help the Environment Protection Authority Victoria both with compliance responses to this sort of pollution and assist in quantifying the numbers of plastic resin pellets entering Port Phillip Bay every year. This project is funded through the @Victorian Government's Port Phillip Bay Fund. ... See more

If you're free this weekend, join Surfrider Foundation Sunshine Coast (@surfridersunshinecoast) for a Fight for the Bight screening of Patagonia's Nevertown film on Saturday night! It's going to be an epic evening of live music, prizes and a new Fight for the Bight ale at LAND & SEA Brewery in Noosaville.

Event details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/367015950624142/?active_tab=about ... See more