Haley & Aldrich’s Grace Johnson and co-authors recently published the results of their study of microplastic pollution in a Maine bay in the journal Environmental Engineering Science. This research sheds light on likely sources of microplastics in estuary ecosystems and sets a course for future similar investigations.
Grace and a team of researchers from the University of Maine, Orono; the University of Notre Dame; and Valparaiso University conducted the first comprehensive investigation of microplastic pollution in Frenchman Bay, Maine. As a semi-sheltered coastal bay with some freshwater input, the bay provides an ideal location to study how land-based sources of microplastics can impact estuaries.
The team conducted multiple sampling campaigns for microplastic fibers (MPFs) both in the bay and on land surrounding it. Their findings indicated “that up to 400 billion MPFs may reside in the upper one meter of Frenchman Bay,” most of which, their sampling suggested, enters “Frenchman Bay from regional land-based sources.”
Learn more about the publication and the team’s research.
