JPI Oceans - Mikroplast - BASEMAN - NILU - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters

A fundamental issue precluding assessment of the environmental risks arising from microplastics is the lack of standard methods for microplastics sampling and detection. Consequently there is a lack of reliable data on concentrations of microplastics and the composition of polymers within the marine environment. BASEMAN is an interdisciplinary and international collaborative research project that aims to overcome this problem. BASEMAN teams experienced scientists (from different disciplines and countries) to undertake a profound and detailed comparison and evaluation of all approaches from sampling to identification of microplastics. BASEMAN deployed cutting-edge approaches to tackle the two major themes of the call: 1) The validation and harmonisation of analytical methods which is indispensable for 2), the identification and quantification of microplastics. Both tasks were met with challenges since 1) The manufacture of standard material was much more challenging than anticipated and resulted varying quality and 2) the use of a variety of identification methods resulted in a different set of data and sensitivity. However, the application of a set of identification methods will allow for a broad set of matrices analysed as well as particle sizes and effort applied, if applied according to the research question. NILU focused on the contribution to the method testing for water, fish, and plankton. We also participated with methods for mussels, together with testing of several instrumentations for the identification of plastic polymers. BASEMAN contributed directly to the successful application of a NFR INTPART project. A masterstudent is now applying this methodology as well as that we transfer methods suggested by BASEMAN to the PLASTPOLL project (INTPART) to Chinese and American research groups.

Et set av metoder for prøvehåndtering og -analyse ble utviklet og testet av NILU, noe som muliggjør framtidig undersøkelse av på biologiske prøver og vannprøver. Utvidelse av analyseaktivitet til luftprøver er påbegynt. Et nytt INTPART prosjekt ble påbegynt i 2018 som kobler forskningsmiljøet i Norge, Kina og USA sammen, med fokuss på Plast i Arktis. I FRAM senteret ble arbeid med et nytt forskningstema om plast i Arktis påbegynnt i høst 2018, med planer utvikling til et eget forsknings flagskip. Attraktiviteten til NILU som partner i internasjonale forskningsprosjekter om plast i miljøet har økt med tre nye søknader til JPI ocean under forberedelse samt utkast til NFR. Synlighet av NILU som aktør i plastforskningen har økt betydelig.

Since the middle of last century rapidly increasing global production of plastics has been accompanied by an accumulation of plastic litter in the marine environment. Dispersal by currents and winds does not diminish the persistence of plastic items which degrade and become fragmented over time. Together with micro-sized primary plastic litter from consumer products these degraded secondary micro-fragments lead to an increasing amount of small plastic particles (< 5 mm), so called ?microplastics? (MP). The ubiquitous presence and massive accumulation of MP in marine habitats and the uptake of MP by various marine biota is now well recognized by scientists and authorities worldwide. Although awareness of the potential risks is emerging, the impact of plastic particles on aquatic ecosystems is far from understood. A fundamental issue precluding assessment of the environmental risks arising from MP is the lack of standard operation protocols (SOP) for MP sampling and detection. Consequently there is a lack of reliable data on concentrations of MP and the composition of polymers within the marine environment. Comparability of data on MP concentrations is currently hampered by a huge variety of different methods, each generating data of extremely different quality and resolution. Although MPs are recognized as an emerging contaminant in the environment, currently neither sampling, extraction, purification nor identification approaches are standardised. BASEMAN is an interdisciplinary and international collaborative research project that aims to overcome this problem, and address the JPI-Oceans pilot call ?Ecological aspects of MP in the marine environment?. BASEMAN?s project outcomes will equip EU authorities with the tools and operational measures required to describe the abundance and distribution of MP in the environment.