Monday February 28, 2022
Oregon State University –
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Small particles from tires inhibited the growth and caused adverse behavioral changes in organisms found in freshwater and coastal estuary ecosystems, two new Oregon State University studies found.
The findings are part of a continued effort by scientists to unravel the impacts of microplastics and nanoplastics on aquatic ecosystems and aquatic organisms. Tire particles are one of the most common microplastic types in aquatic ecosystems.
Stacey Harper, Susanne Brander and several graduate students and a post-doctoral scholars in their labs, including Brittany Cunningham, Samreen Siddiqui, recently published two papers on the tire particle research in Chemosphere and the Journal of Hazardous Materials.
“The focus on microplastics and now nanoplastics is still relatively new,” said Harper, an Oregon State professor who studies the environmental health and safety impacts of nanomaterials and led the research on tire particles in freshwater organisms. “We’re now at the point of making policy decisions that we don’t have the science for. That’s why we are scrambling to supply that science.”