Plastic between your toes

26 October 2017

Plastic is everywhere. This is in short the key outcome of a study by researchers at Leiden University. They found that every kilogram of sand on European beaches contained on average 250 fragments of microplastic. In some locations the number can be even higher. They had already found relatively high levels in the Netherlands, with 500 fragments per kilo on the beach near to The Hague.
These findings were part of a larger-scale investigation of microplastics on European beaches. The microplastics originate from larger plastic objects that slowly disintegrate. An article about the research is published in Marine Pollution Bulletin (News Item Leiden University, 16 October 2017).
Click here for the news item.
Click here for an abstract of the published article.
Click here for more information about the NVC Project PUMA: the end of packaging as an environmental issue. You are welcome to join us for the next project meeting on 4 April 2018.

This news item is also included in our monthly overview, the NVC Members-only Update. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411.