Nanoplastics - toxic before they disappear?

Plastic and rubber are a growing environmental problem. Especially plastic in our aquatic environments is receiving increasing attention.

Small pieces of plastic, micro and nanoplastics, will affect aquatic organisms differently from larger pieces due to new exposure routes  and different interactions with the animals´ biological barriers.

We want to break down plastics and rubber mechanically and photochemically in such quantities that we can characterize them and do systematic toxicity studies. We will use common plastics such as polyethylene and rubber football fields.

We also want to investigate if degraded nanoplastics, which are highly oxidized, continue to degrade in UV light and how the toxicity changes during that process. The oxidation makes the surface more accessible for bacterial degradation, which can accelerate the process.

If nanoplastics degrade more slowly compared to plastic´s degradation into small microplastic, the nanoplastics can accumulate, which would increase their potential impact on the environment.

The material will change during degradation and will therefore be tested in animal experiments with zooplankton and in cell studies with immunoactive macrophage cell lines from humans and mice.

Our results will help the industry to develop less hazardous products and the authorities to create good rules and laws.

TheWe will communicate our results scientifically but also to schools in our outreach projects together with the theatre Sagohuset.