IAEA Scientific Expedition: Microplastics in Antarctic waters
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in cooperation with Argentina, has sent the first scientific research expedition to study the presence of microplastics in Antarctica - as part of a global effort to combat this growing environmental problem, Azernews reports, citing UN News.
Argentine President Javier Miley and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi joined the IAEA scientific team at the Argentine Antarctic bases Marambio and Esperanza to mark the start of the mission.
A research team consisting of two specialists will assess the degree of environmental impact of microplastics for a month, examining its distribution in the area of the Argentine Carlini research station.
The mission to Antarctica is carried out within the framework of the NUTEC initiative. This is the flagship project of the IAEA to combat plastic pollution. Nuclear and isotopic methods are used to obtain data on the spread of marine microplastics through sample collection and laboratory analysis.
The first evidence of the presence of microplastics – particles with a diameter of less than five millimeters – in Antarctic coastal ice was discovered in 2009 when researchers took samples of sea ice in East Antarctica.
Nevertheless, there is still virtually no information about how and in what amount microplastics enter Antarctica and how much of it is absorbed by Antarctic organisms. Scientists also have extremely scarce data on the types of microplastics entering this region through ocean currents, precipitation, and as a result of the presence of humans.
At an event dedicated to the start of the mission, which took place at the Argentine Antarctic base Marambio, the Director General of the IAEA said that the discovery of microplastics in the once pristine Antarctic environment is evidence of a growing global problem.
"The international community still lacks the scientific data necessary to make informed decisions to combat plastic pollution," said Rafael Mariano Grossi. "This is the goal of the NUTEC project – to understand the origin, movement, and impact of plastic to take action."
Scientists believe that the presence of microplastics can accelerate the loss of ice in Antarctica by reducing its reflectivity, changing texture, developing microbial activity, and mechanical weakening of the structure. Combined with climate change, the presence of microplastics will exacerbate the devastating effects of melting Antarctic polar ice.
In addition, the ingress of microplastics into the food chain of Antarctic organisms negatively affects the health of Antarctic inhabitants and their resistance to climate change.
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