Plastic air pollution is likely one of the fastest-growing environmental threats. Microplastics and nanoplastics are in every single place: in our consuming water, the air we breathe and even our brains.
Beizhan Yan, an environmental geochemist on the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is a part of the Columbia Local weather College, has provide you with new strategies to detect and analyze these particles to higher perceive their influence on human and environmental well being. He’s additionally engaged on methods to take away microplastic and nanoplastic waste from laundry wastewater.
“Laundry generates large quantities of microfibers that may find yourself within the ocean and in rivers,” says Yan. “We’re growing new methods to filter out these particles and take away the fibers earlier than they get into our sewage methods.”
Yan is collaborating with numerous scientists throughout Columbia, together with Wei Min from the Division of Chemistry and Lamont colleague Joaquim Goes.
Study extra about Yan’s work on nanoplastics right here:
Bottled Water Can Comprise Lots of of Hundreds of Beforehand Uncounted Tiny Plastic Bits, Examine Finds
This video is a part of the continued Science for the Planet explainer collection about how Columbia Local weather College scientists and students are attempting to grasp the consequences of local weather change and serving to to contribute options.
