It’s a sunny day in the middle of Lake Tahoe when Katie Senft, Carina Seitz and Consuelo Del Rio are aboard the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe’s research vessel. The research team is testing the quality of water in Lake Tahoe by looking at microplastics, light and other biological parameters. … For the research team, the real fun begins once the sieve sifting is over. Seitz pulls out a LISST 200X, a device that measures the size and count of particles. She carefully lowers into the water over the side of the boat and down to a specific depth. This allows the team to visualize how microplastics and other particles change in size or quantity throughout the water.  

Other microplastics news:

• Department of Toxic Substances Control: Proposed addition to the candidate chemicals list: microplastics
• The Washington Post: Opinion: I’m a microplastics researcher. Here’s how I limit the plastic in my life.
• Journal of Hazardous Materials: Differential responses of bacterial and archaeal communities to biodegradable and non-biodegradable microplastics in river
• Nature: A self-regulating shuttle for autonomous seek and destroy of microplastics from wastewater