Researchers at RIT to study pollution of microplastics on Lake Ontario

(WHAM) - Plastic debris has been accumulating in bodies of water around the world for decades, impacting wildlife, commerce, and the entire ecosystem.

As part of a newly-funded research effort, a team of Rochester Institute of Technology researchers will study how microplastics are affecting Lake Ontario.

A grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant College Program is funding the research, which will focus on how tiny plastics end up in the lake in the first place and the types of effects they have on the environment.

Models created by RIT Associate Professor Matthew Hoffman show plastics found in lakes are more likely to group together in the sediment at the bottom of lakes, as opposed to floating in large swathes on the surface, as they do in oceans.

“We want to get a better idea of the complete lifecycle of plastic once it hits the water,” said Tyler, an associate professor at RIT’s Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences and the principal investigator of the project. “And we don’t look at plastic as a single type of material—different types can vary substantially in their transport, toxicity and persistence in the environment.”

Construction materials, including PVC, clothing fibers like polyester, and packaging materials including polyethylene, will be the focus of the study. Ultimately, the study aims to serve the larger purpose of shaping policies and new solutions that reduce the amount of microplastic pollution in our bodies of water.

Steven Day, head of RIT’s Department of Biomedical Engineering; Nathan Eddingsaas, associate professor in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science; Hoffman, associate professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences; and André Hudson, head of the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences will serve as co-principal investigators in the study.

Several undergraduate and graduate students will also be able to help conduct research.