#Radioplast (Nuclear techniques applied to research on plastics in the marine environment) is an attempt to scope out the PUI project focusing on the potential of nuclear technique to address knowledge gaps in plastic pollution issues in the marine environment. Plastic pollution in the marine environment has become the focus of an important research effort in the recent year, given its widespread, potential toxicity and persistent nature. In the framework of a recent review exercise, a number of gaps in the current knowledge have been identified.
The scope of this project is to set up a strategy to harness the potential of nuclear and isotopic techniques to better characterise the risk of microplastics to marine organisms. Specifically, we intend to understand their role as vectors for co-contaminant bioaccumulation and their potential to modulate selected biological responses. The approach includes 4 steps covering the nature of the interactions between plastic particle and co-contaminants (POPs), bioaccumulation kinetics of particles and POPs in marine organisms, and biological responses.
More information about our concept can be found in our recent publication (Application of nuclear techniques to environmental plastics research), by Lanctôt et al., 2018
#Radioplast is a collaboration between Heriot-Watt University, UK (Ana I Catarino), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium (Bruno Danis), IAEA, Monaco (François Oberhaensli, Imma Tolosa, Marc Metian, Peter Swarzenski), University of Patras, Greece (Hrissi Karapanagioti), ANSTO, Australia (Tom Cresswell) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA (Tracy Mincer)
