The actual situation of microplastics To investigate in the world sea Chiba Institute of Technology March 6, 6:34
The laboratory of Chiba Institute of Technology and NYK will jointly collect seawater from around the world to investigate the actual situation of microplastics that are likely to affect the ecosystem.
Microplastics are plastics that have flowed into the sea and are broken down to a size of 5 mm or less due to the power of waves or ultraviolet light. Fish and other substances are easily swallowed, and there is a concern about the effects on ecosystems.
The laboratory of Associate Professor Yutaka Kameda of Chiba Institute of Technology, which specializes in environmental chemistry, and Nippon Yusen, a major shipping company, will collect seawater from around the world and study the actual state of microplastics.
In the survey, when a NYK ship sails, it pumps up one ton of seawater from the ship's intake at a depth of about 5 meters, filters it through a fine net and returns it to Japan.
Starting this month, we will test the waters between the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean around Asia by conducting analysis using a device that can detect plastics that are 1/5000 mm in size.
According to Kameda, `` It is said that very small microplastics are at risk of being distributed throughout the body by blood if swallowed by marine organisms, and we observed the situation around the world in a unified way. I want to go. "