With the aim of, on the one hand, studying the environmental impact of microplastics from conventional and biodegradable polymers in the aquatic environment and, on the other, assessing the toxicity of additives most commonly used in the industry and selecting those that have a lower impact on the aquatic environment, the Ecotoxicology and Marine Pollution Group of the University of Vigo will coordinate a research project funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness with around 143,000 euros until 2019. Environmentally friendly alternatives for polymers and their chemical additives in the aquatic environment, Arpa Acua, is the name of the project, which falls within the Challenges of Society call, and which, according to Ricardo Beiras, aims to “offer industry environmentally friendly alternatives based on ecotoxicology, part of which is handled by the University of Vigo, and analytical chemistry, which is handled by the University Institute of the Environment of the University of A Coruña”.
Comparison between conventional and biodegradable polymers
The study, which will be developed by research groups from Galician universities, includes as a major innovation the comparison of the ecotoxicological results of the impact of conventional polymers with biodegradable polymers, which a priori, as Ricardo Beiras explains, “should show a lower impact”. Along with this novelty, the project includes another innovation such as the incorporation into the consortium that develops the research of a technological partner from the plastics sector, in this case the Technological Institute of Plastics of Valencia, Aimplas, which will prepare the materials that will be the subject of study, which will be developed in the laboratory environment, as this project does not contemplate field work.
Arpa Acua is complemented by the European project Ephemare, which investigates the ecotoxicological effect of microplastics in the marine environment, although in this case this work, which will last until 2018, has as one of its objectives to study whether microplastics act as a vector of chemical substances present in the environment to aquatic organisms. “Meanwhile, Arpa Acua tries to evaluate the alternatives that are a priori more respectful of the environment, both in the polymers and in the additives used”, highlights the Ecotox researcher, who recalls that in 2015 322 million tons of plastic were produced in the world, 58 in Europe, of which it is estimated that around five million end up in the sea each year.
Source: duvi
