Part II: Microplastic pollution and the effects of phthalates and other plastic-born chemicals on Alaska’s ecosystems and Alaskans’ health
4:00 pm US Eastern Time
Slides & Resources
Resources
Resources:
Phthalate Fact Sheet (ACAT) – https://www.akaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Phthalates_ACAT2.pdf
Plastic-Derived contaminants in Aleutian Archipelago seabirds with varied foraging strategies (Padula & Beaudreau, 2020) – https://www.akaction.org/wp-content/uploads/Padulaetal2020.pdf
Estimating the abundance of floating macro-debris in the marine environment: a comparison between distance sampling and fixed-width strip-transect techniques – Sixth International Marine Debris Conference – Sauria et al, 2018
You can watch the recording of this webinar here.
This is the second webinar of two on microplastic pollution in Alaska’s marine and terrestrial environments and the effects of plastic-born toxic chemicals on Alaska’s ecosystems and Alaskans’ health. During this webinar Dr. Sonia Nagorski joined us from the University of Alaska Southeast. Dr. Nagorski has decades of experience studying water quality as an environmental geochemist and recently turned her attention to the emerging issue of microplastic contamination. Together with a group of UAS undergraduates, Dr. Nagorski is assessing the extent of microplastic pollution in and from the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska. Her work seeks to understand the role glacial recession could play in microplastic pollution and ecosystem health in Southeast Alaska.
Featured Speaker
Dr. Sonia Nagorski is an Associate Professor of Geology at the University of Alaska Southeast with a focus on environmental geochemistry and water quality. Dr. Nagorski has a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Montana, and much of her research examines the presence and sources of trace metals such as mercury in fresh water and glacially-influenced systems. In addition, a recent investigation she participated in with several UAS undergraduates examined an emerging contaminant in her local waterways – microplastics. students noted microplastics in the outflow of the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau Alaska.
This call was hosted by the CHE-Alaska Partnership, which is coordinated by Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT).
