I will be going into my 3rd year of study in September and have decided to do an experimental project in the areas of Microplastics in water bodies. Does anyone have any suggestions for topics? I am struggling to think of a specific title within that area. This sort of project would have a 10 week time limit so it would have to be suited to fit that timescale.
I have thought of microplastics in phytoplankton, sediment samples, freshwater samples and possible drinking water samples as well.
many thanks
For having, there is microplástico even in the atmosphere. I think it's a very good topic that you want to do, but 10 weeks is two months and something else; so the goal should be very clear, you could experiment with the effect it causes to the younger stages of lameja or fish with commercial character. You could focus on a study that shows the relationship with the richness of plankton and its density in areas with abundant or no contaminationYou could experiment with the effects that cause the reproductive potential of some species of your interest, what in 10 weeks !!! You will have to work hardYou tell me what you doregards
Hi Keri,
Sounds like an interesting subject.
We did some pilot work that never went anywhere because other things came up, but we were playing around with dissolving zooplankton in heated hydrogen peroxide then counting the bits of plastic left over (basically copying the ideas in this paper Article Ingestion of Microplastics by Zooplankton in the Northeast P...
).You could maybe look at something along these lines? Plastic content in zooplankton upstream/downstream of a wastewater treatment plant discharge, up/down stream of a river plume into the sea, freshwater ponds far from and close to roads etc. Lots of options.
Good luck!
Malcolm
Thanks for all your helpful suggestions! This has really helped me, i feel a bit more confident in what ideas to present to my supervisor when the time comes and i can do some reading during summer about the topic as well. This is great! Thank you so much.
Hello, the impact of micro-plastics on biodiversity is a very interesting field. In the Campus of International Excellence of the Sea at the University of Cadiz in Spain there is a very important research group in this field. I recommend you to contact them. I only put at your disposal this work that is very valuable:
Article Plastic Accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea
Article Characterization of microplastic litter from oceans by an in...
Article An equation to estimate absolute population density from vis...
Hello, it's an emerging topic both of interest & health concerns. For a time limited project, it would be nice if you confine your analysis within daily-life items, not only water but most commonly used processed food items packed in plastics. Good luck.
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