Microplastic Pollution in East Tennessee Freshwater Streams Surveillance Through Water Sampling

Authors' Affiliations

Mirna Ramirez, Environmental Science major, Tusculum University, Tusculum, TN Conor Keitzer, Natural Sciences, College of Science, Technology, & Math, Tusculum University, Tusculum, TN.

Location

Culp Center Ballroom

Start Date

4-25-2023 9:00 AM

End Date

4-25-2023 11:00 AM

Poster Number

120

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Other - please list

Natural Sciences

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Conor Keitzer

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Competition Type

Non-Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Freshwater Conservation, Water Pollution, Water Resources environmental impacts

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Microplastics (MPs) pollution is a global ongoing issue in freshwater ecosystems. The threat of MPs has only recently been recognized and research is needed to better understand how widespread this threat is. Plastic litter is the ultimate source of MPs and we might therefore expect MPs to be a greater threat in areas of high human use. To improve our understanding of how MPs pollution might vary with human land use, we will survey for MPs in freshwater streams. To find the variation of land use this study would be sampling three major types of streams: forested, urban, and agricultural. MPs will be sampled from three streams in each landscape using 1 L grab samples. The freshwater will be filtered and MPs in each landscape will be compared using ANOVA. Each stream site will be sampled five times for a total of forty-five grab samples. The samples will take place in early spring, and sampling after a storm will be avoided to prevent bias data. The results of the project will improve our understanding of where MPs are a potential threat in East Tennessee, as well as our broader understanding of how human activity influences the distribution of this threat.

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Apr 25th, 9:00 AM Apr 25th, 11:00 AM

Microplastic Pollution in East Tennessee Freshwater Streams Surveillance Through Water Sampling

Culp Center Ballroom

Microplastics (MPs) pollution is a global ongoing issue in freshwater ecosystems. The threat of MPs has only recently been recognized and research is needed to better understand how widespread this threat is. Plastic litter is the ultimate source of MPs and we might therefore expect MPs to be a greater threat in areas of high human use. To improve our understanding of how MPs pollution might vary with human land use, we will survey for MPs in freshwater streams. To find the variation of land use this study would be sampling three major types of streams: forested, urban, and agricultural. MPs will be sampled from three streams in each landscape using 1 L grab samples. The freshwater will be filtered and MPs in each landscape will be compared using ANOVA. Each stream site will be sampled five times for a total of forty-five grab samples. The samples will take place in early spring, and sampling after a storm will be avoided to prevent bias data. The results of the project will improve our understanding of where MPs are a potential threat in East Tennessee, as well as our broader understanding of how human activity influences the distribution of this threat.