Environment and Food Unit will hold the seventh internal ocean plastics research seminar on November 6.
This seminar aims to facilitate the exchange of information regarding ocean plastic research. While the primary target audience consists of researchers and students internally, individuals from outside the institution are also welcome to participate if they are introduced by a participant. We invite participation from a wide range of fields, including not only marine plastics but also areas such as plastic waste, bioplastic production, those interested in Earth sciences, approaches from polymer science and environmental toxicology, and various other fields. Of course, we also welcome those who are simply interested and would like to listen to the discussions. Please feel free to drop by and join us.
– Program –
15:00-16:00
Speaker: Dr. Naoya Katsumi (Associate Professor, Ishikawa Prefectural University)
Title: Occurrence of microplastics in agricultural land and migration to ocean areas
Summary:
Up until now, the use of plastic agricultural materials such as plastic greenhouses, mulch films, silage wrap, and coated fertilizers at agricultural production sites has achieved the production of high-quality agricultural products, labor-saving agricultural work, and reduced environmental impact. Among these, coated fertilizers can appropriately control the elution of fertilizer components according to the growth of crops, and then brought the opportunity to (1) save labor in agricultural work by eliminating additional fertilization, resulted in (2) improvement of agricultural production by preventing nitrogen runoff and suppressing the generation of nitrous oxide. As a result, the need for coated fertilizers continues to increase every year, and in 2018, the total annual production and import volume in Japan exceeded 130,000 tons.
On the other hand, the plastic shell that is generated after use of coated fertilizer is often left alone because it is difficult to recover. As a result, it has been discovered that the shells reach the coast not only through agricultural land but also through agricultural water. These shells are classified as microplastics because they are smaller than 5 mm. Agricultural land become a source of marine microplastics, now.
Therefore, the presenter will conduct 1) evaluation of the accumulation, alteration, and runoff of tunic shells in rice paddies, 2) evaluation of the process of transfer to the ocean via agricultural water, and 3) survey of the actual state of tunic shells in the sea. We have been conducting research with the aim of understanding the migration behavior of microplastics into the ocean and acquiring new knowledge that will lead to suppressing the discharge of microplastics from land to sea. In this presentation, we will introduce those results.
16:00-16:40
Speaker: Dr. Yuji Oshima (Specially appointed professor, Kyushu University)
Title: Impact of microplastics on aquatic organisms and problems with evaluation methods（tentative)
16:40 – 17:00
Free discussion
