Monitoring the Marine Environment for Enhanced Understanding of the Abundance and Impact of Marine Plastic Pollution

Objective: To enhance regional understanding of the abundance and impact of marine plastic pollution. The project RAS7038, under the NUTEC umbrella, addresses the marine monitoring component. The project aims at improving plastic management in Asia and the Pacific Region through establishment of downstream baseline surveys and status and trends of marine plastic pollution impacts. NUTEC-Plastics will further strengthen and scale-up the development of reliable and cost-effective techniques to assess the spatial and temporal abundance and character of marine plastics in order to better understand their origin, transport mechanisms, and fate and impacts. This includes the establishment of harmonized, standardised protocols to identify microplastics in environmental samples, the training of scientists and technicians, and establishment of analytical techniques that are in line with best practices and state-of-the-art science. NUTEC-Plastics will streamline applied research assessing the role of microplastics as vectors for bioaccumulation of co-contaminants and the biological response. Data will be inputted into a global database to allow assessment of the evolution of microplastic pollution in the marine systems (http://eas.caea.gov.cn/general/notices/Notice7877-2023-01-19.PDF). This project is related to IAEA’s flagship initiative 'NUTEC' according to the Joint Working Group's Integrated Action Plan. https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/22/08/integrated-action-plan-nutec-working-group.pdf