Tiny Plastics, Big Investigation

Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are embarking on a long-term study of marine microplastics to answer a litany of questions, including how larger plastics break down into tiny plastics, where microplastics end up in the global ocean, and what their impacts are on marine life and human health. Here, WHOI marine chemist Collin Ward places a piece of plastic into a weathering chamber which can test how environmental factors such as sunlight and temperature influence the breakdown of the material. (Photo by Matthew Barton, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)