Pollution
Shipping-Gate Explained: How The Global Ship Fuel Scandal Came About
So until now (four months later), there has been no detailed oil fingerprinting conducted aside from a ten day old sample that some of the world’s leading oil spill scientists at U.S.-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had conducted.
Shipping-Gate: Why Toxic VLSFO Fuel Is Such A Danger For Global Shipping
This chemical signature also reveals what would happen if that oil was ever leaked into the natural environment or made contact with humans. A process known as Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) is what is used, as the U.S. laboratory WHOI is internationally renowned for.
Local Scientists Show Link Between Ocean Pollution And Illness
A new study from Boston College and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution draws some jarring conclusions on the link between ocean pollution and human health.
A checkup for the oceans reveals threats to human health
The health of the world’s ocean is in serious decline—and human health is suffering as a result. A comprehensive report from the Monaco Commission and co-authored by several WHOI researchers investigates the impacts of ocean pollution and recommends actions to safeguard human health.
Read MoreHow safe is the water off the coast of the San Onofre nuclear plant?
Surfrider teams with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to conduct their own tests of San Onofre’s radioactive wastewater.
Environmental groups will do their own tests of radioactive wastewater from San Onofre
The Surfrider Foundation and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Our Radioactive Ocean initiative will do independent water quality testing at San Onofre State Beach after radioactive wastewater releases from the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Mauritius oil spill: fears for island’s marine life after initial tests fail to resolve fuel mystery
Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) said the first ultra-high-resolution analysis of an oil sample from the Mauritius spill revealed the substance to be “a complex and unusual mix of hydrocarbons.”
First Detailed Oil Sample Analysis Completed from Mauritius Oil Spill
When the Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio struck a coral reef off the coast of Mauritius on July 25, 2020, and began leaking fuel oil two weeks later, local residents and the international community sprang into action to protect the pristine habitats that fringe the Indian Ocean nation.
Read MoreWHOI-assisted study finds ocean dumping of DDT waste was “sloppy”
An investigative report this week in the LA Times features the work of WHOI’s marine geochemistry lab in identifying the discarded barrels and analyzing samples from the discovery.
Read MoreMicroplastics research gets critical private funding
With the backing of a handful of family foundations, WHOI is launching a Marine Microplastics Innovation Accelerator to help answer some of the most pressing—and foundational—questions about marine microplastics and their impacts
Read MoreUnited States Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste
MPC Research Specialist, Hauke Kite-Powell, has recently been appointed to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee to study U.S. contributions to global ocean plastic waste.
How the waters off Catalina became a DDT dumping ground …
A scientist involved in the discovery of the Titanic happened to be on board, so he helped them program the robots on where to go and how to search for the barrels. A marine geochemistry lab at WHOI ran the samples.
Should Japan dump radioactive water from Fukushima into the ocean?
Around 1.2 million tonnes of water contaminated by radioactive substances from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster will be dumped in the Pacific Ocean, as part of a plan expected to be approved by the Japanese government within weeks.
Putting the ‘nuclear coffin’ in perspective
WHOI chemist and marine radioactivity expert shares his thoughts about radioactivity waste leaking from Runit Dome—a bomb crater filled with radioactive soil in the Marshall Islands that is now being penetrated by rising sea levels
Read MoreLooks Like Japan Is Going Ahead With Plan to Dump Radioactive Fukushima Water Into the Ocean
A study from WHOI published in August, warned of the possibility that other potentially hazardous contaminants in the wastewater, namely carbon-14, cobalt-60, and strontium-90, could still be released into the Pacific Ocean.
Looks Like Japan Is Going Ahead With Plan to Dump Radioactive Fukushima Water Into the Ocean
A WHOI study published in August, warned of the possibility that other potentially hazardous contaminants in the wastewater, namely carbon-14, cobalt-60, and strontium-90, could still be released into the Pacific Ocean.
Experts Explore the Ocean-Human Health Link
Experts Explore the Ocean-Human Health Link November 9, 2020 Eleonora Van Sitteren Guest Student, Lindell Lab I work with the…
Read MoreTenacious citizens take on the plastics industry over an insidious pollutant
Evidence of pellet pollution has been piling up for decades. R. Jude Wilber of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution returned to the area and found that pellet concentrations had nearly doubled.
Microplastics & The Textile Industry
The study of marine microplastics is not new. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has been conducting research and publishing on this subject since the 1970s. Other organizations have been active as well.
Starting Oct. 1, foam containers for carryout food will be banned throughout Maryland. Not everyone is happy
As the first state in the country to ban foam food containers, Maryland will be a “very good case study,” said Chris Reddy, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
What did we learn from the Deepwater Horizon disaster?
All existing tests on the efficacy of dispersants had been conducted on the surface of water, says Elizabeth Kujawinski, a chemical oceanographer at WHOI. There was no guarantee that they would perform the same way in the crushing depths of the ocean.
New Sensor to Monitor Microplastics in Cape Cod Canal
An ocean technology company installed a particle sensor Tuesday in the Cape Cod Canal to monitor plankton and potential microplastics.
MC&G Department Virtual Seminar: Climate Change and Plastic Pollution: A One-Two Punch for Coral Reefs
Manoela Romano, Carnegie Institution for Science Sponsored by: MC&G Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84120401743 Meeting…
Read MoreHow Long Does Plastic Persist in the Ocean?
It can be hard to predict the average lifespan of plastics in the ocean when so many different types exist. WHOI chemists Chris Reddy and Collin Ward are working to simplify these predictions
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