RWU Researchers Join Sen. Reed to Advocate for Strategy and Action to Curb Microplastic Pollution

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Researchers from Roger Williams University joined U.S. Senator Jack Reed at a press conference Thursday along the shores of Narragansett Bay to advocate for coordinated action at the local, federal, and global level to tackle plastic waste and pollution including stepped-up research, regulation, and coordinated action around microplastics.

Along with experts from RWU, Save The Bay, and the University of Rhode Island, Reed discussed the threat of microplastics, tiny particles of plastic waste less than 5 millimeters in diameter that pose a significant risk to water quality, human and animal health, and climate and ecosystem stability.

“Microplastics are a macro, large-scale, global problem. We need comprehensive, coordinated action to help protect people, communities, public health, and environmental health,” said Senator Reed. “I commend the Biden-Harris Administration for spurring other nations to do their part and join the U.S. in tackling plastic pollution. America is working with our partners at the United Nations on a major, evidence-based treaty to rein in contamination from microplastics. Last month, the Biden-Harris Administration released the first comprehensive, government-wide strategy to target plastic pollution at production, processing, use, and disposal. A key part of that plan calls for developing standard methods for collecting, quantifying and characterizing microplastics. This will ensure regulators have good data they can use to set limits on microplastics in our food and water.”

Lillian Jeznach, Associate Professor of Engineering at RWU, was among the experts Thursday who spoke about the dangers of microplastics, sharing her research around microplastic sources into Narragansett Bay and the alarming results. For the past two years, Jeznach has led an interdisciplinary research team of engineering and science students who have been working to quantify the types and volume of microplastics entering Narragansett Bay from rivers and the atmosphere. As her team continues to develop methods to sample and analyze microplastics, she said they have identified microplastics in every freshwater and atmospheric sample. 

“In response to the rising threat of microplastics to global ecosystems and human health, Roger Williams University is driving research to identify and assess the plastic pollution present in Rhode Island’s coastal and marine environments,” Jeznach said. “The extent of microplastic pollution in the state is largely unquantified and this research will enable a deeper understanding of the issue and pollution sources, which is necessary to develop technical, social, and policy solutions that create stronger and healthier coastal communities and waterways for the Ocean State and serve as a model for innovation and change nationally and globally. Thanks to the funding secured by Senator Reed to equip a new Environmental Engineering and Science Laboratory, RWU researchers like me will continue to lead research that benefits Rhode Island’s environment and people.”

Teaming up with RWU, Senator Reed secured a $1.69 million earmark in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations law to help retrofit and equip a new Environmental Engineering and Science Laboratory with cutting-edge analytical equipment to support continued research on the impacts of various forms of pollution that will help inform and develop policies that protect the environment and strengthen quality of life for Rhode Islanders.  

RWU Professor of Chemistry Stephen O’Shea, who attended the press conference, is another researcher who will benefit from the new lab space on campus. O’Shea’s research focuses on tracking the aquatic chemistry of Mount Hope Bay, which serves as an ecological model that can be used to demonstrate the transition from freshwater to saltwater and the deposition of pollutants into the sediment including the input of plastics over time. The cutting-edge technology in the new lab will allow both faculty and undergraduate researchers to dive deeper into their analysis, O’Shea said, setting up students to graduate and enter the workforce with a greater knowledge of working with state-of-the-art equipment.

Also present at Thursday’s event were staff from the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, an official partner of RWU. The partnership between RWU and NBEP serves as a channel for federal funding for watershed projects that help address the consequences of water pollution, climate change, and environmental inequities and includes an internship program where RWU students can contribute to protecting and improving the bay and surrounding watersheds, gaining valuable real-world experience and training to become the next generation of environmental leaders.