{"id":20205,"date":"2024-07-29T13:45:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T17:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=20205"},"modified":"2024-08-07T13:47:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T17:47:10","slug":"as-microplastics-threaten-oregons-environment-and-human-health-psu-gets-2m-to-research-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/as-microplastics-threaten-oregons-environment-and-human-health-psu-gets-2m-to-research-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"As microplastics threaten Oregon\u2019s environment and human health, PSU gets $2M to research solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oregonlive<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon\u2019s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be providing almost $2 million in funding to Portland State University to find ways to fight microplastic pollution in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding \u2014 which comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Merkley and Wyden helped pass in 2021 \u2014 comes at a time when Oregon, and much of the modern world,\u00a0is riddled with microplastics,\u00a0<\/a>which are pieces of plastic smaller than five millimeters (about one-fifth of an inch) across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting the Oregon coast \u201cfrom the threat of microplastics is a must,\u201d Wyden said in a statement Friday. \u201cI\u2019m gratified that PSU has earned this federal investment to achieve that goal so coastal communities can keep generating jobs in tourism and preserving every part of Oregon\u2019s 360-plus miles along the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microplastics<\/a>\u00a0have been found in Oregon\u2019s waterways, seafood and the air that Oregonians breathe, said PSU professor Elise Granek, one of the lead researchers on the newly funded project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many microplastics come from larger plastic products that break down, but some of the biggest offenders are plastic fibers in clothing that break down in the laundry and are released into the water through drains or blown into the air by dryer vents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granek said that the Portland metro area alone releases an estimated 4 billion particles of clothing microfibers into waterways each year; she added that those fibers are the most common microplastics found in fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PSU\u2019s new project, Granek said, will collaborate with communities on the Oregon and Washington coasts to test ways to curb microplastic pollution from tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the researchers will work with the Oregon Coast Visitors\u2019 Association, hotels on the coast and other organizations to install various microplastic-filtering devices on washing machines, dryer vents and commercial dishwashers to stop the particles from entering the environment. The researchers will observe the microplastic levels in the area before and after the interventions, as well as in areas without microplastic-blocking devices to assess their effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failing to prevent microplastics from getting into the environment has dramatic impacts on both animal and human health, Granek said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When marine animals accidentally eat microplastics in their environments, it can cause a false sense of feeling full, leading them to eat less and grow smaller, Granek explained. Research also suggests that some microplastics likely affect animals\u2019 reproduction and may cause inflammation and other health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But fish aren\u2019t the only ones harmed by microplastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granek said that studies in the last five years have found microplastics in human blood, lung tissue, breast milk, placentas and even heart tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see effects of these microplastics on animals when we study them,\u201d Granek said. \u201cMany of the effects that we see in other organisms are likely translated into humans as well when they\u2019re exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granek and fellow researchers from the Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon State University and University of Washington have studied the impact of microplastics in the past, but this new research is different, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can keep on studying and documenting the problem in more species and more places, but that doesn\u2019t really solve the problem,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we decided we really wanted to do a project that could start to get at some solutions.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oregonlive Oregon\u2019s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be providing almost $2 million in funding to Portland State University to find ways to fight microplastic pollution in the state. The funding \u2014 which comes from the Infrastructure Investment and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs microplastics threaten Oregon\u2019s environment and human health, PSU gets $2M to research solutions - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/as-microplastics-threaten-oregons-environment-and-human-health-psu-gets-2m-to-research-solutions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As microplastics threaten Oregon\u2019s environment and human health, PSU gets $2M to research solutions - Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oregonlive Oregon\u2019s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be providing almost $2 million in funding to Portland State University to find ways to fight microplastic pollution in the state. 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