Another Day Another Dollar

Our Abstract has been formally submitted for the symposium. (Yay!)

All of Julie's samples are processed and the data is in her electronic hands. (Yay again!)

Now Team, we need to get a boat and tow our manta net through some Lake Washingtons!

Tuesday catch-up

Came to our attention on Tuesday that we had a couple samples from before the break that hadn't been processed, so we boiled down the Comm Bay (pm) tow and the QMH tow. Both samples were then placed in they drying oven for Weds processing.

Wednesday approacheth

For Weds we've got a pretty complete draft of our abstract to play with, and Deb's husband has made some equipment for us so we're going to hike out to "the pipe" and see what happens. I think we also need a progress report - I'd be happy to type that up, its much easier now with the blog, you just summarize the last few posts!

See you all on Weds - I'm eager to get out into "the field"

Our Abstract so far

Plastic debris in water systems has long been a source of concern, and recently an international effort has been made to address the unique problems presented by the small pieces of plastic suspended in water , >1.6µg. Quantifying these microplastics contributes to a clearer picture of marine and freshwater pollution. Initial efforts to quantify mircoplastics have concentrated on marine environments. This study attempts to investigate the origin of microplastics found in Puget Sound by sampling Lake Washington and surrounding watershed.

This study utilizes the sampling and processing protocol developed by researchers at University of Washington, Tacoma.

Multiple water samples were collected from basins and waterways that populate Lake Washington for the purpose of quantifying the presence of microplastics. The sites sampled include the Cedar River Basin, Sammamish River Basin, Ship Canal Bridge, North Coast of Mercer Island and the Coast of Kirkland, one of Lake Washington’s busiest leisure areas. Two methods were used for the collection of samples. For the in-flows from the basins a line was drawn across the surface of the water with a drift net attachment and a flow meter to track the rate of the water entering Lake Washington. For samples gathered in the middle of the lake, a drift net was set aft of our small sailing vessel by a pole and rope. The drift net remained in the epilimnion of the Lake which is 12m deep (Washington.gov). We trolled at no less than .5 knots and no greater than 5 knots. The samples were then brought to a lab for processing. Processed samples were examined under a microscope and plastic pieces <>

Processed samples were found to have less than 1mg of non organic debris per (unit volume) of water flow. The presence of these microplastics is most likely due to urban waste run-off and further study is warranted.

What got done on Friday 2.11.11

Friday was pretty productive, we fleshed out an abstract draft, processed one of the bucket samples and then decided to see what the fibers we're finding in all these samples look like under closer inspection. With the help of Kat we got some pretty good images! Below are pictures of a blue fiber, some clear fibers, and what they look like on the sieve

Pre-UTF fund buying

Hey gang, so it looks like we're going to get our hands on a flow meter and a cod-end assembly prior to our UTF funding. Thank Frank for his quick action on this, and hopefully we'll be able to start sampling sooner than we thought!

Some Ideas for the Abstract

These are just some ideas, not meant to be anything other than a rough (incomplete) outline.



Some Title Ideas (forgive my poor attempts at humor, I've had a lot of coffee)

1.Quantifying Microplastics in Urban Run-off
2.The Small bits of Plastic Going Down a Drain Near You!
3.Microplastic Collection and Concentration in Urban Run-Off
4.Microplastic Concentration and Collection in Urban Runoff
5.NSCC's Microplasticpalooza
6. Microplastics in Seattle-Tacoma Urban Run-off
7.Microplastics in Urban Runoff
8.Deadliest Catch: Microplastics edition
9.More Plastic than Plankton? Quantifying Microplastics in Urban Runoff
10.Microplastics Concentration in Urban Runoff





Importance of Study:

Plastic debris in water systems has long been a source of concern, and recently an international effort has been made to address the unique problems presented by small pieces of plastic suspended in water. Quantifying these microplastics contributes to a clearer picture of marine and freshwater pollution.

Clear statement of purpose:

Sampling urban runoff from the Seattle metropolitan in order to contribute to the wider question concerning where microplastics in marine environments come from.

NSCC bucket-samples 2.11.11

Calling all microplastics types - are we on for Friday processing? We also have an abstract draft to finish and submit for revision, so Friday (2.11.11) is shaping up to be a busy day. Reply if you're going to be here please!

Friday 2.4.2011

- Boiled down all the NSCC bucket samples
- Picked out plastic from the Whidbey basin tow
- Debra worked on creating a flow-chart for the lab method

Left 1 of the NSCC bucket samples covered in tin foil in care of Frank et al to be processed on Monday.

memo

Past Progress

We completed our UTF proposal and are currently waiting to hear back from the grant organization. The total of the grant was projected to be approximately $2000. We will organize our presentation in the coming week.

The scope of the project has widened in regards to the amount of data we plan to gather once the grant comes through. Two team members will focus on gathering samples from Lake Washington while the other two members will focus on collecting samples from drains and water basins that empty into lake Washington. These two areas of focus will provide the team with enough information to hypothesize where the majority of micoplastics come from in lake Washington.

On Friday, the 28^th of January, Debra utilized the organic chemistry lab to finish processing the [name] bay sample Julie brought us.

Future Plans

This coming Friday we will go to the organic chemistry lab on the North seattle campus to process the water samples collected by Debra and Moira from the local drains for the purpose of becoming familiar with the technique designed to extract microplastics from water samples. The plan is be there from 9am until the drying stage is reached in the procedure.

In the next two weeks we plan to fully lay out the map for sample sites. Already planning on taking samples from Lake Washington’s primary inflow and outflow sites, additional site will be chosen based on calculations relating to the physical properties of Lake Washington, i.e. winds, shorelines, natural currents, etc…