FisheriesUniversity of Chittagong researchers found nine kinds of plastic particle in six species of dried fish from Cox's Bazar, Teknaf, Kuakata and Dublar Char; the study is in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
FisheriesA study led by Professor Badiuzzaman Khan of BAU found microplastics in the sediment of all 25 fish ponds sampled in Trishal, Mymensingh, averaging 11.04 particles per kilogram, and 90 particles in 150 farmed fish of six species.
FisheriesResearchers from Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and Noakhali Science and Technology University have found microplastics in Kaptai Lake's fish, water and bed sediment; scientists say people need not stop eating the fish, but the sources of plastic must be shut off.
FisheriesTwo studies found high levels of plastic particles in Sundarbans river water and silt, plastic in mud crabs' gills and guts, and lead, nickel and cadmium well above safe limits in three popular fish of the Pasur river.
FisheriesBangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute studies found an average of seven or more microplastic particles in commercial Bay of Bengal fish; fishers say plastic now comes up in every net, and a BRAC survey puts plastic reaching Cox's Bazar's sea at 34.5 tonnes a day.
HealthAn ongoing doctoral study at MIT World Peace University detected fibres, fragments and pellets in freshwater fish entering Pune, estimating that a regular eater could ingest 93,600-124,800 particles over 50 years; detailed polymer analysis is still under way.
About 40 per cent of the second-hand clothing that reaches Ghana each week from the US, Europe and Australia is unusable; it ends up in drains and dumps, washes onto the beaches and breaks into microplastics.
EnvironmentResearchers found plastic waste 15 to 17 years old 15 feet down in the Buriganga's bed; fish from the river carry more microplastics than fish from the Bay of Bengal, and Sundarbans water holds 23.25 particles a litre.
EnvironmentBangladesh produces about 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste a day, much of it ending up in rivers; microplastics have been found in Buriganga fish and crabs, while the polythene ban and court orders go unenforced.
HealthColumbia University scientists using a special laser technique found an average of about 240,000 plastic particles per litre of bottled water, most of them nanoplastics, against earlier estimates of around 5,000, Indian Express Bangla reports.
Patuakhali Science and Technology University has opened two labs using fluorescence fingerprinting and chemometrics to check the freshness, adulteration and microplastic content of fish and seafood in seconds to minutes.
Turpin Farms near Cincinnati, in the same family since 1785 and an Ohio Conservation Farm Family Award winner, uses endophyte grasses, mycorrhizae and growth regulators to turn out turf in four to five months instead of a year or two.
AgrotechBurnaby's Lucent BioSciences will use up to C$1,976,150 from the Agricultural Clean Technology Program to develop a biodegradable starch-based coating for controlled-release nitrogen fertiliser, replacing the polymer shells that leave microplastics in soil.
