News

Microplastics can spread via flying insects, research shows

Photograph: Al-Jaibachi et al/Biology Letters: Fluorescent microplastics (bright green) are visible inside an adult mosquito. The particles can then spread to animals that eat the insects.  Microplastic can escape from polluted waters via flying insects, new research has revealed, contaminating new environments and threatening birds and other creatures that eat the insects. Scientists fed microplastics…
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CleanAtlantic will attend the European Week of Regions and Cities

The CleanAtlantic project has been invited to attend the European Week of Regions and Citities. The project will be presented in the exhibition “Made in Interreg: A Journey into Transnational Cooperation”.  The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs,…
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Our 2nd newsletter is already available!

Check out our 2nd newsletter, in which you will learn about the project progress on the different tasks and activities carried out in the last four months (from May to August 2018). The newsletter will inform you also on project events, meetings, and planned activities for the following months. You can download it in the…
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Marine litter: a new source of warming gases

Young researcher Sarah-Jeanne Royer set out to measure methane gas coming from biological activity in sea water. Instead, in a “happy accident” she found that the plastic bottles holding the samples were a bigger source of this powerful warming molecule than the bugs in the water. Now she’s published further details in a study into the potential…
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Galicia lidera varias iniciativas para combatir la basura marina

Puede que no lo sepa, pero cada vez que come, bebe o incluso respira está tragando plástico. Es cierto que son minúsculas partículas, pero la exposición permanente a ellas puede suponer una amenaza aún desconocida para nuestra salud. Y es solo una pequeñísima parte de los problemas que generan los 25 millones de toneladas de residuos de este material que…
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New roadmap toward healthier and cleaner oceans adopted by UN Environment and European Commission

Today, UN Environment and the European Commission agreed to deepen  their cooperation through the 2018 Oceans Roadmap 2.0,  addressing in particular the threats of pollution and marine litter, in line with UN Environment and EC international commitments and the implementation of ocean related Sustainable Development Goals. The Roadmap 2.0 on Healthy, Productive and Resilient Oceans sees…
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Microbeads ban comes into force in the UK

A ban on the sale of products containing plastic “microbeads”, such as face scrubs and toothpaste, comes into force today in the UK. The ban on the sale of rinse-off cosmetics which contain the tiny pieces of plastic is part of efforts to prevent them being washed down the drain and ending up in rivers…
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CleanAtlantic was presented in the OSPAR ICG-ML

CleanAtlantic participated in the Intersessional Correspondence Group on Marine Litter organised by OSPAR on the 13th-14th June 2018. The meeting was hosted in Berlin (Germany) and chaired by Stefanie Werner (DE) and Mareike Erfeling. For more details please visit the OSPAR website. The project was presented by our colleagues from DROTA (Pedro Sepúlveda) and CEDRE (Loïc…
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La OCU halla microplásticos en el 68% de alimentos marinos analizados

La Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios (OCU) ha encontrado microplásticos en 69 de los 102 alimentos de origen marino (68%) que han analizado, entre los que había muestras de sal, moluscos y crustáceos. Las muestras de sal, mejillones, almejas, chirlas, langostinos, langosta y gambas contenían principalmente microfibras y microfilms, según ha detallado la OCU en un comunicado. En el caso…
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The planet is on edge of a global plastic calamity

We urgently need consumers, business and governments to cut consumption of single-use, throwaway plastics, writes the UN Environment chief Plastic pollution has grabbed the world’s attention, and with good cause. More than 100 years after its invention, we’re addicted. To pass a day without encountering some form of plastic is nearly impossible. We’ve always been…
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