Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – APU Chemistry and Environmental Sciences professor Dee Barker is studying microplastics in Alaska’s waterways. To identify these tiny particles, she filters water samples and examines them under a microscope, using an infrared microscope to confirm their plastic nature.
Microplastics are not only found in drinking water but also in subsistence animals like fish, caribou, and moose. These plastics pose health risks, including infertility, cancer, and organ issues. Barker explains that microplastics can carry toxins into the body, increasing their harmful effects.
APU will receive about $5 million in NASA grant funding to establish a microplastics research and education center. This funding will help purchase a state-of-the-art Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, allowing researchers to identify plastics without transferring slides between different machines. The new equipment will also enable clearer imaging of microplastics as small as five microns, the size of a red blood cell.
APU Provost Hilton Hallock said the grant will also support internships and tuition stipends for students from rural areas, equipping them with skills to monitor microplastics in their communities.
The funding provides opportunities for collaboration with NASA researchers studying the impact of microplastics on atmospheric systems. Barker hopes that understanding where microplastics accumulate will lead to solutions for removing them from the environment.
The funding is expected to start in October, as part of NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project Institutional Research Opportunity, supporting universities like APU that serve minority students.
