WASHINGTON, DC – Researchers have estimated that the bottom of Narragansett Bay is now covered with a layer of tiny plastic particles, commonly referred to as ‘microplastics,’ that is about 2 inches deep.

While microplastics are found everywhere these days, from products on the shelves to streams across the planet, experts are racing to better understand and inform the public about the impacts that these pollutants have on public health, ecosystems, and the environment.

These scientists include URI associate professor of chemical, biomolecular, and materials engineering, Daniel Roxbury, who is leading a URI research team dedicated to informing local communities about the dangers of microplastics and key steps to take in reducing plastics pollution. Roxbury’s research team was just awarded $7 million in federal research funding through the National Science Foundation (NSF) EPSCoR E-RISE Program.

Senator Reed, a longtime proponent of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program at NSF, welcomed the funding and thanked URI researchers for helping to increase knowledge about microplastics and better inform local, state, and national mitigation plans for plastics pollution.

“Microplastics are a macro-problem. We need comprehensive, coordinated action to help protect people, communities, and public and environmental health.  Researchers at URI have been on the cutting-edge of this kind of discovery,” said Senator Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who advocates each year for increased NSF research funding and has led efforts to ensure Rhode Island’s eligibility for the EPSCoR program since 2004.  “This federal investment in URI’s important research comes at a time when the Trump Administration’s attacks on higher education and federal research funding threatens our understanding of science and the world we live in.  But developing a better understanding of microplastics is not a partisan issue – it’s a public health, economic, and environmental imperative.  I’m proud of the top-notch work Rhode Island scientists are doing and will continue fighting to support their work with federal research investments.”

EPSCOR is designed to fulfill NSF’s mandate to promote scientific progress nationwide.  Through the program, NSF establishes partnerships with government, higher education, and industry that are designed to effect lasting improvements in a state’s or region’s academic research infrastructure, research and development (R&D) capacity, and hence, its national R&D competitiveness.

Researchers and scientists at URI will use the $7 million federal grant to advance a four year project in partnership with local stakeholders and other colleges and universities, such as Brown University, Roger Williams University, and Rhode Island College, to educate Rhode Islanders about microplastics in the coastal ecosystem and develop better tracking, modeling, and research processes that help identify sources of pollution.

The research project also aims to better understand the impact of microplastics on the livelihoods of Rhode Islanders who work on the Bay or in other local coastal waters.  

Last August, Senator Reed joined Save the Bay and top researchers from Roger Williams University and URI to discuss the threat of microplastics and outline steps that households, communities, and elected officials can take to better protect people from the threat of microplastic pollution and preserve access to clean, safe water. Reed and the advocates called for stepped-up research, regulation, and coordinated action around plastic pollution.