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A multi-year study on the impact of micro-plastics on marine life is taking place in the Experimental Lakes Area.
Micro-plastics are about the size of a sesame seed, or less than 5 millimeters long.
Pauline Gerrard is the deputy director of the ELA and says three universities, including Lakehead, are taking part in the study.
“This is the third research year that there out,” explains Gerrard.
“The last two years, they’ve been doing work in enclosures. So small, enclosed areas of the lake. This year, we’re doing a whole lake study. We’re adding micro-plastics to the whole lake.”
Gerrard says the lake will be studied intensely for a couple of more years.
“The plan is that we’ll have three years of additions, but we’ll keep studying that lake for a long time after.”
Micro-plastics are a type of pollution and can be used in such things as cosmetics, clothing, and food packaging among other industrial applications.