1st expedition to study presence of microplastics in Antarctica

New Delhi: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in cooperation with Argentina, launched its first scientific research expedition to investigate the presence of microplastics in Antarctica as part of efforts to combat this growing environmental problem, even in the planet's most remote areas.

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, and IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi joined the IAEA scientific team at the Marambio and Esperanza Argentine Antarctic Bases to mark the start of their mission on Saturday.

Defence Minister Luis Petri, Interior Minister Guillermo Francos and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino were also present. The two-person research team will then set off for one month to assess the impact of microplastics by investigating its occurrence and distribution in seawater, lakes, sediments, sand, discharge water and animals of the Antarctic ecosystem near the Argentine Carlini scientific research station.

The IAEA mission to Antarctica, the world’s southernmost continent, is being carried out through the IAEA's NUTEC plastics initiative.

Established in 2020, NUTEC is an IAEA flagship initiative to fight plastic pollution with nuclear technologies. Through a network of NUTEC Plastic Monitoring Laboratories, nuclear and isotopic techniques are being used to produce data on marine microplastics distribution by sampling and analysing the prevalence of microplastics in the environment.