Fight against microplastics: Groundbreaking invention in the field of packaging materials

Environmentally friendly coating could replace plastic packaging

19-May-2023 - Research is being conducted on biodegradable polymers at the University of Bayreuth. Now an environmentally friendly coating has been developed that could be a full-fledged replacement for the millions of plastic packaging materials used worldwide. The Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1357 ...

First comparative study on automated analysis methods of large data sets in microplastics research

27-Mar-2023 - The lack of uniform analytical standards currently prevents the comparability of data on microplastics in the environment. Researchers from the University of Bayreuth and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have now, for the first time, compared two ...

Microplastics in human tissue samples: International study warns against drawing premature conclusions

12-Dec-2022 - The distribution of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, the potential of human exposure and particle uptake, and the absorption of these particles into tissues are topics that are being intensively researched worldwide. An international research group of the EU project ...

Biodegradable microplastics in soils cause CO₂ emissions to rise

The increase in CO₂ emissions goes hand in hand with the increase in microbial biomass

11-Nov-2022 - Biodegradable microplastic particles in soils can lead to an increased rise in CO₂ emissions to the Earth's atmosphere. This is shown by an interdisciplinary study published in "Applied Soil Ecology" by the Collaborative Research Centre 1357 "Microplastics" at the University of Bayreuth. In this ...

Automated measurement technique for microplastic detection in water

Graduates of the University of Bayreuth receive EXIST start-up scholarship

17-Aug-2022 - Jens Pfeiffer and Valentin Meiler are funded by the EXIST Start-up Grant from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and the European Social Fund (ESF). The funding amount for "MYTRA - Measurement of Microplastics" is over 100,000 euros. The founding team, which so far consists ...

Biodegradable plastic particles in finished compost

Fertilisers from composting plants contain large quantities of biodegradable plastics

01-Jul-2022 - Composting plants process biowaste into finished compost, which ends up as fertiliser in the soils of fields. A study by the University of Bayreuth shows that finished compost from composting plants in Germany contains a large number of biodegradable plastic particles. Applicable legal and ...

Nanoplastic particles love company

Polyethylene degradation in the environment

02-May-2022 - Polyethylene, a plastic that is both cheap and easy to process, accounts for nearly one-third of the world’s plastic waste. An interdisciplinary team from the University of Bayreuth has investigated the progressive degradation of polyethylene in the environment for the first time. Although the ...

Learning from dust: health risks of microparticles

Properties such as size, shape and surface condition of microparticles influence their hazardous potential for humans

20-Jan-2022 - Researchers at the University of Bayreuth want to find out the consequences of inhaled microplastics. In order to better understand them, they have conducted an interdisciplinary study to find out how the health risks of particles such as soot, grinding dust or asbestos are related to their ...

Supposedly similar microplastic particles show different levels of toxicity

"Our study impressively shows how problematic it is to make generalised statements about the health or ecological effects of microplastics"

16-Dec-2021 - More and more studies worldwide are looking into the effects of microplastics, especially with regard to the environment and health. They often use spherical polystyrene microparticles and have arrived at partly contradictory results. An interdisciplinary research team at the University of ...

Rainfall causes microplastic transport into the atmosphere

Up to 100 trillion microplastic particles could enter the atmosphere every year as a result of rainfall

22-Nov-2021 - Oceans, lakes and rivers often contain a large number of microplastic particles on their surface. Impacting raindrops cause many droplets with an almost equally high concentration of microplastics to be thrown up into the air. When they evaporate in the air, the particles enter the atmosphere. ...