Microplastics

Background: Marine plastic pollution has become an alarming issue under our changing climate.  Due to a lack of proper management of plastics, large amounts enter the world’s oceans where they accumulate in large amounts.  As plastics remain in the marine environment, they continue to break apart into smaller plastic particles and are called microplastics and nanoplastics.  The Mediterranean Sea, in particular, is susceptible to plastic pollution as it is a semi-closed basin with many countries bordering it and using its resources.  A number of these countries are defined as developing, faced with issues in their waste management regime. As a result, the Mediterranean Sea is considered one of the most highly polluted seas in the world, with concentrations exceeding that of known accumulation areas in the world’s oceans. 

Research Goals: Very little information has been collected on microplastics in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and no baseline established as to which organisms are ingesting microplastics.  In this study, we investigated the unique interactions between microplastics and different fish species in the local Israeli waters

Ph.D. candidate 

​

debiramon@gmail.com