All news related to Trash Pollution
Microplastics collection method transferred to end users during pair of workshops
SCCWRP and its partners have begun the process of transferring to end users a newly standardized method for collecting samples from drinking water treatment plants in preparation for measuring their ... More
Method developed to measure street sweeping’s effectiveness
SCCWRP and its partners have developed a novel method for quantifying the effectiveness of routine street sweeping in removing contaminants that would otherwise enter storm drains and contribute to runoff ... More
Flume experiments being used to develop standardized collection method for measuring microplastics in stormwater
SCCWRP and its partners are nearing completion on a series of controlled hydraulic flume experiments that will help standardize methods for collecting stormwater samples in preparation for measuring their microplastics ... More
Bight ’23 wraps up shellfish field sampling
The Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has completed field sampling for an ongoing investigation into how multiple types of contaminants accumulate in shellfish – a highly leveraged effort ... More
Lab intercalibration completed to ensure high-quality, comparable data for Bight ’23 microplastics assessment
The Trash and Microplastics study element of the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has successfully completed a laboratory intercalibration exercise to ensure participating laboratories can generate high-quality, comparable ... More
Initial dry-weather sampling completed for study investigating BMPs’ potential to remove microplastics in runoff
SCCWRP and its partners have completed an initial round of dry-weather sampling of the engineered media inside six biofiltration BMPs (best management practices) as part of an ongoing study investigating ... More
Year 1 sampling completed in effort to measure how well bioretention BMPs remove microplastics in runoff
SCCWRP and its partners have completed the first season of wet-weather sampling for a two-year study investigating the effectiveness of bioretention BMPs (best management practices) at removing microplastics pollution from ... More
Special journal issue highlights effort to standardize microplastics measurement methods
An international effort to standardize the methods being used to measure microplastics in a range of aquatic matrices is chronicled in a newly published special issue of the journal Chemosphere. ... More
Year 1 sampling completed for study evaluating collection methods for microplastics in stormwater
SCCWRP and its partners at the University of California, Riverside have completed the first season of wet-weather sample collection as part of a three-year effort to standardize the methods that ... More
Study launched to evaluate collection methods for microplastics in drinking water
SCCWRP and its partners have launched a study comparing the performance of two methods for collecting drinking water samples in preparation for measuring their microplastics content – a key step ... More
Regional BMP monitoring program adds monitoring sites in second year of BMP performance monitoring
The Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC) has expanded the number of structural BMPs where field teams are collecting data on the performance of structural stormwater BMPs as the SMC ... More
Bight ’23 shellfish study to benefit 4 study elements
The 2023 cycle of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program has launched a year-long investigation to comprehensively track the accumulation of multiple different types of contaminants in shellfish – ... More
SMC studies being used to investigate BMPs’ potential to remove microplastics in runoff
SCCWRP and its partners have initiated a pair of studies exploring the potential of different types of stormwater BMPs to reduce microplastics pollution in runoff – with both studies leveraging ... More
First experiment completed for study seeking to close knowledge gaps in microplastics exposure data
SCCWRP and its partners have completed the first of two exposure experiments for a two-year toxicity study working to close knowledge gaps in how aquatic life are adversely affected by ... More
Field sampling completed for Bight ’23 Sediment Quality element
The Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has completed field sampling for its signature Sediment Quality study element – a coordinated, three-month field effort that lays the foundation for ... More
Bight ’23 using newly standardized methods to analyze microplastics in sediment and shellfish
The Trash and Microplastics study element of the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program is leveraging newly standardized methods for collecting and measuring microplastic particles to conduct a regional ... More
Study shows more than 77% of Southern California’s coastal stream kilometers contains trash
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has published the findings of a regional survey of trash in aquatic environments that concluded that 77% of Southern California’s 4,600 miles ... More
Effort underway to more than double size of microplastics toxicity database
SCCWRP and its partners have begun working to nearly double the size of a public, web-based repository of toxicity data that summarizes the health effects of microplastics exposure on humans ... More
Microplastics added as focal point in SMC street sweeping study
Researchers will investigate the effectiveness of street sweeping in removing microplastics that enter storm drains and contribute to runoff pollution as part of a newly launched Southern California Stormwater Monitoring ... More
Effort launched to standardize microplastics sampling methods
A group of international microplastics experts convened by SCCWRP has begun working to standardize the methods that California is using to collect environmental samples in preparation for measuring their microplastics ... More
Effort underway to begin closing gaps in microplastics exposure data
SCCWRP and its partners have begun working to close knowledge gaps in how aquatic life are adversely affected by exposure to microplastics pollution, following the release of a statewide microplastics ... More
SOPs developed to enable laboratory accreditors to evaluate proficiency at measuring microplastics
SCCWRP has completed development of a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that will enable California’s Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP) to evaluate laboratories’ proficiency at measuring microplastics levels in ... More
Special journal issue highlights new scientific tools to support microplastics management
An initial set of scientific products and health thresholds that could form the technical underpinnings for how California protects aquatic life and humans from exposure to microplastics pollution is featured ... More
Standardized microplastics monitoring methods introduced to accreditation agencies
SCCWRP hosted a three-day workshop in April to introduce laboratory accreditation agencies to California’s newly developed draft methods for measuring microplastics in drinking water, including how to evaluate laboratories for ... More
SCCWRP helps establish basis for microplastics management
A series of international SCCWRP-facilitated scientific studies and workshops over the past year examining how to better monitor and understand microplastics contamination is helping to form the scientific foundation for ... More
Consensus reached on how to set thresholds for aquatic life exposed to microplastics
A group of international experts on aquatic microplastics pollution has reached consensus on a recommended framework that California could use to implement health-based thresholds that explain when microplastics contamination at ... More
International study to inform State microplastics policy
The State Water Resources Control Board has begun working to develop a draft policy requiring microplastics to be monitored in drinking water following an international, SCCWRP-facilitated study that evaluated multiple ... More
Researchers reviewing data from international microplastics measurement methods study
An international team of researchers working to develop standardized methods for measuring microplastic particles in aquatic environments has begun meeting to review the results of a recent laboratory intercalibration study ... More
Study to build foundational understanding of microplastics pollution in two major rivers
SCCWRP and its partners are initiating a three-year study to identify the levels, types and distribution of microplastics in two major Southern California rivers – part of a broader effort ... More
Workshop convened to develop expert consensus on microplastics health effects
SCCWRP and its partners have convened a multi-part science workshop to build international expert consensus on the health-based thresholds at which microplastics of different sizes, shapes and compositions can be ... More
International study kicks off to standardize microplastics monitoring methods
SCCWRP and its partners have launched an international study to develop standardized methods for measuring microplastic particles in aquatic environments, an effort that has the potential to improve the accuracy ... More
Study examining spread of microplastic debris through aquatic environments
SCCWRP and its partners have launched a three-year study to examine how microplastic debris is transported via waterways to the coastal ocean and what happens to this pollution once it ... More
EPA method being added to method evaluation study for tracking trash in watersheds
SCCWRP and the San Francisco Estuary Institute will evaluate a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency method for quantifying trash in the environment as part of Year 2 of a study seeking ... More
Study launched to develop standardized approach for tracking tobacco, e-cigarette waste in waterways
SCCWRP and the San Francisco Estuary Institute have launched a year-long study to develop a standardized approach for tracking tobacco and e-cigarette waste in California waterways. The study, which began ... More
International microplastics measurement study being developed following 2-day workshop
A group of international experts on aquatic microplastic pollution that convened at SCCWRP for a two-day workshop in April has begun laying the groundwork to build scientific consensus around methods ... More
Science workshop to jump-start planning for microplastics monitoring in California
Leading international experts on aquatic microplastic pollution will convene at SCCWRP this spring to begin exploring how California could monitor microplastic particles in drinking water and the coastal ocean, a ... More
SMC conducting trash surveys in watersheds to support Bight ’18
The Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC) has launched trash sampling surveys in wadeable streams across coastal Southern California to support the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program’s efforts ... More
Bight ’18 field sampling underway to assess sediment quality
The sampling window for the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program opened July 1, with participants starting to collect seafloor sediments to evaluate the chemical, toxicological and biological health ... More
Study launched to develop standardized approaches for tracking trash in watersheds
SCCWRP and its partners have kicked off a three-year study to develop standardized statewide approaches for tracking the levels and types of trash found in watersheds. Researchers’ goal is to ... More
Bight ’18 keeps focus on key issues of management concern
More than 80 environmental agencies will examine new and emerging developments in water-quality science and management during the 2018 cycle of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program, which initiates ... More
UAS to be used to develop protocols for quantifying trash in waterways
SCCWRP and its partners have kicked off a three-year project to develop standardized methods for quantifying trash in California waterways, including using imagery collected from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to ... More