Fellowship focus: Understanding the potential health risks of micro-nanoplastics to humans and developing effective mitigation solutions.
Plastics are inexpensive and versatile, making them ubiquitous in modern life, but their widespread use raises health concerns. As plastics degrade in the environment, they form micro-nanoplastics (MNPs), an important emerging focus of research. This Fellowship will assess current academic and research activities across partner institutions to identify interdisciplinary research and training opportunities in MNPs. Key aims include developing a framework for the assessment of human exposure to MNPs both indoors and in ambient environments; creating sustainable mitigation strategies for plastic waste management and control of potential MNP exposures; and exploring alternative and sustainable-by-design plastics for food packaging and beyond. The collaboration allows Professor Demokritou to share his Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center expertise with Professor Kumar’s GCARE lab at the University of Surrey.
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