About the presentation
This event is free and open to the public. It will be held at the University of Illinois Extension Auditorium, 801 N. Country Fair Drive in Champaign on Monday, September 16 at 6 p.m.
Since the emergence of mass-produced plastics in the 1940s, the global appetite for these materials has skyrocketed. Due to their widespread use and disposal, plastics - including microplastics (particles less than 5 mm in size) - are now ubiquitous in the environment. Although there is evidence of wildlife and human exposure to microplastics, no one really knows if they are harmful. What is known about these materials is that they contain coontaminants (additives and heavy metals), can concentrate pollutants and biological materials from the environment, and are extremely persistent. Many research efforts are currently underway to address a number of questions about microplastics; however, there still is a great deal of work to be done.
About the speaker: John W Scott, Senior Chemist, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center
John Scott has been at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) since 2001 and is a senior analytical chemist in the Applied Research on Industrial and Environmental Systems (ARIES) group. His current research interests include microplastics, emerging contaminants in the environment and utilization of waste materials.
