Measuring and Managing Microplastics with Dr. Stephanie Wright

Finding Genius Podcast

Richard Jacobs

Medicine, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2020

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Research Fellow at Imperial College London, Dr. Stephanie Wright, shares the expertise she's gained over the course of nearly a decade researching the biological and environmental impacts of microplastic pollution.

Press play to learn:

How up to 90% of household synthetic fibers may end up as soil conditioner to agricultural fields
By what chemical and physical mechanisms plastics turn into microplastics
Approximately how many microplastic particles we are exposed to on a daily basis through diet

Where does that plastic soda bottle you're drinking from end up? How does the mere friction produced by your movement release synthetic clothing fibers into the environment, and where do those end up? What are "microplastic sinks" and where are they found? These are just a few of the questions explored by Dr. Wright, who's been fascinated by marine biology since the early days of undergraduate school.

At the time, she was doing lab-based research on the impact of microplastic ingestion by marine worms. The findings showed negative effects, including less feeding and a compromised ability to store energy. What might this suggest about the impact of microplastic pollution in the marine environment and on other species?

Her current area of research is on human exposure to and human health effects of airborne microplastic pollution, which she says requires a strong focus on analytical techniques since the particles of interest are on the micron scale. These particles can enter the central airway and lower lung, and part of her research aims to identify evidence of this internal exposure and better understand how microplastics affect human cells of the airway. Are microplastics even toxic, and if so, what exactly makes them toxic? What are some potential microplastics pollution solutions and reduction strategies?

Tune in for all the details on these important topics, and learn more at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/s.wright19https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/s.wright19.

Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

Transcript

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0:00.0	Forget frequently asked questions common sense common knowledge or Google how about advice from a real genius
0:06.8	95% of people in any profession are good enough to be qualified and licensed 5% go and beyond. They become very good at what they do.
0:15.0	But only 0.1% are real Jesus.
0:18.3	Richard Jacobs has made it his life's mission to find them for you.
0:22.3	He hunts down and interviews geniuses in every
0:24.7	field, sleep science, cancer, stem cells, ketogenic diets and more. Here come the geniuses.
0:30.1	This is the Finding Genius Podcast.
0:33.0	That is Richard Jacobs.
0:35.0	Hello, this is Richard Jacobs with the Finding Genius Podcast.
0:42.0	My guest today is Dr. Stephanie Wright. She's a
0:44.8	research fellow at Imperial College London. For some reason I thought she was
0:48.8	thousands of miles away in Australia. I don't know why, but she's in London.
0:52.3	So we're going to talk about
0:54.0	our research into microplastics, perhaps nanoplastics, microplastics.
0:58.9	Stephanie, thanks for coming. Hi Richard, thank you for having me.
1:02.6	Yeah, so what got you interested in studying this stuff?
1:06.4	So I did marine biology, that was my undergraduate degree and just loved it I was a massive geek went to every
1:16.0	lecture love my practicals love learning and someone suggested well my tutor
1:20.7	there suggested I think about a PhD and one of the sort of standout themes or
1:26.1	modules I took was a pollution in toxicology module and so that really triggered my interest in pursuing that kind of research further and I came
1:36.8	across an advert for a PhD in toxicology or what we call eco-toxicology at the University of Exeter.
1:45.0	It was to study microplastics at the time I had no idea what they were, had never heard of them.
	...

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