May 15 This tiny island with no humans is getting buried in plastic trash By Nsikan Akpan Henderson Island, a remote locale in the South Pacific, is covered with 37.7 million pieces of plastic debris -- the highest density ever recorded in the world for a beach. Continue reading
Aug 14 Watch 8:26 Can this project clean up millions of tons of ocean plastic? By Saskia de Melker, Melanie Saltzman About 9 million tons of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans every year -- enough to fill a football stadium 23 miles high. But a project dubbed the Ocean Cleanup aims to eliminate it with a method that researchers… Continue watching
Jun 24 Gigantic, floating screen sets course to sift plastic from oceans By Knvul Sheikh, Scientific American If the prototype is successful, a full-scale 100-kilometer-long barrier will be strung out in the Pacific Ocean to collect some 68 million kilograms of floating plastic and trash. Continue reading
Jun 06 Bellies full of microplastic rob baby fish of their basic instincts By Nsikan Akpan European perch stuff themselves with microplastics rather than natural food, derailing their development, according to new research from Sweden. Continue reading
Mar 10 These plastic-munching bacteria could degrade soda bottles in weeks By Nsikan Akpan Scientists in Japan have discovered bacteria that feed on plastic and may change the future of recycling. Continue reading
Feb 12 Level of plastic waste in the ocean higher than previously thought By Anna Sillers About 8 million metric tons of plastic waste makes its way into the oceans each year, according to a study published today by a group of scientists at the UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Continue reading
Jun 27 Study: BPA Makes Male Mice Less Masculine A new study released Monday shows that exposure to a common ingredient in plastic bottles and packaging can cause male mice to act like females. The lead author of the study discusses its significance for humans. Continue reading
Dec 31 China Dairy Exec Pleads Guilty in Melamine Case By PBS News Hour The former chairwoman of a Chinese dairy company implicated in September's tainted milk scandal pled guilty Wednesday to charges of selling "fake or substandard" products. Continue reading
Nov 13 Watch World’s Oceans Face Problem of Plastic Pollution Some researchers believe that more than 5 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean has become a soup of plastic confetti. Now, scientists are trying to quantify the problem and are studying how plastic affects fish, marine mammals and birds. Continue watching
May 20 Watch BPA Dropped From Some Plastics Amid Health Concerns Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a chemical commonly found in hard plastic bottles such as Nalgenes and other everyday plastic products. However, increasing concerns about BPA's alleged toxicity has caused Nalgene to stop using it to make bottles. Continue watching