Microplastic pollution and the effects of phthalates and other plastic-born chemicals on Alaska’s ecosystems and Alaskans’ health
July 28, 2021 @ 10:00am (AKDT)
On July 28, CHE-Alaska was joined by Veronica Padula from the Bering Sea Campus and Research Center at the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island to hear about her ongoing research and results from a 2020 study ‘Plastic-derived contaminants in Aleutian Archipelago seabirds…”. Phthalates, a known endocrine disruptor, were found in 100% of birds studied. Her work highlights the growing concern for high microplastic concentrations in remote environments and the potential toxic effects of chemical contaminants from plastics moving across the biological boundary into marine food webs. Contaminant circulation in food webs may also play a role in human exposure to phthalates and other plastic-dervied toxics.
Featured speakers
Veronica Padula is the Academic Program Director at the Bering Sea Campus and Research Center at Aleut Community of St. Paul Island. She received her Master’s in Fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in 2013 and is currently working on her PhD at the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at UAF, investigating the impacts of plastic marine debris and phthalate exposure on Bering Sea food webs. Her work also explores trends in marine debris in this region and threats to subsistence species on St. Paul Island, Alaska.