We often hear stories about the problems surrounding plastic and how this material ends up in the environment, but the general attention for this global problem often goes to the extreme areas while there is little focus on the less critical zones.

This is why Jeroen van den Bogaert and Jan Johan Draaistra have kept their research close to home. “two levels of magnitude” focuses on two Dutch scientific marine centers and their way of conducting research of plastic in the North Sea, one of them on a macro level and the other on micro level.

By looking at these two different scales, it becomes clear not only what the status is in terms of plastic quantity in the North Sea, but also what the small scale effects are of these gradually degrading pieces of plastic that may have been swirling around the ocean for decades.

The research on a microscopic level of micro/nano plastics reveal the possible dangers and solutions of the plastic matter in itself. Doing this research can range from collecting samples in several areas to isolating fungi which can later be cultivated and analysed to see how these various fungi react to different types of plastic.

Photo's Roel Backaert