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Thomas Ouellette
Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long. As an emerging field of study. Not much is known about them except in theory.

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Bangshuai Han
A lot of scientists are rushing into this field to try to better understand the impacts of my plastics to the environment, ecosystem, and the health of human beings.

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Thomas Ouellette
That's Bangshuai Han, Ball State associate professor of water resources. He supervises the research team, and he calls microplastics an emerging concern.

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Bangshuai Han
If we already know, that is absolutely harmful with a specific concentration that will impact public health, it would have been regulating, right.

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Thomas Ouellette
For the team's first federal grant, it studied microplastics to see how they can be removed from domestic wastewater, studying conditions at the treatment plant in Muncie. The second grant, awarded last week, will continue the study for another two years to see if there are patterns to microplastics showing up in water during different seasons, climate changes and water usage.

00;00;58;22 - 00;01;09;11
Thomas Ouellette
Han says the funding will help cover the cost of sample testing and allow students to purchase minor instruments that can help them more efficiently test water data in Muncie. Thomas Ouellette IPR news.