Projects

Microplastics are found everywhere, in the food we eat, the water we drink and according to the latest scientific research, are present even in human lungs. As a result, efforts to minimize their negative effect on the environment and our health are being intensified.

AKTI implements a three-year research project, which is the first of its kind in Cyprus and aims to highlight the detrimental effects of microplastics on the marine environment. It includes sampling at 10 beaches in Cyprus – five popular and five remote during both the summer and winter months and laboratory analysis will be done at the Department of Civil Engineering lab of the University of Cyprus.

With 2022 as the base-line year, these first results will identify the four most microplastic-polluted beaches. These locations will then receive more detailed monitoring, sampling and analysis, in the following two years on the abundancy, and type, of microplastics. The research project will create the first data series of systematic microplastics monitoring in Cyprus.

This field work will provide valuable data to guide the policies against plastic pollution, since it will give the first indication in the eastern Mediterranean of microplastics concentration on beaches. AKTI plans to engage interns, university science students, citizens and volunteers to help with the project.

This project is supported by Columbia Shipmanagement.