Image credit: National Park Service.
Recommended for funding, pending NOAA approval.
Microplastics, plastic particles smaller than five millimeters, are an emerging threat to our freshwater ecosystems. While they are present in Lake Superior, it's not clear where they come from or where they go.
This project will track how microplastics enter and leave Lake Superior. Researchers will estimate how they arrive via the air, streams, and wastewater, and how they settle on the lake bottom or flow downstream, to better understand their overall impact on the Great Lakes.
Project description
This project seeks to create a mass balance (or budget) for microplastics in Lake Superior. Just like a financial budget tracks income and expenses, this study tracks the influx (inputs) and efflux (outputs) of plastic particles.
The research team will:
Identify sources: Quantify microplastic inputs from representative North and South shore streams, Duluth’s storm water systems, and wastewater treatment effluent.
Measure atmospheric input: Conduct the first-ever systematic study of microplastics falling from the sky into the Lake Superior basin.
Track the sinks: Analyze lake sediments to determine how much plastic is being buried on the lake floor versus being washed downstream or degraded.
Calculate residence time: Determine how long a plastic particle stays in the lake, which helps predict how quickly the water will "clean itself" if we reduce plastic use.
Why Sea Grant?
This project supports Minnesota Sea Grant's focus area on Healthy Coastal Ecosystems. Lake Superior contains 10% of the world’s surface freshwater and is the headwater for the entire Great Lakes system. Because microplastics can carry toxins and enter the food web, understanding their residence time is critical for evaluating the risk they pose to Great Lakes environments and communities. This project fulfills the goal of providing communities with the best available science to manage our changing environment.
Project team
Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth Minor, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Professor, Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Minnesota Duluth
Co-Principal Investigator:
Melissa Mauer-Jones, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Minnesota Duluth
Funding
This project has been recommended for funding, pending NOAA approval, through the 2026-2028 Minnesota Sea Grant Biennial RFP. This work is supported by the Minnesota Sea Grant College Program using federal and/or matching funds under award NA24OARX417C0033-T1-01 from the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Lead scientist(s)
Elizabeth Minor, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Professor, Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry
University of Minnesota Duluth