New microplastics laboratory opens at PSU

Portland State University now houses the Oregon Microplastics Analytical Research Center (OMARC), the first laboratory in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to analyzing and identifying microplastic pollution. This state-of-the-art scientific facility will serve as a critical resource for better understanding the presence and effects of plastic in organisms and natural systems across the region.

Microplastics — synthetic materials less than five millimeters in size — have quickly become a ubiquitous contaminant in natural systems globally.

"As evidence continues to mount demonstrating the ecological and human health threats posed by microplastic pollution, the Pacific Northwest needs an analytical research center to process samples and share data with other scientists, decision makers, and the public,” said Elise Granek, a professor of environmental science and management at PSU and the principal investigator at OMARC. “Our goal is for OMARC to be that center.”

OMARC is the result of a multi-year collaboration between PSU and Oregon State University. In collaboration with U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, PSU was awarded a portion of congressionally directed spending (CDS) from the FY2023 federal appropriations cycle (NA23OAR4690595) to procure state-of-the-art instrumentation for microplastic analysis. Granek worked closely with Susanne Brander, an ecotoxicologist and a former faculty member at OSU, to bring a microplastics lab to fruition.

“Having cutting-edge instrumentation in the Pacific Northwest will help advance microplastics science by making newer analytical techniques more accessible, and will create new collaborations too,” said Brander, who now serves as project director for The Pews Charitable Trusts' Safer Chemicals Project.

OMARC is accepting environmental samples for processing. To learn more about OMARC, visit https://sites.google.com/pdx.edu/omarc/home.