ANDROMEDA Project Closing Event

The ANDROEMDA project draws to a close this year, after 3 wonderful years working with our consortium,. To celebrate the conclusion of ANDROMEDA, we held our final project meeting in the beautiful Oranmore, Co. Galway, Ireland on the 13th of September, in advance of the JPI Oceans closing event (14th-15th of September) at the Marine Institute. As part of the day’s proceedings, we discussed our project outputs and successes to date, and planned for upcoming project outputs. 

In the comin months, the ANDROMEDA consortium will deliver a collection of eight protocols (p.15) to address the pressing need for a portfolio of optimal, and fit-for-purpose microplastic methodologies. These will include advanced, high-end techniques which allow the identification of very small micro- (<10 µm) or even nanoplastics (<1 µm) or challenging forms of microplastics such as tire wear particles or paint flakes, as well as so-called cost-effective techniques which use in-situ measurements, less expensive equipment or increased automatization to analyse microplastics often >50, >10 or >300 µm. 

As well as the publication of these  protocols, a special journal issue will be delivered that will focus on innovative research in the field of microplastics and nanoplastics research. This special issue represents a collaboration with JPI Oceans, and the six sister projects funded under the joint action ‘Ecological Aspects of Microplastics’, and will  collate 30 research papers, five of which will be written by the ANDROMEDA consortium.