Microplastics as an environmental risk: UAS Technikum Wien invited students to workshops

In order to make the population more aware of the important issue of microplastics and especially to educate children about the problem, workshops for children of the elementary school Galileigasse and Marktgasse took place at the University of Applied Sciences on May 10 and 25, 2023. As part of a project funded by the City of Vienna, a team from the FH Technikum Wien has been working on the topic of “Microplastics and nanoparticles as environmental risks” for some time.

What is plastic and where does it occur?

The students were able to work on various aspects of the topic of plastic in small groups and also act as researchers themselves. Under the guidance of experts from the Faculty of Life Science Engineering, the students at the first station dealt with the question of what plastic actually is and where it is found. The raw materials from which plastics are made were discussed, as well as the question of what types of plastics there are, whether they can be recycled and what everyday objects are made from them.

Another workshop station focused on the formation of microplastics. The students were able to practice microscopy and conduct several experiments with microplastics. Finally, the third station was dedicated to the question of what role microorganisms and earthworms play in the degradation of plastic and exactly how microplastic affects our environment and why it is problematic for the environment.

“It was great to observe how much curiosity and interest the kids showed in dealing with the topic and how many questions we were able to answer within this framework,” says Elisabeth Simböck, who heads the microplastics project at the FH Technikum Wien. “Nano- and micro-plastic particles can now be found everywhere in the environment and also have a potentially harmful impact on humans. Today’s young generation will have to live with the consequences of this for much longer than we adults will. With the workshops, we therefore wanted to sensitize children of elementary school age to the issue and raise awareness.”

About the microplastics project

As part of the project funded by the City of Vienna, a competence team at UAS Technikum Wien has already been working on the environmental risks of plastic particles for more than two years. In the course of the project, the topic was also anchored as a focus in the master’s program in ecotoxicology and environmental management. Among other things, the students deepen their knowledge of the effectiveness of microplastics and nanoparticles in practice-oriented research projects. “Our goal in the project is also to get a better overall picture and to understand how certain substances affect an ecosystem and us humans,” explains project leader Simböck.