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Title Description Type of Content
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) is a collaboration… Event
Statewide Plastics Monitoring Strategy: Community Engagement If you are a community member interested in plastics and California's environment, then this page… Project
SFEI Scientist Interviewed on Microplastics for Maven's Notebook Senior scientist Ezra Miller was interviewed in Maven's Notebook about SFEI's groundbreaking… News
"Unique as Snowflakes": Understanding Tire Particles Techniques to isolate and identify tire particles will pave the way for better microplastic… News
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
Microplastics Symposium 2019   About the Event It is possible to view the symposium via live stream. The videos for the… Event
SF Chronicle: Huge amounts of plastic, much of it from car tires, washing into SF Bay, SFEI study finds The San Francisco Chronicle highlighted some of the surprising and alarming findings produced by… News
The Guardian publishes on article on SFEI's microplastics study, further extending the report's reach Maanvi Singh from the US edition of the Guardian, based in the UK, writes, “It was basically… News
Wired Magazine: A new report shows an astounding amount of microplastics, largely from car tires, are tainting the watershed Matt Simon from Wired Magazine writes: San Francisco Bay, like Monterey Bay to its south, is a rare… News
Understanding Urban Stormwater Urban stormwater is an important way microplastics spread in the environment. The RMP developed… Focus Area
Microplastics (RMP Workgroup) RMP microplastics science informs local, state, and national decisions to protect the environment.… Focus Area
Microplastics & Other Plastics Contamination Our unbiased, scientifically rigorous microplastics data collection and interpretation has provided… Focus Area
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
Statewide Plastics Monitoring Strategy & Planning Framework: Public Review The report describes a statewide strategy and pilot program for monitoring macro- and microplastics… Project
Statewide Plastics Monitoring Strategy & Planning Framework SFEI, on behalf of the California Ocean Protection Council, is facilitating the development of a… Project
Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
Russian River Regional Monitoring Program: Comprehensive Basemap of Surface Waters and Riparian Areas SFEI is supporting regional and state organizations in developing and implementing the R3MP, which… Project
Vehicle Tires Threaten Water Quality Update: On October 1, 2023: California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) 6PPD… News
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
A Synthesis of Microplastic Sources and Pathways to Urban Runoff What do clothes dryers and car tires have in common? Both release microplastic pollution into the… News
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
Next Generation Urban Greening SFEI is working with partners across the Bay Area to design tools to help cities achieve… Project
Big problem, small size: Improving methods in microplastics research When it comes to plastic pollution, that candy wrapper half buried in the dirt is only the tip of… News
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
Groundbreaking SFEI and 5 Gyres microplastics study featured in multiple media outlets Concurrent with a sold-out symposium on Oct 2nd, media outlets, including the Mercury News, San… News
In LA Times: The SF Bay Microplastics study called "the most comprehensive study to date on microplastics in California." Rosanna Xia with the LA Times relates some important findings from the new microplastics study,… News
San Jose Mercury News highlights the findings of an SFEI microplastics report Paul Rogers released an article in the San Jose Mercury News regarding this microplastics… News
2019 Symposium on San Francisco Microplastics The San Francisco Estuary Institute and the 5 Gyres Institute have completed a first-of-its-kind,… Event
Investigating Dryers as a Major Source of Microplastics This unique study will be the first to consider whether clothing dryers are a significant source of… Project
SFEI at California Water Boards Water Data Science Symposium SFEI’s Diana Lin and Tony Hale will be presenting at the California Water Boards Water Data Science… Event
2019 Bay RMP Microplastic Workgroup Meeting Event
California Trash Monitoring Methods Project The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC), in close partnership with the State Water Board, has… Project
SFEI Science at International Marine Debris Conference (March 12-16) SFEI science will feature prominently at the Sixth International Marine Debris Conference in San… News
These scientists want you to rethink how you use plastics: SFEI and 5 Gyres issue a new video The short (3-min) video summarizes the goals of the SF Bay Microplastics Project, which aims to… News
Bay RMP Microplastics Workgroup Meeting Event
Local News: Scientists launch major study of microplastics pollution in San Francisco Bay SFEI and The 5 Gyres Institute have launched an ambitious two-year research project to monitor San… News
Hunting for Plastic in California’s Protected Ocean Waters Rebecca Sutton, Meg Sedlak, and Diana Lin of SFEI, in partnership with Carolynn Box of 5 Gyres… News
East Bay Express Insert for Coastal Cleanup Day Just in time for California Coastal Cleanup Day, an insert in today’s East Bay Express provides… News
New Microplastic Pollution Study to Launch in San Francisco Bay and Adjacent Ocean Waters A two-year investigation on microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in San Francisco Bay and the… News
Estuary News features RMP study on microplastic pollution December's issue of Estuary News features an article, "Unhealthy Fiber in Bay Diet," that… News
Dr. Rebecca Sutton interviewed on KGO-TV about the potential impact of synthetic clothing on San Francisco Bay In a story called "Synthetic Clothes May Be Polluting San Francisco Bay," KGO-TV's Dan Ashley… News
GreenPlan-IT GreenPlan-IT is a versatile open-source toolset that helps aid municipalities with their efforts to… Project

Publications

Title Abstract Year of Publication
Load and concentration based performance outcomes for emerging organic contaminants in bioretention stormwater treatment systems The performance capabilities of bioretention systems for a range of stormwater constituents remain lightly characterized, particularly for emerging organic contaminants. To address this gap, we… 2026
Next Generation Urban Greening: GSI monitoring results fact sheet 2025
Where the rubber meets the road: Emerging environmental impacts of tire wear particles and their chemical cocktails About 3 billion new tires are produced each year and about 800 million tires become waste annually. Global dependence upon tires produced from natural rubber and petroleum-based compounds represents… 2024
Microplastics Monitoring and Science Strategy for San Francisco Bay 2024 Revision 2024
Residential Wastewater as a Major Source of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances to Municipal Wastewater Identification of major sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater requires comprehensive evaluation, as wastewater is a pathway for a wide range of PFAS products in use, and… 2024
Tire Wear: Emissions Estimates and Market Insights to Inform Monitoring Design Every vehicle on the road sheds tiny particles from its rubber tires into the environment. Tire wear is one of the top sources of microplastic releases to the environment. Tire wear also disperses… 2023
A living tool for the continued exploration of microplastic toxicity Throughout the past decade, many studies have reported adverse effects in biota following microplastic exposure. Yet, the field is still emerging as the current understanding of microplastic toxicity… 2022
Research recommendations to better understand the potential health impacts of microplastics to humans and aquatic ecosystems To assess the potential risk of microplastic exposure to humans and aquatic ecosystems, reliable toxicity data is needed. This includes a more complete foundational understanding of microplastic… 2022
Risk-based management framework for microplastics in aquatic ecosystems Microplastic particles (MPs) are ubiquitous across a wide range of aquatic habitats but determining an appropriate level of risk management is hindered by a poor understanding of environmental risk.… 2022
Microplastics from Tire Particles in San Francisco Bay Fact Sheet As we drive our cars, our tires shed tiny particles When it rains, stormwater runoff carries tire particles—and the toxic chemicals they contain—from city streets and highways to storm drains and… 2022
A ubiquitous tire rubber-derived chemical induces acute mortality in coho salmon In U.S. Pacific Northwest coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), stormwater exposure annually causes unexplained acute mortality when adult salmon migrate to urban creeks to reproduce. By investigating… 2021
A Synthesis of Microplastic Sources and Pathways to Urban Runoff California Senate Bill 1263 (2018) tasks the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) with leading statewide efforts to address microplastic pollution, and requires the OPC to adopt and implement a Statewide… 2021
Holistic Assessment of Microplastics and Other Anthropogenic Microdebris in an Urban Bay Sheds Light on Their Sources and Fate The physical and chemical properties of microplastics and their environmental distributions may provide clues about their sources and inform their fate. We demonstrate the value of extensive… 2021
Microplastics and other anthropogenic particles are prevalent in mussels from San Francisco Bay, and show no correlation with PAHs Microplastics are an emerging contaminant of high environmental concern due to their widespread distribution and availability to aquatic organisms. Filter-feeding organisms like bivalves have been… 2021
Urban Stormwater Runoff: A Major Pathway for Anthropogenic Particles, Black Rubbery Fragments, and Other Types of Microplastics to Urban Receiving Waters Stormwater runoff has been suggested to be a significant pathway of microplastics to aquatic habitats; yet, few studies have quantified microplastics in stormwater. Here, we quantify and characterize… 2021
Recommended Best Practices for Collecting, Analyzing, and Reporting Microplastics in Environmental Media: Lessons Learned from Comprehensive Monitoring of San Francisco Bay Microplastics are ubiquitous and persistent contaminants in the ocean and a pervasive and preventable threat to the health of marine ecosystems. Microplastics come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes,… 2020
Think Global, Act Local: Local Knowledge Is Critical to Inform Positive Change When It Comes to Microplastics Microplastic contamination in the marine environment is a global issue. Across the world, policies at the national and international level are needed to facilitate the scale of change needed to… 2020
Sampling and Quality Assurance and Quality Control: A Guide for Scientists Investigating the Occurrence of Microplastics Across Matrices Plastic pollution is a defining environmental contaminant and is considered to be one of the greatest environmental threats of the Anthropocene, with its presence documented across aquatic and… 2020
Microparticles, Microplastics, and PAHs in Bivalves in San Francisco Bay California mussels (Mytilus californianus and hybrid Mytilus galloprovincialis / Mytilus trossulus) and Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) were collected at multiple sites in San Francisco Bay. Mussels… 2020
Methods Matter: Methods for Sampling Microplastic and Other Anthropogenic Particles and Their Implications for Monitoring and Ecological Risk Assessment To inform mitigation strategies and understand how microplastics affect wildlife, research is focused on understanding the sources, pathways, and occurrence of microplastics in the environment and in… 2020
Microplastic Strategy Update Based on the detection of microplastics in San Francisco Bay surface water and Bay Area wastewater effluent in 2015, the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP)… 2019
San Francisco Bay Microplastics Project: Science-Supported Solutions and Policy Recommendations Plastics in our waterways and in the ocean, and more specifically microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 mm in size), have gained global attention as a pervasive and preventable threat to… 2019
Understanding Microplastic Levels, Pathways, and Transport in the San Francisco Bay Region Microplastics (particles less than 5 mm) are ubiquitous and persistent pollutants in the ocean and a pervasive and preventable threat to the health of marine ecosystems. Microplastics come in a wide… 2019
Multi-year water quality performance and mass accumulation of PCBs, mercury, methylmercury, copper and microplastics in a bioretention rain garden A multiyear water quality performance study of a bioretention rain garden located along a major urban transit corridor east of San Francisco Bay was conducted to assess the efficacy of bioretention… 2019
San Francisco Bay Microplastics Project: Action Sheet 2019
Microplastic Monitoring and Science Strategy for San Francisco Bay 2017
Sampling and Analysis Plan for Microplastic Monitoring in San Francisco Bay and Adjacent National Marine Sanctuaries 2017
Microplastic Contamination in San Francisco Bay - Fact Sheet This factsheet compiles the findings for microplastics, as they are found in San Francisco Bay. The factsheet defines the different forms of contamination, the studies that have been performed as of… 2016
Microplastic contamination in the San Francisco Bay, California, USA Despite widespread detection of microplastic pollution in marine environments, data describing microplastic abundance in urban estuaries and microplastic discharge via treated municipal wastewater… 2016
Microplastic pollution is widely detected in US municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent Municipal wastewater effluent has been proposed as one pathway for microplastics to enter the aquatic environment. Here we present a broad study of municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent as a… 2016
Microplastic Contamination in San Francisco Bay 2015
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