Cover of E S and T journal featuring Dr Xing's articleMicroplastics (MPs) have caused increasing global concerns due to their detrimental effects on marine ecosystems.  Stockbridge is at the forefront of research into the potentially toxic effects of microplastics, and the best methods to remediate the ecological damage caused by dispersion of micropollutants into our water.  

Dr. Baoshan Xing, and his former students and visiting scholars, have won a 2020 Best Environmental Science Article Award from prestigious journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T).

In listing their 2020 Best Paper Awards, ES&T selected “Photodegradation Elevated the Toxicity of Polystyrene Microplastics to Grouper (Epinephelus moara) through Disrupting Hepatic Lipid Homeostasis”, out of 1700 articles, as first runner-up in the category "Best Environmental Science Article."

Xing and his students compared the toxicity levels of polystyrene particles in 3 forms: pristine particles, photo-degraded particles exposed to UV sunlight, and commercially used microbeads

They found that exposure to UV sunlight made styrofoam microparticles even smaller and more able to penetrate living organisms.

Measurement of bio-accumulated microplastics in grouper fish, and associated lesions in their livers, showed that exposure to sunlight additionally caused the pollutants within the styrofoam to leach into the environment and get absorbed by the fish.

The research makes clear that when styrofoam pollution in water is exposed to sunlight for 60 days, its toxicity to marine life can be grieatly increased, and illustrates the mechanisms by which this damage occurs.  Dr. Xing's research into micro- and nano-particle pollution continues at Stockbridge, with a focus on the persistence of the content is our soil and water.