Workshop on “Sampling Strategy for Plastic and Nanoplastic Pollution Study”

On October 23, within the framework of the CARE SEA grant of the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin program, a seminar on “Sampling strategy for the study of plastic and nanoplastic pollution” was held in the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Health of BSU. The conversation touched on the types and sources of nanoplastic pollution of rivers and the Black Sea coastline, the method of study. Where and when to take samples for the study of nanoplastics for scientific research, how to classify nanoplastics using a microscope according to their origin, color and shape. After the seminar, a field trip took place in the Chorokhi river valley on the Georgian side from the Chorokhi estuary to the village of Kirnati near the Georgia-Turkey border. Sampling points were marked with the corresponding GPS coordinates. Similar studies will be carried out on the Turkish side of the river. in Chorokhi valley.

Based on the comparative analysis based on the results of the studies, the sources of pollution will be determined and a transboundary management plan for plastic and nanoplastic pollution between Georgia and Turkey will be developed, on how to reduce and manage the waste. Professors and students of the Departments of Geography and Ecology of the Faculty attended the seminar, which was conducted by Professor Kadir Sayhan, Associate Professors Koray Ozseker and Yahya Terzi of Trabzon Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.