“No words of mine can convey the impressiveness of the wonderful panorama displayed to our eyes,” wrote legendary polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott in his journal during an expedition to Antarctica in January 1911. Marc Metian, Fran?ois Oberhaensli and Carlos Alonso, IAEA experts who ventured to the seventh continent in January 2024, echo his sentiment. “The icebergs, the constantly changing weather, the wildlife — it’s simply amazing how all of these elements come together in this extreme environment,” said Metian.

More than a century ago, Falcon Scott faced a landscape untouched by humans. Today, global pollution is reaching even Earth’s most remote regions, and Antarctica is no exception. To learn more about the problem of marine pollution, the scientists embarked on the IAEA’s first research expedition to Antarctica to investigate the presence of microplastics on and around the white continent. Organized by the Argentine Antarctic Institute, the journey led them some 15 000 kilometres from their workplace at the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco.  

“Microplastics are particles ranging from one micron to five millimetres in size. Most research is done on larger fragments, while we focused on extremely small materials, starting from 20 microns,” explained Oberhaensli, highlighting the mission’s unique approach to detecting pollution at unprecedented scales.

Moving around by helicopter, military cargo plane and icebreaker, the scientists collected samples from 22 different sites. The specimens ranged from seawater and sediments to penguin droppings and marine organisms.

Gathering the samples was not an easy task. The scientists worked in temperatures as low as -25 degrees Celsius, braving winds of up to 160 kilometres per hour. While these conditions were incredibly challenging for the researchers, the wildlife around them seemed unfazed.

“One of our stops was Esperanza base, in the middle of a penguin colony,” Oberhaensli said. “You open the door, and there are penguins looking at you. An ice storm made it almost impossible for us to move around there, but the penguins just came and went quietly, hunting for fish and feeding their chicks. It was incredible.”

The venture to Antarctica was part of the IAEA’s flagship Nuclear Technology for Controlling Plastic Pollution (NUTEC Plastics) initiative. Marine monitoring is a central pillar of NUTEC Plastics because large volumes of plastic waste end up in the ocean. NUTEC Plastics also works with countries to tackle the problem at source by developing innovative techniques to improve plastic recycling.

NUTEC Plastics supports marine research by providing marine sampling equipment to laboratories around the world and training scientists to use it. The initiative fosters the sharing of data on ocean microplastic pollution, as well as best practices in data collection and analysis using nuclear and isotopic techniques.

Organized as part of a technical cooperation project in Argentina, the Antarctica expedition was also a capacity building mission. The IAEA scientists trained Argentine researchers, sharing nuclear and isotopic techniques for microplastic analysis. “One of our key goals is knowledge transfer,” emphasized Alonso, noting that research teams from Argentina and other countries will in future be provided with the same advanced equipment through the NUTEC Plastics initiative.

Following a 2022 visit by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA has been supporting scientists at the Argentine Antarctic Institute in their ongoing study of marine environment pollution through staff training, the provision of analytical equipment, and a technical cooperation fellowship at the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories.

“The IAEA’s support is very important for Argentina’s scientific development,” said Frank Sznaider of Argentina's National Scientific and Technical Research Council. “Their approach — analysing many and varied samples using their nuclear-derived technology that is not currently widely available in Argentina — sheds more light on the impact of microplastics on the marine environment surrounding our country and our Antarctic bases.” Sznaider hopes this joint research marks the beginning of an ongoing collaboration that will enhance Argentina’s scientific capabilities. “Undoubtedly, the more data we have worldwide — especially in remote and sensitive areas such as the Antarctic seas — the more effectively we can manage and address this kind of pollution.”

Nuclear technologies play a crucial role in microplastics research. Analysing particles of this size is technically challenging. Using techniques like vibrational spectroscopy, scientists can characterize different types of plastic and potentially trace their origins. This information is critical for developing targeted pollution mitigation strategies. “By identifying the polymer types, we have pointers to the source of the pollution,” Oberhaensli explained. “For example, polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is commonly used for packaging such as water bottles, while polyamide might come from clothing fibres.”

The IAEA researchers received strong support from Antarctica’s international community of scientists. In a place where human activity is just a speck in an endless landscape of sea and ice, and where the weather can change by the hour, people draw close together and support each other.

“The mission was organized with gracious support from Argentina; we visited a Chilean base and a Uruguayan one,” said Metian. “We met polar scientists from all over the world and were warmly welcomed everywhere.”  

Back in Monaco, Oberhaensli, Metian and Alonso dissolved clams, fish, penguin droppings and other specimens as part of a sophisticated process, involving nuclear and radiological techniques, that does not affect microplastics. This allowed them to identify the types and origins of the microplastics they found — crucial information for developing effective policies to control pollution worldwide.

The preliminary results were alarming: every sample analysed contained microplastics, including polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene and PET. These findings underscore the global reach of plastic pollution, even in what was once considered a pristine environment.

Perhaps most significantly, the research highlights the potential environmental risks of microplastics. Small particles of this scale can penetrate the membranes of organisms, potentially causing biological impacts that are not yet fully understood. “The extremely small size of microplastics means that they can enter an organism in ways that larger plastics cannot,” observed Oberhaensli.

The data will be shared through multiple channels, including the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter. This ensures that the findings contribute to a growing global understanding of marine plastic pollution.

As the IAEA continues to expand NUTEC Plastics, this Antarctic mission represents a critical step in monitoring and addressing global plastic pollution. The research not only provides scientific insights but also serves as a powerful reminder of human impact on even the most remote parts of our planet.