The experts are looking for ways to handle the increasing plastic pollution on this planet but it takes time to reach an impeccable solution that would work in the worst scenarios (the ones that actually exist currently!).

Amidst all this research, an 18-year-old boy, Fionn Ferreira has acquired prize money of $50,000 at Google’s Science Fair for coming up with an amazing plan to get rid of microplastic from the oceans.

When asked about his inspiration to work on this project, he revealed that he witnessed a rock on the beach in Ballydehob, in West Cork that had plastic and oil stuck on it. That image disturbed him!

The microplastics might sound “little” but the problem they create is enormous. The facts revolving around them shocked this teen too and so, he decided to take some action. We are glad this thought crossed his mind.

This harmful plastic makes its way to the wastewater system and finally lands in the oceans. Ferreira’s plan involved eliminating this waste before it pollutes the sea. His experiment definitely had the power to fix this problem as he got a significant award for this.

He used oil and magnetite for this experiment and combined them with water. Further, he mixed a solution that imitated the plastic bits in the above composition. This led to the microplastic pieces to lock with the ferrofluids. Can you predict the next step in this scientific process?

What he did was put a magnet in this solution and separate those substances leaving clean water. A genius move, right?

This smart teenager had speculated an 85% accuracy of this experiment but when he conducted 950 tests, the success percentage turned out to be 88%.

We can see a bright future of this kid in this field and he has planned a lot for himself. His views about this win and motivating others are, “I want to encourage others by saying you don’t have to test everything in a professional lab. That’s why I built my own equipment.”

The increasing levels of plastic particles accumulated in the oceans is a matter of great concern as the aquatic life breathes in this toxic waste. This enters the food chain and we are the ones getting involved too.

This plastic gets into us and according to a study, we consume at least 50,000 plastic particles. Hard to digest this fact? But not more than plastic, we bet!

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