The aim of this “Clean Danube Day” was to support chemistry professor & Danube swimmer Andreas Fath. He swims the Danube (2,700 km) and wants to use his project to ensure a clean river full of life and biodiversity. Professor Fath analyzes his water samples (for their microplastic content) together with students from the University of Vienna and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences as well as schoolchildren.
On the topic of microplastics in lakes, the students Erich Deu, Matthias Hainzl and Manuel Schrempf worked together with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, the University of Innsbruck, the University of Bern and the Scripps Institute for Oceanography in California/USA as part of their diploma thesis. They researched the presence and quantitative distribution of microplastic particles in mountain lakes using Lake Altaussee as an example.
Dr. Helmut Kalss presented her research results on the subject of microplastics with students on “Clean Danube Day”.
This participation and presentation on the "Clean Danube Day" resulted in contact with the " microplastic-free alliance " - a follow-up event here in Raumberg-Gumpenstein has already been planned.
Photo credit: microplastic free alliance
The students Erich Deu, Matthias Hainzl and Manuel Schrempf are in the middle of their Matura exams and therefore could not travel to Vienna in person.
