Expedition swim in the Pacific
“Epic Swim Maui”: First expedition swim in the Pacific has started
The best open water swimmers from six continents are circumnavigating the Hawaiian island of Maui over three weeks. They will be collecting water samples for the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. These samples will be analyzed at Hereon for the presence of PFAS. The event is part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
The Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon has been researching the so-called „Forever chemicals“ PFAS for over 20 years and has published more than 80 scientific papers on the occurrence, distribution, global transport and fate of this class of substances.
„We have developed very sensitive analytical methods with which we can detect a broad spectrum of PFAS in extremely low concentrations, which is not possible with standard methods,“ explains Dr. Hanna Joerss, deputy head of the department Organic Environmental Chemistry. She and her department have already been able to detect PFAS at various concentrations in remote regions such as the Arctic, the Antarctic and the Himalayas.
In order to investigate the Pacific with her team and improve the data situation there, the swimmers at the event will take samples for the Geesthacht researchers at various locations and send them to Hereon for analysis.
It is interesting for scientists that the course of the race also leads through coastal and marine areas that are virtually unaffected by the land masses of the island and the civilization of Hawaii due to currents. In addition to sampling remote coastal areas of the island, the study’s research design also focuses on potential sources on Maui in heavily used coastal areas. Ultimately, the information on global transport pathways of PFAS will be used to feed computer models, which will provide decision-making support on how to deal with the special chemicals internationally in terms of sustainability.
The company Sun & Sea Technology based in Schleswig-Holstein also supports and facilitates the scientific investigations and data collection during the event as a partner and provides state-of-the-art measuring equipment. (Source: Hereon News)
Read the complete Hereon News:
==> „Epic Swim Maui“: First expedition swim in the Pacific has started
==> PFAS-Explorer – a digital source of information
==> The Ocean Decade
