Plastic is everywhere in modern society, from containers and water bottles to clothes. However, a research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is discovering that the convenience of plastic comes with consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The research drew national attention as Washington Post climate reporter Shannon Osaka visited Nebraska to learn more about it and how plastic particles can end up in food and water.<\/p>\n
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From L-R: Muhammad Saiful Islam, Dr. Kazi Albab Hussain, Dr. Yusong Li, UNO Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Dr. Jennifer Nelson, Shannon Osaka, Dr. Changmin Yan.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Changmin Yan<\/a><\/p>\n Osaka visited UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha on June 8 and 9 to see the research firsthand, as she works on a book about microplastics.<\/p>\n Kazi Albab Hussain, a UNL graduate engineering student, showed Osaka a discovery he made in 2023. Billions of nanoparticles are released from plastic containers when microwaved. Researchers can track the number of particles at the Biomedical and Obesity Research Core Lab in East Campus\u2019 Leverton Hall using laser technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Osaka noted its size and interdisciplinary strength during her tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs I was talking to them, I realized, ‘Oh, there’s so much more,\u2019\u201d Osaka said. \u201cThey’re doing animal experiments. \u2029They’re doing laser production of the particles, so it was really exciting to learn that I could see many more things than I initially thought I would be able to.\u201d<\/p>\n Yusong Li, a professor in UNL\u2019s College of Engineering, leads NU\u2019s multiple colleges at UNL, UNO and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Changmin Yan, a UNL advertising professor, said that there are around eight total labs and 12 faculty involved with microplastic research between UNL and the medical center.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing is we can collaborate differently,\u201d Yan said. \u201cThis is spanning from the basic science research, you understand the mechanism, how it works, to the impact on human health, why it matters.”<\/p>\n The interdisciplinary focus and size set UNL’s microplastic research department apart from the rest, Osaka said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve visited an individual PI (principal investigator), like an individual professor with maybe like a few students,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cMaybe they’re collaborating with, like, one or two other professors in the university, but I have not to this point seen such a big group where they’re all collaborating together across a dozen faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n One demonstration involved microwaving a small polypropylene-based container filled with water for three minutes and depositing the water onto a filter paper. Polypropylene is a plastic used in takeout cartons and home-use food containers. The demonstration was similar to Hussain\u2019s original discovery that microplastic particles were released by a microwave.<\/p>\n Muhammad Saiful Islam (middle) preforms a Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis demonstration for on Monday, June 8, 2026, at the Biomedical and Obesity Research Core Lab in Leverton Hall on East Campus.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n