In a multi-year collaborative project, Hawai’i Pacific University research scientists and students have simulated rainfall on Hawai‘i’s first plastic road to determine if the created stormwater runoff contains harmful leached microplastics and/or synthetic chemicals.
The project began in October in Ewa Beach on O’ahu and is led and funded by the Hawai’i Department of Transportation.
The sample collection of rainwater runoff gathered from the road will take several months to analyze. A total of 1,950 tons of modified asphalt was used in the plastic road, the equivalent of 195,000 plastic bottles.
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