Volvo Environment Prize 2022 awarded for world-leading microplastics research

Professor Richard Thompson OBE is one of three recipients of the prestigious annual accolade
Volvo Environment Prize 2022 winners (CROPPED)
Three UK scientists have been awarded the Volvo Environment Prize 2022 for work which has alerted the world to microplastics in the ocean.
Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS , Professor Tamara Galloway OBE and Professor Penelope Lindeque have been at the global forefront of marine litter research and education for the past two decades.
They have also helped to bring about changes in global policy, with their work central to international government legislation and influencing the United Nations Treaty on Plastic Pollution, signed by 175 nations earlier this year.
In selecting the three laureates for this year’s award, the jury for the Volvo Environment Prize acknowledged that their work
“has been instrumental in providing societal awareness of plastic pollution as an emerging global challenge and triggering policy actions.â€
The has been awarded annually since 1990 and has become one of the scientific world’s most respected environmental prizes. This is just the fourth time it has been awarded to scientists from the UK.
Professor Thompson led the first study, published in 2004, describing marine microplastics and the topic has since become a focus for research all over the world.
The three laureates have subsequently made ground-breaking contributions on the effects of microplastics and particulate pollutants on marine organisms and human health.
They have highlighted how microplastics are present from the poles to the equator and from the highest mountains to the deepest sea beds.
They have also tracked their sources – from plastic bags to microbeads in cosmetics and tyre particles, studied their pathways via waste water and rivers, and shown