---Repost of the 2020 episode, originally titled "The Discovery of Plastic Pollution"---

As we head into the final round of negotiations towards a global plastics treaty, it's important to remember how long it took for the international community to get here. While plastic pollution has only risen to attention in the past few years, the problem really isn’t all that new. Some scientists have been aware of plastic in the ocean for over half a century. So, how was plastic pollution first discovered? And why didn’t we hear about it earlier? For this 2020 episode, Anja took a deep dive into the history of science, and spoke to the scientists who called attention to the problem long before it was widely discussed. What happened back then, and how did we get to where we are now? Ed Carpenter, Steve Rothstein, Elizabeth Venrick, Arne Holmström, Hans van Weenen and Peter Ryan share their stories.

Share the LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/meet-scientists-who-discovered-plastic-pollution-over-50-6kw5e/

Transcript and credits: https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2020/07/17/ep-9-transcript/