Award for teen Titan who may rid sea of microplastics

A teenager from West Cork, who may have discovered the solution to ridding the ocean of microplastics, has been named the overall winner of a global science competition at Google HQ, in California.

Fionn Ferreira, from Ballydehob, has been awarded a $50,000 bursary, the top prize at the Google Science Fair, a global competition encouraging young scientists to share their ideas.

His project, titled ‘An investigation into the removal of microplastics from water using ferrofluids’, posits a novel way to filter microplastics from water by using magnets.

“I live near the seashore and have become increasingly aware of plastic pollution of the oceans,” the 18-year-old student said in his entry to the prestigious competition.

I was alarmed to find out how many microplastics enter our wastewater system and, consequently, the oceans.

Inspired by an article about how non-toxic iron oxide powder can be used to clean up oil spills, Fionn used a mixture of magnetite (iron oxide) and waste vegetable oil to create a ferrofluid that sticks to, and attracts, plastic particles.

After 1,000 tests, he proved his method would remove 87% or more of microplastics in sample tests.

Among hundreds of entries from around the world, Fionn was the only European to make the final at Google’s international headquarters, in Mountain View, California.

An alumnus of the BT Young Scientist Exhibition, he sat his Leaving Cert exams at Schull Community College in June.

Not content with an already busy schedule, Fionn also works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and has even had a minor planet named after him, by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.