About us

Who we Are

Homes Under the Microscope is a multidisciplinary project that brings scientists, participants and the textile industry together to develop a new way to measure microplastics in the home. It is a collaboration between the University of West England, the University of Leeds and the University of Edinburgh. The researchers involved have a wide range of backgrounds including environmental research, laboratory analysis of microplastics and social science researchers who work to evaluate research projects.

We are also working with Bristol Green Capital Partnership and Born in Bradford who provide local expertise. Also involved is Marty Jopson (you may know him as the scientist on the BBC One Show) who is working to help us communicate the results of the study.

What’s next?

This is the first stage of the project, once we have the initial results and feedback from participants we will run the second phase with participants in both Bristol and Bradford. The second phase will be bigger and we are hoping for around 200 participants. We are also working with teachers to develop similar kits that can be used by school pupils.

Blogs and Media

If you would like to learn more about the project then there are articles from the UWE science communication unit and the University of Leeds press office, UWE press office and Fibre2Fashion.

How we're funded

The HOMEs Under the Microscope Project is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Citizen Science Collaboration Grant (Reference BB/V012584/1).