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Fighting marine pollution
25:14

Exposure to water polluted with sewage during a dragon boat race in the Philippines in 2015 left Mathilda D'Silva with an autoimmune disease. The Singaporean developed muscular spasms and even lost her voice for six months. Her ordeal led her to become an ocean activist dedicated to cleaning and protecting our oceans. Miro Lu finds out more about how D'Silva is working with scientists to turn marine litter into products like oil, hydrogen gas and carbon nanotubes. D'Silva is also collaborating with offshore fish farmers in Singapore to see how growing seaweed and mussels can help improve water quality and prevent deadly algae blooms. And what about the marine pollution that we cannot see? Federico Lauro, a competitive sailor who became a marine microbiologist, talks to Lu about his study on the movement of microplastics through the waters of Southeast Asia. 

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