The tests were carried out at the State University of New York in Fredonia as part of a project involving original research and reporting by the US-based journalism organization Orb Media. Using a dye called Nile Red, which binds to free-floating pieces of plastic, the university's Prof Sherri Mason found an average of 10 plastic particles per litre of water, each larger than the size of a human hair. Smaller particles assumed to be plastic but not positively identified were found as well - an average of 314 per litre.