Microplastics Pollution and Regulation

Abstract

Microplastics pollution of terrestrial and marine environmental compartments is an issue of concern worldwide, but information on the key sources, pathways, distribution, and impacts is still scarce in many cases, fragmentary at best, and typically difficult to compare owing to a lack of harmonization in methodologies. In this chapter, we present the latest evidence of microplastics as a global threat, together with current knowledge gaps, the challenges associated with establishing a global monitoring system and what legislative framework might be needed for

Microplastics do not increase bioaccumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in Arctic zooplankton but trigger feeding suppression under co-exposure conditions

“…All in all, the global governance of marine litter is fragmented, with uneven regulations in different countries, uncoordinated policies, and weak international institutions (Dauvergne, 2018;Stoll et al, 2020;Tiller and Nyman, 2018). As a result, the need for a new international legal instrument or treaty with global reduction targets and plans has been identified as a major opportunity to drive the change required to overcome this problem (Borrelle et al, 2017;Chen, 2015;Dauvergne, 2018;Gago et al, 2020;Haward, 2018). The Montreal Protocol adopted in 1987 to eliminate ozone-depleting substances (chlorofluorocarbons) worldwide has been referred to as a best-practice multilateral agreement example to increase public awareness and solve global environmental pollution problems (Haward, 2018).…”

“…synthetic tyres and clothing (Dauvergne, 2018). The costs of marine litter pollution are usually not borne directly by the producers or the polluters (Gago et al, 2020), and this has been considered the root of the problem of litter accumulation in the oceans (Bergmann et al, 2015). Extended producer responsibility programs, where the environmental cost of products throughout their life cycles are integrated into their market prices (Borrelle et al, 2017) are one way to address this 'market failure'.…”

“…Even if effective measures are implemented by state actors, the importance of non-state actors cannot be overstated (Vince and Hardesty, 2017). It is important here to consider voluntary initiatives by business and industry, which may be effective, but also suffer from a lack of accountability and legitimacy (Dauvergne, 2018;Gago et al, 2020). Civil society action is of particular importance, including specific initiatives connected to market and economic drivers, such as creating awareness with citizens and lobbying with governments, citizen science, beach clean-ups and single use plastic bans led by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).…”

#OceanOptimism: Balancing the Narrative About the Future of the Ocean

“…Most solutions have focused on coastal macrolitter (Morales-Caselles et al, 2021), but few solutions have reached mature technical readiness and market availability (Bellou et al, 2021). In terms of microplastics (< 0.5 cm), efforts are being made both at industrial and governance levels (e.g., bans on microbeads) (Stoll et al, 2020;Gago et al, 2020), and there is promising work on identifying and genetically modifying plastic-degrading organisms and enzymes 8 . However, collection at sea is complex, so that further development of promising solutions that capture plastics before they enter the ocean, such as a gelatinous solution to capture microplastics from wastewater treatment plants using a filter made of jellyfish mucus (Freeman et al, 2020), remains a high priority.…”

Integrated User-Oriented Service for 3D Printing Environments with Recycled Material from Maritime Plastic Waste

“…Other studies focus on marine debris depending on plastic size, including megaplastics [11], macroplastics [21,22], mesoplastics [23], microplastics [24,25] or nanoplastics [26]. A common definition of plastic size ranges is as follows: mega (>1 m), macro (<1 m), meso (<2.5 cm), micro (<5 mm) and nanoplastic (<100 nm).…”