Everything You Always Wanted to Know about ....., Microplastics* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)!

Some of the world’s leading scientific experts on the subject of Microplastics, led by Prof. RICHARD THOMPSON OBE FRS, the “Godfather of Microplastics”, have come together to write an Article for the journal Science, bringing us up-to-date on the current state of scientific knowledge on the problem of Microplastic Pollution.  Link to the Article - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2746

You should check out the infographics in the Article, which are brilliant 👏 !

Some key insights 💡 in this new Article are

"To underscore the urgency, forecasting models indicate that, under business-as-usual scenarios, microplastic leakage to the environment could rise by 1.5 to 2.5 times by 2040.....The overarching message is clear, environmental concentrations and exposure of biota and humans are set to increase.”

“...there is clear evidence of growing public concern about the potential for such (human health) effects... and the wider human health and social justice implications and, given the persistence of microplastic and the near impossibility of their removal once dispersed in the environment, an increasing emphasis should be placed on taking a precautionary approach.”

“...Many actions (as solutions to microplastic pollution) to date have focused on downstream, end-of-pipe solutions,….There is growing evidence that upstream approaches will be most effective.”

“...policy action does not have to wait, it can be justified on the basis of the precautionary principle and so measures can, and arguably should, be taken now to reduce emissions."

This new Article is timely because Microplastic Pollution is a very live topic, not just in the world of science, but also now in the regulatory and political spheres.

Just yesterday, at the UN General Assembly in New York, the Nordic Co-operation on the Environment and Climate issued a Declaration calling for the proposed UN Plastics Treaty to include “….dedicated measures for regulating microplastics related to their source and routes of leakage…”. This comprises specific land and sea based sources of microplastics including Paint.

Link to Declaration 👉 https://lnkd.in/eUPW-xPc

The next step is #INC-5 in Busan, Korea in November, and (hopefully🤞) agreement on a UN #PlasticsTreaty which the Science Article says “…now brings tangible opportunity for international actions….in which dedicated provisions on microplastic pollution will be essential.”
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Fig. 2. Sources and pathways leading to environmental accumulation of microplastics.
(A) Human activities leading to six key sources of microplastics; (B) the relative contribution of each to the marine environment , together with (C) quantities reported in various environmental compartments. Note that inter-comparisons between environmental compartments should be made with caution because of variations in methods of sampling and enumeration.