>
Spotlight July: Plastic Pollution and the Urgent Need for Comprehensive Action
Plastic pollution has become a significant threat to the oceans, biodiversity, and ecosystems worldwide. Despite efforts to reduce plastic consumption, escalating plastic production continues to increase the magnitude of plastic pollution in the environment. In response to this crisis, the UN-Environmental Assembly (Link) adopted a resolution in March 2022 to develop a legally binding treaty to address global plastic pollution. However, the resolution falls short in addressing toxicity risks associated with plastics.
The article by Alva et al. proposes categorizing plastics as Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) pollutants, considering their long-range transport and harmful effects on the environment. By applying the PBT framework, governments can control or eliminate the manufacture and use of harmful plastics. The article provides scientific evidence supporting the PBT criteria, highlighting the persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity of plastics. The adverse effects caused by plastic particles are attributed to both physical characteristics and chemicals leaching from the plastic. Chemicals added during production, as well as pollutants sorbed from the environment, contribute to the toxicity.
The adoption of the PBT framework is crucial to mitigate micro- and nanoplastic pollution, reinforcing the UNEA-Treaty and promoting global plastic governance. Urgent policy decisions, along with regulatory enforcement, are needed to cap and reduce plastic production and implement sustainable end-of-life solutions. Equitable interventions and equal access to pollution prevention strategies are vital to address the inequality gap and promote environmental justice in plastic pollution management.
Original Publikation:
Alava, J J et al. (2023). A Call to Include Plastics in the Global Environment in the Class of Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Pollutants. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2023, 57, 22, 8185–8188.
Weitere Spotlights
Spotlight October 2021: Nanopesticides – a proposal for a risk assessment framework
The application of so-called “nanopesticides” (see also cross-sectional text Nanomaterials in plant protection products) is said to have two basic advantages: a smaller amount of pesticide is needed for the same agricultural area and the efficacy is improved. This is necessary to grow enough food for a still growing world population. However, this could also […]
Read moreSpotlight June 2023: New catalytic process for recovering important materials from composites in a single process
Previously virtually impossible and a huge problem: fibre-reinforced resin composites (epoxides) were not recyclable, and wind turbine rotor blades, for example, add up to a waste pile of 43 million tons by 2050. Researchers have now taken an important first step in “reprocessing” these composites and catalytically dissolving them so that the carbon fibres and […]
Read moreSpotlight December 2020: Rethinking Nanosafety – Part II
In December we would like to draw attention to the special issue: Rethinking Nanosafety – Part II in small. In the July Spotlight we already presented Part I. This special issue “Rethinking Nanosafety – Part II” also features research papers by renowned scientists in the field of nanosafety research. The first part of this special […]
Read moreSpotlight August 2022: Three-stage model for the formation of micro- and nanoplastic particles.
Plastic pollution is a global problem that will continue to affect humanity for more than 100 years. There is the visible pollution, e.g. plastic debris in the environment, which leads to death for many animals (because they mistakenly think the plastic is food and eat it or because they get caught in the plastic waste). […]
Read more