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environment. Inthelightof this, treatingmicroplasticsasasinglepollutantdoesnot
make sense. Therefore, we kick off the book by giving a brief overview onwhat
plasticsare,where theycomefrom,andwheretheygotointheenvironment.Asthe
researchonengineerednanomaterials faces similar challenges,we then lookmore
deeply into the (dis)similarities of nanoparticles andmicroplastics and try to learn
frompast experiences.
We continuewith five chapters focusing on the abundance ofmicroplastics in
freshwater systems, touchingonanalyticalchallenges,discussingcasestudies from
Europe,Asia, andAfrica aswell as approaches formodeling the fate and transport
of microplastics. As the biological interactions of synthetic polymers will drive
their environmental impacts,we review the stateof the sciencewith regard to their
toxicity infreshwater speciesandbiofilmformation.While,admittedly,progress in
this area is slow,we already learned that “It’s the ecology, stupid!” to paraphrase
BillClinton.
The last part of the book is dedicated to the question how society and
microplastics interact. We take a sociological perspective on the risk perception
of theissueathandanddiscusshowthis“vibrates” inthemedialandpolitical realm
and the society at large.While the uncertainty in our understanding is still enor-
mous, we conclude our book with an outlook on how to solve the problem of
environmental plastics.Wehave in our hands aplethora of regulatory instruments
ranging fromsoft to hardmeasures, ofwhich someare already applied.However,
because the linear economicalmodelour societies arebuilt on is at theheart of the
problem,wecritically revisitavailablesolutionsandput it into the largercontextof
an emerging circular economy.
Given the wickedness of the plastics problem in terms of material properties,
analytical challenges, biological interactions, and resonance in society,we clearly
needan inter- and transdisciplinaryeffort to tackle it.Wehope thisbookpromotes
suchview.Wealsohope it conveys the idea thatweneed to embrace the inherent
complexity to solve it. We thank our authors, reviewers, the publisher, and all
funders for following this path andmaking this bookhappen (andopen access).
Frankfurt amMain,Germany MartinWagner
June2017 ScottLambert
xii Preface
Freshwater Microplastics
Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
- Title
- Freshwater Microplastics
- Subtitle
- Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
- Authors
- Martin Wagner
- Scott Lambert
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2018
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-61615-5
- Size
- 15.5 x 24.1 cm
- Pages
- 316
- Categories
- Naturwissenschaften Chemie