Page - 223 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

Understanding theRisksofMicroplastics: ASocial-EcologicalRiskPerspective JohannaKrammandCarolinV€olker Abstract The diagnosis that we are living in aworld risk society formulated by UlrichBeck20yearsago(Beck,K€olnerZSoziolSozialpsychol36:119–147,1996) has lost nothing of its power, especially against the background of the Anthropocene debate. “Global risks” have been identified which are caused by human activities, technology, and modernization processes. Microplastics are a by-product of exactly these modernization processes, being distributed globally byphysicalprocesses likeoceancurrents,andcausingeffects farfromtheirplaceof origin. Inrecentyears, the topichasgainedgreatprominence,asmicroplasticshave beendiscoverednearlyeverywhere in theenvironment, raisingquestionsabout the impacts on food for human consumption. But are microplastics really a new phenomenon or rather a symptomof an old problem?And exactlywhat risks are involved? It seems that thephenomenonhasacceleratedpolitical action—theUSA has passed theMicrobead-FreeWatersAct 2015—and industries have pledged to fade out the use of microbeads in their cosmetic products. At first sight, is it a success for environmentalists and theprotection of our planet? Thischapterdealswith thesequestionsbyadoptingasocial-ecologicalperspec- tive, discussingmicroplastics as a global risk. Taking fourmain characteristics of global risks,we develop four arguments to discuss (a) the everyday production of riskbysocieties, (b) scientificriskevaluationofmicroplastics, (c) social responses, and (d) problems of riskmanagement. To illustrate these four issues,we drawon different aspects of the current scientific and public debate. In doing so, we contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the social-ecological implications ofmicroplastics. J.Kramm(*) andC.V€olker (*) ISOE– Institute for Social-EcologicalResearch,HamburgerAllee 45, 60486Frankfurt, Germany e-mail: kramm@isoe.de; voelker@isoe.de M.Wagner, S.Lambert (eds.),FreshwaterMicroplastics, HdbEnvChem58,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_11, ©TheAuthor(s) 2018 223