Page - 229 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

Today, pragmaticviewpoints still exist promotingaprecautionary strategywith acall foraction to reduce the leakageofmicroplastics into theenvironmentdespite evidenceonspecificadverseeffectsonecosystems[42].Othersfollowanapproach, whichKlinke andRenn [43] call “risk based.”These studies aim to determine the potential damageofmicroplastics to provide evidence for the development of risk managementstrategies.Therefore, they target theexisting researchgaps inorder to reduceuncertainties.But due to thenatureof global risks, a broadenedknowledge basewill revealevenmorevariables,anditwillbehardtoachieveclearcausality in order to structure the problem.For instance, researchonmicroplastics has discov- ered even more sources of microplastics [44], and more species that ingest microplastics [45] and exposed methodological questions for assessing the risk, such as adequate detectionmethods to properly assess and compare the extent of microplastic contamination [46]. This hints at another dilemma: on the one hand, precisely these complexities call for thorough scientific investigation [10], but, on the other hand, exactly these investigationsmight contribute to higher complexity and greater uncertainty. Finally, the two approaches (risk based vs. precaution based) negotiate the questionof howmuchknowledge is sufficient for action. 4 FromEcosystemHealth toHumanHealth:Vibrancy, Uncertainty, and theFeelingof Insecurity The impacts of (micro)plastics are not limited to the ecosystemswhere the plastic materials accumulate; the impacts are vibrant, affecting the political, social, and economic spheres, where they induce secondary and tertiary consequences, a typical characteristic of global risks [10]. For instance, studies point to economic effects, suchas income loss amongfishermendue toplasticdebris [47], damage to marine industries [48], and loss of tourism revenues [49–51],which subsequently have social consequences. Today’s discussions center on the impacts of microplastics on food for human consumption [13, 14], with possible but yet unknown threats for food safety andhumanhealth. Scientific evidence shows that microplastics arepresent inorganisms, suchas shellfishandfish, thatplaya role in humanconsumption [14, 52]. Microplastics infiltrating food for human consumption induce social processes. The following case from Germany shows the vibrancy of risk traveling from science intopublicawarenessandhowuncertainevidenceandriskcommunication trigger feelings of insecurity. A study commissionedby themedia detectedmicroplastic particles in drinking water, honey, and beer and was covered prominently in the German media [11, 12]. The knowledge produced by this study and the coverage of it in the media were contested by consumer protection agencies and food and beverage industries afraid of reputational effects. The studieswere repeated by other scien- tists who could not verify the results, and some explained the identification of microplastics inGermanbeer as an artifact of laboratory contamination [53]. Understanding theRisks ofMicroplastics:ASocial-EcologicalRiskPerspective 229