Page - 239 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

FreshwaterMicroplastics:Challenges forRegulationandManagement NicoleBrennholt,MarenHeß, andGeorgReifferscheid Abstract Theaccumulationofplasticdebris inaquatic environments isoneof the majorbut least studiedhumanpressuresonaquaticecosystems.Besides thegeneral waste burden in waterbodies, (micro)plastic debris gives rise to ecological and social problems. Related tomarine ecosystems, these problems are already in the center of interest of science, policy, and public. TheUnitedNationsEnvironment Programme, for instance, drafted a joint report on “marine plastic debris and microplastics,” and the European Community included the issue into the EuropeanMarineStrategyFrameworkDirective, descriptor 10 “marine litter.” However, (micro)plastic litter in freshwater systems is not yet explicitly addressed in the respective regulations, although the issue is relevant for many international and national policy instruments and initiatives. Many conventions, agreements, regulations, strategies, actionplans, programs, andguidelines refer to “allwastes” ingeneral. This should also concern (micro)plasticwaste. This chapter provides an overview of the regulatory instruments developed at different levels to address freshwater (micro)plastic litter. Beyond that, specific management options and measures that are either compulsory or voluntary are presented. Nevertheless, only few options have been realized so far. Reasons are numerous, first and foremost the lack of consensus on the definition of microplastics. NicoleBrennholt andMarenHeß contributed equally to thiswork. N.Brennholt (*) andG.Reifferscheid DepartmentBiochemistry,Ecotoxicology,Federal Institute forHydrology,AmMainzerTor1, 56068,Koblenz,Germany e-mail: brennholt@bafg.de M.Heß (*) DepartmentWaterManagement,WaterProtection,NorthRhineWestphaliaStateAgency for Nature,Environment andConsumerProtection, Postfach101052, 45610,Recklinghausen, Germany M.Wagner, S.Lambert (eds.),FreshwaterMicroplastics, HdbEnvChem58,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_12, ©TheAuthor(s) 2018 239