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      A catchment‐scale perspective of plastic pollution

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          Abstract

          Plastic pollution is distributed across the globe, but compared with marine environments, there is only rudimentary understanding of the distribution and effects of plastics in other ecosystems. Here, we review the transport and effects of plastics across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. We focus on hydrological catchments as well‐defined landscape units that provide an integrating scale at which plastic pollution can be investigated and managed. Diverse processes are responsible for the observed ubiquity of plastic pollution, but sources, fluxes and sinks in river catchments are poorly quantified. Early indications are that rivers are hotspots of plastic pollution, supporting some of the highest recorded concentrations. River systems are also likely pivotal conduits for plastic transport among the terrestrial, floodplain, riparian, benthic and transitional ecosystems with which they connect. Although ecological effects of micro‐ and nanoplastics might arise through a variety of physical and chemical mechanisms, consensus and understanding of their nature, severity and scale are restricted. Furthermore, while individual‐level effects are often graphically represented in public media, knowledge of the extent and severity of the impacts of plastic at population, community and ecosystem levels is limited. Given the potential social, ecological and economic consequences, we call for more comprehensive investigations of plastic pollution in ecosystems to guide effective management action and risk assessment. This is reliant on (a) expanding research to quantify sources, sinks, fluxes and fates of plastics in catchments and transitional waters both independently as a major transport routes to marine ecosystems, (b) improving environmentally relevant dose–response relationships for different organisms and effect pathways, (c) scaling up from studies on individual organisms to populations and ecosystems, where individual effects are shown to cause harm and; (d) improving biomonitoring through developing ecologically relevant metrics based on contemporary plastic research.

          Abstract

          Most research into plastic pollution has focused on marine ecosystems, but these are only the endpoint for plastics of all forms that stem from terrestrial and freshwater environments, particularly rivers. Here, we review the occurrence and transfer of plastic pollution across multiple ecosystems, and advocate the investigation of plastic sources, fluxes and fates in hydrological catchments as well‐defined landscape units that provide an integrating scale for understanding and managing ecological effects.

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          Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities.

          Plastic debris is an environmentally persistent and complex contaminant of increasing concern. Understanding the sources, abundance and composition of microplastics present in the environment is a huge challenge due to the fact that hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic material is manufactured for societal use annually, some of which is released to the environment. The majority of microplastics research to date has focussed on the marine environment. Although freshwater and terrestrial environments are recognised as origins and transport pathways of plastics to the oceans, there is still a comparative lack of knowledge about these environmental compartments. It is highly likely that microplastics will accumulate within continental environments, especially in areas of high anthropogenic influence such as agricultural or urban areas. This review critically evaluates the current literature on the presence, behaviour and fate of microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments and, where appropriate, also draws on relevant studies from other fields including nanotechnology, agriculture and waste management. Furthermore, we evaluate the relevant biological and chemical information from the substantial body of marine microplastic literature, determining the applicability and comparability of this data to freshwater and terrestrial systems. With the evidence presented, the authors have set out the current state of the knowledge, and identified the key gaps. These include the volume and composition of microplastics entering the environment, behaviour and fate of microplastics under a variety of environmental conditions and how characteristics of microplastics influence their toxicity. Given the technical challenges surrounding microplastics research, it is especially important that future studies develop standardised techniques to allow for comparability of data. The identification of these research needs will help inform the design of future studies, to determine both the extent and potential ecological impacts of microplastic pollution in freshwater and terrestrial environments.
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            Plastic and human health: a micro issue?

            Microplastics are a pollutant of environmental concern. Their presence in food destined for human consumption and in air samples has been reported. Thus, microplastic exposure via diet or inhalation could occur, the human health effects of which are unknown. The current review article draws upon cross-disciplinary scientific literature to discuss and evaluate the potential human health impacts of microplastics and outlines urgent areas for future research. Key literature up to September 2016 relating to bioaccumulation, particle toxicity, and chemical and microbial contaminants were critically examined. Whilst this is an emerging field, complimentary existing fields indicate potential particle, chemical and microbial hazards. If inhaled or ingested, microplastics may bioaccumulate and exert localised particle toxicity by inducing or enhancing an immune response. Chemical toxicity could occur due to the localised leaching of component monomers, endogenous additives, and adsorbed environmental pollutants. Chronic exposure is anticipated to be of greater concern due to the accumulative effect which could occur. This is expected to be dose-dependent, and a robust evidence-base of exposure levels is currently lacking. Whilst there is potential for microplastics to impact human health, assessing current exposure levels and burdens is key. This information will guide future research into the potential mechanisms of toxicity and hence therein possible health effects.
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              Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife.

              Plastics debris in the marine environment, including resin pellets, fragments and microscopic plastic fragments, contain organic contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides (2,2'-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane, hexachlorinated hexanes), polybrominated diphenylethers, alkylphenols and bisphenol A, at concentrations from sub ng g(-1) to microg g(-1). Some of these compounds are added during plastics manufacture, while others adsorb from the surrounding seawater. Concentrations of hydrophobic contaminants adsorbed on plastics showed distinct spatial variations reflecting global pollution patterns. Model calculations and experimental observations consistently show that polyethylene accumulates more organic contaminants than other plastics such as polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. Both a mathematical model using equilibrium partitioning and experimental data have demonstrated the transfer of contaminants from plastic to organisms. A feeding experiment indicated that PCBs could transfer from contaminated plastics to streaked shearwater chicks. Plasticizers, other plastics additives and constitutional monomers also present potential threats in terrestrial environments because they can leach from waste disposal sites into groundwater and/or surface waters. Leaching and degradation of plasticizers and polymers are complex phenomena dependent on environmental conditions in the landfill and the chemical properties of each additive. Bisphenol A concentrations in leachates from municipal waste disposal sites in tropical Asia ranged from sub microg l(-1) to mg l(-1) and were correlated with the level of economic development.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                windsorfm@cardiff.ac.uk
                Journal
                Glob Chang Biol
                Glob Chang Biol
                10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2486
                GCB
                Global Change Biology
                John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )
                1354-1013
                1365-2486
                20 February 2019
                April 2019
                : 25
                : 4 ( doiID: 10.1111/gcb.2019.25.issue-4 )
                : 1207-1221
                Affiliations
                [ 1 ] School of Biosciences Water Research Institute, Cardiff University Cardiff UK
                [ 2 ] Biosciences University of Exeter Exeter UK
                [ 3 ] Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Wallingford UK
                [ 4 ] Faculty of Science & Engineering Plymouth University Plymouth UK
                Author notes
                [*] [* ] Correspondence

                Fredric M. Windsor, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

                Email: windsorfm@ 123456cardiff.ac.uk

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5030-3470
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6058-6048
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2262-6621
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8174-302X
                Article
                GCB14572
                10.1111/gcb.14572
                6850656
                30663840
                3e52c6ed-dc5c-4777-a1e1-b1dc4feb5604
                © 2019 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

                This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 06 October 2018
                : 21 December 2018
                : 09 January 2019
                Page count
                Figures: 3, Tables: 0, Pages: 15, Words: 37255
                Funding
                Funded by: Natural Environment Research Council , open-funder-registry 10.13039/501100000270;
                Award ID: NE/L002434/
                Categories
                Invited Research Review
                Invited Research Review
                Custom metadata
                2.0
                April 2019
                Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:5.7.1 mode:remove_FC converted:12.11.2019

                ecological risk,ecotoxicology,macroplastic,microplastic,pollution,river basin

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