Microplastics

Microplastics: Transport, Impacts, Monitoring and Mitigation provides a critical analysis of our current understanding of microplastic science, the methods by which microplastic are observed in the environment, and our options for mitigation and remediation. Associated concern for the environment has resulted in substantial interest in the management and mitigation of these persistent and pervasive pollutants. Nevertheless, our progress towards reliable monitoring and successful management has been limited. The book is intended for those studying or working in the fields of environmental science and waste management (as well as associated areas), and provides the holistic context needed to evaluate and interpret the outputs associated with the interlinked problems of plastic and microplastics. In this manner, the reader will be invited to explore the ongoing challenges which have thus far prevented the development of a thorough understanding of the risk posed by plastic and microplastic pollution, to discuss the implications of ongoing uncertainty to effective plastic management, evaluate the current strategies to control the ongoing proliferation of plastic pollution. - Models the issue of microplastic pollution with historic case studies of alternative pollutants - Demonstrates the differing requirements of microplastic monitoring and management - Contains idealized workflows specific to key practitioner groups, the content of which will reflect recent debates and divergences in the field - Emphasizes critical comparison between emerging management measures not apparent in current edited texts which tend to consider individual approaches separately - Places management and remediation methods in the context of the observed scale and impact of associated microplastics in the environment to indicate the potential benefits of each approach

Dr Natalie Welden (University of Glasgow) is a marine biologist and ecotoxicologist with over a decade's research experience in the field of microplastic pollution. Her previous publications have explored the chemical and mechanical breakdown of large plastic debris, the transport and deposition of microplastics, and their uptake and impacts in aquatic species. In her work, there has been a key focus on the effects of microplastic fibers on nutritional state and survivorship in commercially important species, as well as on potential solutions to the issue of plastic pollution. Most recently, Natalie has been working on the movement of plastics in agricultural settings, examining their sources, migration, and fate in a farm setting.