Macro, micro and nanoplastics in aquatic ecosystems

Global plastics production is growing with 360 million tons produced in 2018 alone. Considered “inert,” plastics are heterogeneous materials of recent ecotoxicological interest following evidence that they are capable of adsorbing chemical contaminants, transmigrating into biological tissues, and are excellent vectors for dispersing organisms and spreading alien species. When it comes to plastics, size is not a secondary but a substantive issue, macro, micro and nanoplastics have a different ability to interact with the biotic component at different levels of the size scale showing, as a result, different potential risks in relation to particle size. Methodological aspects are also not secondary but are a critical issue in studies conducted on this topic. The purpose of the talk is to provide an overview regarding: main characteristics of macro, micro and nanoplastics, current state of knowledge on their behavior in the environment, interaction with biota and their hazardousness; in addition, the main perspectives in the near future of scientific research in this field will be described.

25.02.2022 - Online