Particulate Plastics in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments

The manufacture of plastic as well as its indiscriminate disposal and destruction by incineration pollutes atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems. Synthetic plastics do not break down; they accumulate in the environment as macro-, micro-, and nanoplastics. These particulate plastics are a major source of pollutants in soil and marine ecosystems. Particulate Plastics in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments provides a fundamental understanding of the sources of these plastics and the threats they pose to the environment. The book demonstrates the ecotoxicity of particulate plastics using case studies and offers management practices to mitigate particulate plastic contamination in the environment.

Features

· Describes physical and chemical properties of particulate plastics in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

· Presents information on characteristics of particulate plastics as impacted by weathering processes

· Provides numerous approaches for managing particulate plastic contamination

· Identifies sources of particulate plastics in the environment; distribution and characteristics of particulate plastics; and management strategies of particulate plastics

Written by a global team of scientists, this book is for researchers in the fields of environmental safety and waste management or individuals interested in the impact of particulate plastics on environmental health.

Section I: Sources of particulate plastics in the environment. 1 Sources of particulate plastics in terrestrial ecosystems. 2 Particulate plastics from agriculture. 3 Polyacrylamide (PAM) as a source of particulate plastics in the terrestrial environment. 4 Analytical methods for particulate plastics in soil and water. Section II: Distribution and characteristics of particulate plastics. 5 An introduction to the chemistry and manufacture of plastics. 6 Interaction of dissolved organic matter with particulate plastics. 7 Characteristics of particulate plastics in terrestrial ecosystems. 8 Facilitated transport of zinc on plastic colloids throuth soil columns. 9 Microbial Plastisphere: Microbial habitation of particulate plastics in terrestrial and aquatic environments. 10 Aggregation behavior of particulate plastics and its implications. Section III: Ecotoxicity of particulate plastics. 11 Environmentally toxic components of plastic manufacture. 12 Particulate plastics as vectors of heavy metal(loid)s. 13 Water relations and cadmium uptake of wheat grown in soil with particulate plastics. 14 Microplastics as vectors of chemicals and microorganisms in the environment. 15 Ecological impacts of particulate plastics in marine ecosystems. 16 Sub-lethal responses to microplastic ingestion in invertebrates: Toward a mechanistic understanding using energy flux. 17 Particulate plastics and human health. Section IV: Case studies of particulate plastics in the environment. 18 Status of particulate marine plastics in Sri Lanka: Research gaps and policy needs. 19 Case studies of particulate plastic distribution and ecotoxicity in Japan. 20 Particulate plastic distribution and ecotoxicity in marine ecosystems and a case study in Thailand. 21 The current status of plastics: A New Zealand perspective. 22 Plastic food for fledgling short-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris): A case study. Section V: Management of particulate plastics. 23 Management of particulate plastic waste input to terrestrial and aquatic environments. 24 Evaluation and mitigation of the environmental impact of synthetic microfibers. 25 Biodegradable bioplastics: A silver bullet to plastic pollution?

Nanthi S. Bolan, PhD, is Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Bolan is a Fellow of American Soil Science Society, American Society of Agronomy, and New Zealand Soil Science Society, and was awarded the Communicator of the Year award by the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Sciences. He has published more than 400 book chapters and journal papers, and was awarded the M.L. Leamy Award by NZ Soil Science Society in recognition of the most meritorious contribution to soil science. He has served as the Associate Editor of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology and Technical Editor of the Journal of Environmental Quality. Dr. Bolan is one of the Web of Science Globally Highly Cited Researchers for 2018 and 2019.

M.B. Kirkham, PhD, is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University (Manhattan). Dr. Kirkham has written three textbooks dealing with soil-plant-water relations and is the author or coauthor of more than 300 contributions to scientific publications and is on the editorial boards of 16 journals. Dr. Kirkham is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, the Soil Science Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has been elected honorary member of the International Union of Soil Sciences; and has received several awards, including, most recently, the International Soil Science Award from the Soil Science Society of America.

Claudia Halsband, PhD, is a marine ecologist and Senior Scientist at Akvaplan-niva, a private research institute in Tromsø (Norway), where she leads the Ecosystem Understanding section with a focus on arctic environmental issues. Dr. Halsband has published >40 papers and is a former EU Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellow. She is a member of ARCT