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microplastics

July 24, 2020

Pew Charitable Trust report evaluates plastic pollution scenarios

Analysis calculates current commitments will only reduce plastic pollution flows into oceans by 7%; implementing all feasible solutions now could cut pollution by up to 78%; authors call for urgent and coordinated action by all stakeholders, redirecting all current and future investments away from virgin plastic infrastructure
Reading time: 2 minutes

July 21, 2020

The Globe and Mail article on human microplastics exposure

Author Rick Smith describes experiment carried out on himself with University of Rochester to identify uptake of microplastics in his diet; article discusses unknowns and concerns held by scientific experts, criticizes increased plastic use during COVID-19 pandemic
Reading time: 2 minutes

June 26, 2020

California adopts microplastics definition

U.S. California’s Water Resource Control Board adopts definition for microplastics in drinking water; long-term monitoring of microplastics planned in drinking water supplies to understand implications for public health
Reading time: 1 minute

June 16, 2020

Calls for UK to ban oxo-degradable plastics

Industry associations and non-governmental organizations send letter to UK authorities urging ban on all oxo-degradable plastics in the country; call for UK to uphold equivalent standards to EU legislation after leaving the bloc
Reading time: 1 minute

April 29, 2020

ACC GlobalChem conference webinar series

American Chemistry Council (ACC) shifts presentations from canceled GlobalChem conference online; series of ten webinars to cover topics such as US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) registration, microplastics, and global chemicals management
Reading time: 1 minute

April 21, 2020

New FPF dossier: Microplastics

Food Packaging Forum (FPF) publishes background article and dossier informing about microplastics; discusses sources, analytical approaches, health hazards, and risk assessment
Reading time: 1 minute

April 21, 2020

Microplastics

Microplastics are an invisible form of plastic pollution; effects on human health and the environment are largely unknown; summary article and FPF dossier define microplastics, explain sources and occurrence, focus on food contact materials
Reading time: 9 minutes

April 9, 2020

Review of ingestion of microplastics

Literature review estimates 20% of sampled aquatic organisms have microplastics in stomach and intestines, average of 4 microplastic particles per organism; call for urgent standardization of analytical methods
Reading time: 2 minutes

March 24, 2020

California develops definition for microplastics

State Water Resource Control Board for the U.S. state of California publishes draft definition for microplastics in drinking water, criteria include having at least 2 dimensions in 1 – 5,000 µm range; public comments accepted until April 24, 2020
Reading time: 1 minute

March 2, 2020

JRC study to harmonize microplastics measurements

European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) launches inter-laboratory study to measure microplastics in water; will send spiked samples to 130 laboratories, evaluate their independent measurement results, identify methods to further harmonize
Reading time: 1 minute
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