Microplastics in freshwater water environments

Abstract

The world is continually faced with increased complexities of water pollution and its effects. Current legacy water pollution issues are addressed through a number of global conventions and agreements, such as the Stockholm Convention which deals with persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the Minamata Convention dealing with Mercury, etc. However, there are emerging and new pollutant issues, currently not covered where there is a clear concern, but the science has not caught up yet to convince and assist in policy and practical interventions. Plastic and microplastic pollution, along with related nanoparticl es (Hernandez et al., 2017), is one such ‘emerging’ concern. Plastic pollution in the marine environment is well documented, however, there are few studies on the extent of pollution in freshwater and treated water sources. This project addresses microplastics in South African freshwaters, noting that almost all existing knowledge is derived from the large volume of literature from marine studies.

Authors

Categories