Priorities to inform research on tire particles and their chemical leachates: A collective perspective.

Concerns over the ecological impacts of urban road runoff have increased, partly due to recent research into the harmful impacts of tire particles and their chemical leachates. This study aimed to help the community of researchers, regulators and policy advisers in scoping out the priority areas for further study. To improve our understanding of these issues an interdisciplinary, international network consisting of experts (United Kingdom, Norway, United States, Australia, South Korea, Finland, Austria, China and Canada) was formed.

Beyond microbeads: Examining the role of cosmetics in microplastic pollution and spotlighting unanswered questions.

The presence of microplastics in cosmetics and personal care products (C&PCPs) has been increasingly in the public eye since the early 2010s. Despite increasing research into the potential environmental and health effects of microplastics, most research to date on microplastics in C&PCPs has investigated "rinse-off" products, while the potential impacts of "leave-on" C&PCPs have been largely neglected, despite these products being purchased in greater volumes and often having two or more microplastic ingredients in their formulations(CosmeticsEurope, 2018b). This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of microplastic in C&PCPs, assessing the potential environmental and human health impacts of C&PCPs and discussing the regulatory implications.

Snapshot Sampling May Not Be Enough to Obtain Robust Estimates for Riverine Microplastic Loads.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been described as key contributors of microplastics (MPs) to aquatic systems, yet temporal fluctuations in MP concentrations and loads downstream are underexplored. This study investigated how different sampling frequencies (hourly, weekly, and monthly) affect MP estimates in a stream linked to a single WWTP. Utilizing fluorescence microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, considerable hourly variations in MP concentrations were discovered, while the polymer composition remained consistent.

Microplastic accumulation in endorheic river basins - The example of the Okavango Panhandle (Botswana).

The Okavango Panhandle is the main influent watercourse of the Okavango Delta, an inland sink of the entire sediment load of the Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB). The sources of pollution in the CORB, and other endorheic basins, are largely understudied when compared to exorheic systems and the world's oceans. We present the first study of the distribution of microplastic (MP) pollution in surface sediments of the Okavango Panhandle in Northern Botswana.