Plastic pollution is one of today’s great environmental challenges. Research addressing the issue of plastic pollution is growing, improving our predictions of risk, and informing the development of ...long-term solutions and mitigations. Nonetheless, sufficient evidence already exists to show that immediate and widespread action must be taken to reduce plastic release to the environment, and thus limit future harm. Given the cross-sector and multi-stakeholder approach that will be required to address plastic pollution, it is essential that contrasting opinions and misconceptions are tackled with respect to the status of knowledge, relative importance of plastics as an environmental stressor, and measures to reduce or mitigate harm from plastics in the environment. This perspective article lays out some key considerations and recommendations for moving forward with respect to both research and action.
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•Public and scientific opinion on plastic pollution often contrast.•Open dialogue and mutual understanding between stakeholders are essential.•Hazards posed by plastics depend on material, environmental and biological factors.•Ongoing research is necessary to address multiple remaining uncertainties.•Sufficient evidence of harm exists to justify action to tackle problem plastics.
At 726 the number of recorded multicellular non indigenous species (NIS) in the Mediterranean Sea is far higher than in other European Seas. Of these, 614 have established populations in the sea. 384 ...are considered Erythraean NIS, the balance are mostly ship and culture-introductions. In order to effectively implement EU Regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive NIS and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in the Mediterranean Sea it is crucial that this priority pathway is appropriately managed. Three potential impediments – incomplete and inaccurate data; unknown impacts; policy mismatch – hinder implementation. Current geographical, taxonomical and impact data gaps will be reduced only by instituting harmonized standards and methodologies for monitoring NIS populations in all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, prioritizing bridgehead sites and dispersal hubs. The option of implementing European environmental policies concerning marine NIS in member states alone may seem expedient, but piecemeal protection is futile. Since only 9 of the 23 states bordering the Mediterranean are EU member states, the crucial element for an effective strategy for slowing the influx of NIS is policy coordination with the Regional Sea Convention (Barcelona Convention) to ensure consistency in legal rules, standards and institutional structures to address all major vectors/pathways.
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•384 of the 614 NIS established in the Mediterranean were introduced via Suez Canal.•Erythraean NIS expanded westwards and northward in the past two decades.•To comply with regulations priority pathways should be appropriately managed.•Regulation enforcement depends on policy coordination with non EU Member States.•Data gaps reduced by standardizing methodologies in all Mediterranean countries.
The implementation of the Regional Head Election (Pilkada) which was held simultaneously on December 9, 2020 in Malang Regency is a step towards realizing democracy directly in the region. In ...contrast to the implementation of pilkada in previous years, this year's regional elections were held in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic. With the issuance of PKPU Number 5 of 2020, it was decided to continue. This research raises the problem of how the simultaneous regional elections in Malang Regency are viewed from the principle of prudence and how to project the strengthening of democracy through simultaneous regional elections in Malang Regency. The method used is the descriptive normative method by reviewing literature that is in line with existing problems with statutory regulations as well as statutory approaches and literature. The conclusion from this research is that the stages of the Pilkada implementation which are carried out with the principle of prudence are an effort to limit the spread of the Covid 19 virus. On the other hand, it is also an effort to continue to fulfill the constitutional rights of the people in the regions in the Pilkada. Furthermore, if it is related to the simultaneous regional election scheme in 2027, Malang Regency in its development is able to play a very significant role for democracy in the regions with. The technology and information approach must be seen as an effort to solve democracy in the regions in the pandemic era.
Triclosan (TCS) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that has been added to personal care products, including hand soaps and cosmetics, and impregnated in numerous different materials ranging from ...athletic clothing to food packaging. The constant disposal of TCS into the sewage system is creating a major environmental and public health hazard. Owing to its chemical properties of bioaccumulation and resistance to degradation, TCS is widely detected in various environmental compartments in concentrations ranging from nanograms to micrograms per liter. Epidemiology studies indicate that significant levels of TCS are detected in body fluids in all human age groups. We document here the emerging evidence-from in vitro and in vivo animal studies and environmental toxicology studies-demonstrating that TCS exerts adverse effects on different biological systems through various modes of action. Considering the fact that humans are simultaneously exposed to TCS and many TCS-like chemicals, we speculate that TCS-induced adverse effects may be relevant to human health.
Background Microplastics (MPs) are omnipresent in the environment, including the human food chain; a likely important contributor to human exposure is drinking water. Objective To undertake a ...systematic review of MP contamination of drinking water and estimate quantitative exposures. Methods The protocol for the systematic review employed has been published in PROSPERO (PROSPERO 2019, Registration number: CRD42019145290). MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched from launch to the 3rd of June 2020, selecting studies that used procedural blank samples and a validated method for particle composition analysis. Studies were reviewed within a narrative analysis. A bespoke risk of bias (RoB) assessment tool was used. Results 12 studies were included in the review: six of tap water (TW) and six of bottled water (BW). Meta-analysis was not appropriate due to high statistical heterogeneity (I.sup.2 >95%). Seven studies were rated low RoB and all confirmed MP contamination of drinking water. The most common polymers identified in samples were polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP), Methodological variability was observed throughout the experimental protocols. For example, the minimum size of particles extracted and analysed, which varied from 1 to 100 mum, was seen to be critical in the data reported. The maximum reported MP contamination was 628 MPs/L for TW and 4889 MPs/L for BW, detected in European samples. Based on typical consumption data, this may be extrapolated to a maximum yearly human adult uptake of 458,000 MPs for TW and 3,569,000 MPs for BW. Conclusions This is the first systematic review that appraises the quality of existing evidence on MP contamination of drinking water and estimates human exposures. The precautionary principle should be adopted to address concerns on possible human health effects from consumption of MPs. Future research should aim to standardise experimental protocols to aid comparison and elevate quality.
Already in the late 1990s microgram-per-liter levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were measured in water samples from areas where fire-fighting foams were used or spilled. Despite these early ...warnings, the problems of groundwater, and thus drinking water, contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) including PFOS are only beginning to be addressed. It is clear that this PFAS contamination is poorly reversible and that the societal costs of clean-up will be high. This inability to reverse exposure in a reasonable timeframe is a major motivation for application of the precautionary principle in chemicals management. We conclude that exposure can be poorly reversible; 1) due to slow elimination kinetics in organisms, or 2) due to poorly reversible environmental contamination that leads to continuous exposure. In the second case, which is relevant for contaminated groundwater, the reversibility of exposure is not related to the magnitude of a chemical's bioaccumulation potential. We argue therefore that all PFASs entering groundwater, irrespective of their perfluoroalkyl chain length and bioaccumulation potential, will result in poorly reversible exposures and risks as well as further clean-up costs for society. To protect groundwater resources for future generations, society should consider a precautionary approach to chemicals management and prevent the use and release of highly persistent and mobile chemicals such as PFASs.
•PFAS groundwater contamination is only now being tackled despite decades of release.•PFAS contamination is poorly reversible and the costs of clean-up will be high.•Humans are continuously exposed to short-chain PFASs via drinking water.•Current hazard metrics are not suitable for addressing exposure reversibility.•Society should consider a precautionary approach to chemical management.
Forest landscapes across western North America (wNA) have experienced extensive changes over the last two centuries, while climatic warming has become a global reality over the last four decades. ...Resulting interactions between historical increases in forested area and density and recent rapid warming, increasing insect mortality, and wildfire burned areas, are now leading to substantial abrupt landscape alterations. These outcomes are forcing forest planners and managers to identify strategies that can modify future outcomes that are ecologically and/or socially undesirable. Past forest management, including widespread harvest of fire- and climate-tolerant large old trees and old forests, fire exclusion (both Indigenous and lightning ignitions), and highly effective wildfire suppression have contributed to the current state of wNA forests. These practices were successful at meeting short-term demands, but they match poorly to modern realities. Hagmann et al. review a century of observations and multiscale, multi-proxy, research evidence that details widespread changes in forested landscapes and wildfire regimes since the influx of European colonists. Over the preceding 10 millennia, large areas of wNA were already settled and proactively managed with intentional burning by Indigenous tribes. Prichard et al. then review the research on management practices historically applied by Indigenous tribes and currently applied by some managers to intentionally manage forests for resilient conditions. They address 10 questions surrounding the application and relevance of these management practices. Here, we highlight the main findings of both papers and offer recommendations for management. We discuss progress paralysis that often occurs with strict adherence to the precautionary principle; offer insights for dealing with the common problem of irreducible uncertainty and suggestions for reframing management and policy direction; and identify key knowledge gaps and research needs.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Agenda 2030 represent an ambitious blueprint to reduce inequalities globally and achieve a sustainable future for all mankind. Meeting ...the SDGs for water requires an integrated approach to managing and allocating water resources, by involving all actors and stakeholders, and considering how water resources link different sectors of society. To date, water management practice is dominated by technocratic, scenario‐based approaches that may work well in the short term but can result in unintended consequences in the long term due to limited accounting of dynamic feedbacks between the natural, technical, and social dimensions of human‐water systems. The discipline of sociohydrology has an important role to play in informing policy by developing a generalizable understanding of phenomena that arise from interactions between water and human systems. To explain these phenomena, sociohydrology must address several scientific challenges to strengthen the field and broaden its scope. These include engagement with social scientists to accommodate social heterogeneity, power relations, trust, cultural beliefs, and cognitive biases, which strongly influence the way in which people alter, and adapt to, changing hydrological regimes. It also requires development of new methods to formulate and test alternative hypotheses for the explanation of emergent phenomena generated by feedbacks between water and society. Advancing sociohydrology in these ways therefore represents a major contribution toward meeting the targets set by the SDGs, the societal grand challenge of our time.
Plain Language Summary
Water crises that humanity faces are increasingly connected and are growing in complexity. As such, they require a more integrated approach in managing water resources,which involves all actors and stakeholders and considers how water resources link different sectors of society. Yet, water management practice is still dominated by technocratic approaches, which emphasize technical solutions. While these approaches may work in the short‐term, they often result in unintended consequences in the long‐term. Sociohydrology is developing a generalizable understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between natural,technical and social processes, which can improve water management practice. As such, advancing sociohydrology can contribute to address the global water crises and meet the water‐related targets defined by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
Key Points
The crises that humanity faces over access to a clean water supply are increasingly connected and are growing in complexity
Sociohydrology researchers must address several scientific challenges to strengthen basic knowledge and broaden the range of solvable problems
Advances in sociohydrology research are progress toward meeting the targets defined by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
This article documents a debate between the two authors on the issue of microplastics in the environment. It is sparked by a viewpoint published by G. Allen Burton, who argues that the risk of ...microplastics is overrated. The authors have started debating this notion on Twitter, but the format has quickly turned out to be too cumbersome to exchange arguments. It is thus decided to continue the conversation by exchanging letters published as preprints in roughly four‐week intervals. In these contributions, a broad range of relevant issues are touched upon, including the differences in risk conceptions, risk communication in the attention economy, risk assessment in situations of scientific uncertainty, the need to test proper hypotheses, the problem of prioritizing environmental issues, the costs of action and inaction, the application of the precautionary principle or a strictly evidence‐based approach for policy‐making and, eventually, larger issues related to the Anthropocene. In hindsight, it is felt that this debate is rewarding because it made possible expressing and reflecting on the values and opinions in ways otherwise impossible in social media and standard scientific articles.
Borne out of an argument over the environmental risks of microplastics on Twitter, the authors exchange their views on risk conceptions and communication in the attention economy, risk assessment and scientific uncertainty, hypothesis testing, prioritizing environmental issues, the costs of (in)action, the precautionary principle in decision‐making and, eventually, larger Anthropocene issues.
The past decade has witnessed a burst of study regarding antibiotic resistance in the environment, mainly in areas under anthropogenic influence. Therefore, impacts of the contaminant resistome, that ...is, those related to human activities, are now recognized. However, a key issue refers to the risk of transmission of resistance to humans, for which a quantitative model is urgently needed. This opinion paper makes an overview of some risk-determinant variables and raises questions regarding research needs. A major conclusion is that the risks of transmission of antibiotic resistance from the environment to humans must be managed under the precautionary principle, because it may be too late to act if we wait until we have concrete risk values.
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