Approximately 6,300 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic waste have been generated to date, 79% of which has been accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. Land-derived plastics reach environmental compartments from multiple sources, where they fragment into increasingly smaller particles (<100 μm). Small-sized plastic particles might be more bioavailable and could therefore pose higher risks for humans and the environment compared to larger-sized particles. Since removing very small particles from ecosystems is very difficult, prevention is better than cure.
LABPLAS is encompassing expertise in pollution, environmental modelling, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, oceanography, hydrology, paleoecology, soil ecology, microbiology, water engineering, nanotechnology, economics and knowledge transfer. This multi-disciplinary team aims to provide the European authorities with the pre-normative knowledge needed to fight plastic pollution on solid scientific grounds.
Case studies
LABPLAS involves fieldwork in two different case studies: the urban-industrial Great North Sea including Thames and Elbe basins, and the rural but highway-crossed Mero-Barcés basin (NW Iberian Peninsula) including a reservoir that supplies drinking water to the city of A Coruña (Galicia, NW Spain). Terrestrial soils, freshwaters, marine waters, atmospheric particles, sediments, and aquatic biota samples will be studied using novel techniques from remote sensing to nanotechnologies and provide robust tools and harmonized methodologies for plastic pollution monitoring. Plastics from environmental samples and new-generation plastics will be tested for toxicity and biodegradability to produce a scientifically sound risk assessment where the risk posed by plastics is quantified as a function of general descriptors (e.g. fragmented particle size and shape, composition in combination with chemical additives and persistence).
Pan-European plastic information system (e-PLAS)
Environmental and laboratory data will then feed a suite of environmental models, identifying or predicting sources, transport among compartments, and potential transfer of chemicals to biota; this will be up-scalable to produce a pan-European plastic information system (e-PLAS). The aim of the interacting models is to provide tools for environmental management and planning of effective mitigation measures.