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This volume consists of 15 chapters and focuses on hazardous chemicals, how they are associated with plastics, and their environmental risks. It includes background information on plastics and additives chemistry, and their observed or potential effects on living organisms as well as the oceanographic aspects of marine debris dispersion. The respective chapters provide insights into the sorption/desorption of chemicals in and out of plastics, the mechanisms and kinetics, but also the scale of the concentrations of chemicals found in marine debris, particularly in microplastics. The occurrence of the various chemicals is analyzed, as well as the distribution profiles of the chemicals in microplastics throughout the world's oceans. The implications of the fact that plastics carry within them several chemicals are discussed in detail. In closing, new research topics that warrant further attention are identified. The book will appeal to all scientists who are already working or interestedin starting to work on the topic of marine debris, as well as policymakers, NGOs and the broader informed public.
List of contents
Additives and Chemicals in Plastics.- Food Containers and Packaging Materials as Possible Source of Hazardous Chemicals to Food.- Release of additives and monomers from plastic wastes.- Degradation of various plastics in the environment.- Occurrence of Marine Litter in the Marine Environment: A World Panorama of Floating and Seafloor Plastics.- Sources, Distribution, and Fate of Microscopic Plastics in Marine Environments.- Nature of Plastic Marine Pollution in the Subtropical Gyres.- Hazardous chemicals in plastics in marine environments: International Pellet Watch.- Sorption of hydrophobic organic compounds to plastics in marine environments: equilibrium.- Sorption of Hydrophobic Organic Compounds to Plastics in the Marine Environment: Sorption and Desorption Kinetics.- Biofilms on Plastic Debris and Their Influence on Marine Nutrient Cycling, Productivity, and Hazardous Chemical Mobility.- Ingestion of plastics by marine organisms.- Transfer of hazardous chemicals from ingested plastics to higher-trophic level organisms.- The Role of Plastic Debris as Another Source of Hazardous Chemicals in Lower-Trophic Level Organisms.- Conclusions of "Hazardous Chemicals Associated with Plastics in Environment".- Erratum to: Food Containers and Packaging Materials as Possible Source of Hazardous Chemicals to Food.
