Are We Speaking the Same Language? Recommendations for a Definition and Categorization Framework for Plastic Debris.

The accumulation of plastic litter in natural environments is a global issue. Concerns over potential negative impacts on the economy, wildlife, and human health provide strong incentives for improving the sustainable use of plastics. Despite the many voices raised on the issue, we lack a consensus on how to define and categorize plastic debris. This is evident for microplastics, where inconsistent size classes are used and where the materials to be included are under debate. While this is inherent in an emerging research field, an ambiguous terminology results in confusion and miscommunication that may compromise progress in research and mitigation measures. Therefore, we need to be explicit on what exactly we consider plastic debris. Thus, we critically discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a unified terminology, propose a definition and categorization framework, and highlight areas of uncertainty. Going beyond size classes, our framework includes physicochemical properties (polymer composition, solid state, solubility) as defining criteria and size, shape, color, and origin as classifiers for categorization. Acknowledging the rapid evolution of our knowledge on plastic pollution, our framework will promote consensus building within the scientific and regulatory community based on a solid scientific foundation.

Ingestion and Chronic Effects of Car Tire Tread Particles on Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates.

Micronized particles released from car tires have been found to contribute substantially to microplastic pollution, triggering the need to evaluate their effects on biota. In the present study, four freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates were exposed for 28 days to tread particles (TP; 10-586 µm) made from used car tires at concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10% sediment dry weight. No adverse effects were found on the survival, growth, and feeding rate of Gammarus pulex and Asellus aquaticus, the survival and growth of Tubifex spp., and the number of worms and growth of Lumbriculus variegatus. A method to quantify TP numbers inside biota was developed and here applied to G. pulex. In bodies and faces of G. pulex exposed to 10% car tire TP, averages of 2.5 and 4 tread particles per organism were found, respectively. Chemical analysis showed that, although car tire TP had a high intrinsic zinc content, only small fractions of the heavy metals present were bioavailable. PAHs in the TP-sediment mixtures also remained below existing toxicity thresholds. This combination of results suggests that real in situ effects of TP and TP-associated contaminants when dispersed in sediments are probably lower than those reported after forced leaching of contaminants from car tire particles.

Risks of Plastic Debris: Unravelling Fact, Opinion, Perception, and Belief.

Researcher and media alarms have caused plastic debris to be perceived as a major threat to humans and animals. However, although the waste of plastic in the environment is clearly undesirable for aesthetic and economic reasons, the actual environmental risks of different plastics and their associated chemicals remain largely unknown. Here we show how a systematic assessment of adverse outcome pathways based on ecologically relevant metrics for exposure and effect can bring risk assessment within reach. Results of such an assessment will help to respond to the current public worry in a balanced way and allow policy makers to take measures for scientifically sound reasons.

Spatial and temporal variation of watertype-specific no-effect concentrations and risks of Cu, Ni, and Zn.

Geographical and temporal variations in metal speciation were calculated and water-type specific sensitivities were derived for a range of aquatic species, using surveillance water chemistry data that cover almost all surface water types in The Netherlands. Biotic ligand models for Cu, Zn, and Ni were used to normalize chronic no-effect concentrations (NOEC) determined in test media toward site-specific NOEC for 372 sites sampled repeatedly over 2007-2010. Site-specific species sensitivity distributions were constructed accounting for chemical speciation. Sensitivity of species as well as predicted risks shifted among species over space and time, due to changes in metal concentrations, speciation, and biotic ligand binding. Sensitivity of individual species (NOEC) and of the ecosystem (HC5) for Cu, Ni, and Zn showed a spatial variation up to 2 orders of magnitude. Seasonality of risks was shown, with an average ratio between lowest and highest risk of 1.3, 2.0, and 3.6 for Cu, Ni, and Zn, respectively. Maximum risks of Cu, Ni, and Zn to ecosystems were predicted in February and minimum risks in September. A risk assessment using space-time specific HC5 of Cu and Zn resulted in a reduction of sites at risk, whereas for Ni the number of sites at risks increased.

Effects of Dutch livestock production on human health and the environment.

Observed multiple adverse effects of livestock production have led to increasing calls for more sustainable livestock production. Quantitative analysis of adverse effects, which can guide public debate and policy development in this area, is limited and generally scattered across environmental, human health, and other science domains. The aim of this study was to bring together and, where possible, quantify and aggregate the effects of national-scale livestock production on 17 impact categories, ranging from impacts of particulate matter, emerging infectious diseases and odor annoyance to airborne nitrogen deposition on terrestrial nature areas and greenhouse gas emissions. Effects were estimated and scaled to total Dutch livestock production, with system boundaries including feed production, manure management and transport, but excluding slaughtering, retail and consumption. Effects were expressed using eight indicators that directly express Impact in the sense of the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response framework, while the remaining 14 express Pressures or States. Results show that livestock production may contribute both positively and negatively to human health with a human disease burden (expressed in disability-adjusted life years) of up to 4% for three different health effects: those related to particulate matter, zoonoses, and occupational accidents. The contribution to environmental impact ranges from 2% for consumptive water use in the Netherlands to 95% for phosphorus transfer to soils, and extends beyond Dutch borders. While some aggregation across impact categories was possible, notably for burden of disease estimates, further aggregation of disparate indicators would require normative value judgement. Despite difficulty of aggregation, the assessment shows that impacts receive a different contribution of different animal sectors. While some of our results are country-specific, the overall approach is generic and can be adapted and tuned according to specific contexts and information needs in other regions, to allow informed decision making across a broad range of impact categories.

Refinement and cross-validation of nickel bioavailability in PNEC-Pro, a regulatory tool for site-specific risk assessment of metals in surface water.

The European Water Framework Directive prescribes that the environmental quality standards for nickel in surface waters should be based on bioavailable concentrations. Biotic ligand models (BLMs) are powerful tools to account for site-specific bioavailability within risk assessments. Several BLMs and simplified tools are available. For nickel, most of them are based on the same toxicity dataset and chemical speciation methodology as laid down in the 2008 European Union Environmental Risk Assessment Report (RAR). Since then, further insights into the toxic effects of nickel on aquatic species have been gained, and new data and methodologies have been generated and implemented using the predicted-no-effect-concentration (PNEC)-pro tool. The aim of the present study is to provide maximum transparency on data revisions and how this affects the derived environmental quality standards. A case study with 7 different ecoregions was used to determine differences in species sensitivity distributions and in hazardous concentrations for 5% of the species (HC5) values between the original Ni-RAR BLMs and the PNEC-pro BLMs. The BLM parameters used were pH dependent, which extended the applicability domain of PNEC-pro up to a pH of 8.7 for surface waters. After inclusion of additional species and adjustment for cross-species extrapolation, the HC5s were well within the prediction range of the RAR. Based on the latest data and scientific insights, transfer functions in the user-friendly PNEC-pro tool have been updated accordingly without compromising the original considerations of the Ni-RAR. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2367-2376. © 2017 SETAC.

Simplification of biotic ligand models of Cu, Ni, and Zn by 1-, 2-, and 3-parameter transfer functions.

Biotic ligand models for calculation of watertype-specific no effect concentrations are recognized as a major improvement in risk assessment of metals in surface waters. Model complexity and data requirement, however, hamper the regulatory implementation. To facilitate regulatory use, biotic ligand models (BLM) for the calculation of Ni, Cu, and Zn HC5 values were simplified to linear equations with an acceptable level of accuracy, requiring a maximum of 3 measured water chemistry parameters. In single-parameter models, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the only significant parameter with an accuracy of 72%-75% to predict HC5s computed by the full BLMs. In 2-parameter models, Mg, Ca, or pH are selected by stepwise multiple regression for Ni, Cu, and Zn HC5, respectively, and increase the accuracy to 87%-94%. The accuracy is further increased by addition of a third parameter to 88%-97%. Three-parameter models have DOC and pH in common, the third parameter is Mg, Ca, or Na for HC5 of Ni, Cu, and Zn, respectively. Mechanisms of chemical speciation and competitive binding to the biotic ligand explain the selection of these parameters. User-defined requirements, such as desired level of reliability and the availability of measured data, determine the selection of functions to predict HC5.

Multimetal accumulation in crustaceans in surface water related to body size and water chemistry.

Many relationships of bioaccumulation of metals have been derived in the past, but verification in the field is often lacking. In the present study, the authors collected field data on bioaccumulation in caged Daphnia magna and Gammarus roeseli in 12 different contaminated brooks. Besides generating a comprehensive data set on bioaccumulation for these species, the authors also checked whether the bioavailability at the biotic ligand is useful to explain differences in observed bioaccumulation. Increasing bioaccumulation of Mn, Cd, Co, and Ni was observed, which leveled off at higher concentrations. Whole-body concentrations of Ca, Na, Mg, K, Fe, Cu, Se, and Zn were independent of exposure concentrations. Univariate and multivariate regressions were performed to examine the relationships between accumulated metals and dissolved metal concentrations (C(w) ), fractional occupancy of the biotic ligand (f(BL) ), species weight, and other undefined species traits. Significant relations between body weight and bioaccumulation were found for Na, Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, and Zn; smaller organisms accumulated larger amounts of these elements. Reduced body weight was accompanied by elevated concentrations of Co, Cu, and Fe in D. magna and elevated concentrations of Mn in G. roeseli, indicating toxicity. Although significant relations were found between bioaccumulation and f(BL) for Mn and Co, C(w) was a better predictor of bioaccumulation.