About this Research Topic
Plastic is a transboundary pollutant of global concern. Plastics (such as macro, meso, micro, and nano) are reported in a wide range of environmental compartments, from wastewater to agricultural fields, waterways, and aquaculture systems, from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, from remote islands to polar ice caps, and many more environments. As a carbon-based geomaterial and stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene, plastics can be accumulated in lands, rivers, lakes, coasts, and oceans. We need a more profound understanding and knowledge about the transport of plastics from their sources to temporary or final sinks, and their subsequent fate under biotic and abiotic influences in environmental compartments (e.g. wetlands, rivers, lakes, etc.). As they move through different environments, plastics can interact with other pollutants and microbes; however, detailed information on any ecological impacts in the ecosystem under such interactions is limited. A better understanding of these processes, and the management of plastics using advanced techniques and nature-based solutions, can be critical for plastic management at local, regional, and international scales.
A significant impact of plastics on the environment is the insertion of microplastics in aquatic systems. The addition of these plastics can shift biogeochemical processes in water bodies and impact living organisms. Techniques that remove plastics from water, and reduce their impacts effectively are in high demand.
This Research Topic seeks to collect and report state-of-the-art information on various aspects of the environmental fate, as well as the transport dynamics and impacts of all sorts of plastics including, but not limited to:
• Understanding the transport and fate of plastics (macro, meso, micro, or nano) in water compartments (e.g. wetlands, rivers, lakes, coastal systems, and oceans)
• Assessing the role of the environmental factors (biotic and abiotic) in plastic breakdown processes within aquatic ecosystems and wastewater.
• Investigating the fate, removal, and treatment of plastics in water and wastewater using nature-based solutions and advanced techniques.
• Investigating and modeling the interaction of plastics with sediment, other pollutants, vegetation, microbes, and biomolecules.
• Identifying ecological impacts of plastics in aquatic ecosystems
• Water-based plastic management from local to regional and international scales.
• Plastics as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene in lands, rivers, lakes, coasts, and oceans.
This collection is particularly looking for Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Mini Review, Policy and Practice Reviews, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Community Case Study, Data Report, Policy Brief, Brief Research Report, General Commentary, and Opinion articles.
A significant impact of plastics on the environment is the insertion of microplastics in aquatic systems. The addition of these plastics can shift biogeochemical processes in water bodies and impact living organisms. Techniques that remove plastics from water, and reduce their impacts effectively are in high demand.
This Research Topic seeks to collect and report state-of-the-art information on various aspects of the environmental fate, as well as the transport dynamics and impacts of all sorts of plastics including, but not limited to:
• Understanding the transport and fate of plastics (macro, meso, micro, or nano) in water compartments (e.g. wetlands, rivers, lakes, coastal systems, and oceans)
• Assessing the role of the environmental factors (biotic and abiotic) in plastic breakdown processes within aquatic ecosystems and wastewater.
• Investigating the fate, removal, and treatment of plastics in water and wastewater using nature-based solutions and advanced techniques.
• Investigating and modeling the interaction of plastics with sediment, other pollutants, vegetation, microbes, and biomolecules.
• Identifying ecological impacts of plastics in aquatic ecosystems
• Water-based plastic management from local to regional and international scales.
• Plastics as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene in lands, rivers, lakes, coasts, and oceans.
This collection is particularly looking for Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Mini Review, Policy and Practice Reviews, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Community Case Study, Data Report, Policy Brief, Brief Research Report, General Commentary, and Opinion articles.
Keywords: Plastic, Fate and transport, Aquatic Environment, Ecosystem Management, Modelling, Microbes, Wastewater, Treatment methods, Pollutants, Water, Advanced technologies, Nature-based solutions, Ecological impacts
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
