About this Research Topic
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.