Microplastics as a “Contaminant of Emerging Concern”

Waste Management
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Question 1
Microplastics as a “Contaminant of Emerging Concern”
The dependence on plastic since the 20th century has grown exponentially due to its durability, versatility, and affordability. Shocking statistics on the prevalence of plastic use have been established, and the ubiquity of plastic wastes has been on a worrying trend, to the extent of being recognized as an indication of the Anthropocene era (Wagner & Lambert, 2018). Slightly over eight trillion tonnes of plastic have been produced from the mid 20th century, with a huge chunk ending up on the landfill (Gourmelon, 2015). What makes it even worse are the single-use plastic materials that are produced in larger percentages. The very same advantages that come along with the use of plastics are its affordability and durability, which play a significant role in ruining the environment. Plastics take as long as four centuries to become biodegradable (Gourmelon, 2015). The world is not doing enough in managing plastic pollutants, with as little as 9% of produced plastic recycled annually (Gourmelon, 2015). The plastic detritus familiar to many are those that are tangible and utterly visible. A new class of plastic products, microplastics (MPs), as tiny as 100 nanometers (Wagner & Lambert, 2018), have raised a lot of concern among environmental enthusiasts because they were initially not projected as apparent pollutants, and also the level of production was negligible.
Sources of Microplastics
Industrial products that are produced for domestic use, such as pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products (Romanok et al., 2020), and even food products (Vaughan, 2019), have been identified to be present in the environment although in manageable volume, and are collectively referred to as Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) (Wagner & Lambert, 2018). In addition to the chemical compounds from domestics products, microplastics from numerous sources also qualify to be classified as CEC. MPs are further classified into two categories: primary and secondary, representing the manufactured tiny pieces of plastic added to domestic substances and those that emanate from degrading plastic materials, respectively (Wagner & Lambert, 2018). Primary MPs can as well be termed as microbeads and are usually present in domestic products such as toothpaste. High temperatures on plastic products also contribute to high volumes of microplastic. Other well-known sources of MPs include microfibers from synthetic garments wear and tear from automobile tires, among others (Napper & Thompson, 2016). More shocking revelations indicate that some freshwater amphipods are capable of accelerating the fragmentation of plastics into even more minute sizes (Mateos-Cárdenas et al., 2020).
Pervasiveness of Microplastics
The numerous sources of MPs warrant for concern and the classification as CECs. A more worrying trend on the MPs is how they are capable of being transferred from one ecosystem to the other. Rivers and water streams are the superspreaders of MPs, both on land and to the water bodies (Baztan et al., 2016). The MPs and some nano plastics end up being consumed by the aquatic animals that are then consumed by human beings; thus, they become a major component of the food chain. Not only do the MPs impact human health, but they also raise concerns about the life of aquatic animals. Evidence of atmospheric transport and deposition of microplastic in remote areas that are sparsely populated have also emerged (Allen et al., 2019). There exists a positive correlation between the rate of production of plastic products and the deposition of microplastic, both on land and sea bodies. The developing countries are the leading pollutants of the environment through the large scale production of plastics with minimal management efforts as opposed to their counterparts in the developed countries. There is no doubt that microplastics are everywhere, and through the food chain, particularly with seafood, the chemical compounds have found their way into the human body and also the aquatic life, posing a threat and a health concern.
Harmfulness of Microplastics
Studies have shown that plastics and pollutants, in general, have a damaging effect on the natural habitats, microorganisms, as well as aquatic lives that play a crucial role in the food chain. The aquatics animals, particularly fish, are more susceptible to the consumption of microplastics, significantly increasing their risk of death due to behavioral alteration that arises as a result of high-level exposure to MPs. The substances also have a damaging effect on the reproductive systems of aquatic animals, potentially lowering their population. Other chemical impacts of MPs may include endocrine disruption, flame retardation, all of which greatly impact the population of the aquatic animals (Barboza et al., 2018). Other than the chemical impact, the MPs have a mechanical impact on aquatic lives, blocking their digestive and respiratory systems, eventually leading to death due to suffocation and starvation (Barboza et al., 2018). MPs also have a degradation effect on the natural habitats and the habitat-forming organisms (McCormick et al., 2020), further deteriorating the survival of the aquatic animals. The MPs compounds find their way into the human body through the food chain, translating the chemical and mechanical effects to human health. Besides, the MPs present in domestics and personal care products have a direct damaging effect on human health. The additive present in microplastics, such as stabilizers and flame retardants (Barboza et al., 2018), also have a damaging effect on the various systems of the human body.
The various effects on the aquatic and human life posed by microplastics warrant the classification as CEC. Besides, recent studies have revealed the numerous sources of the microplastics components that were initially overlooked due to their minute nature. They are also more pervasive, capable of being transported from one ecosystem to the other by different means: rivers and water streams, atmospheric transport, and rapid degradation through mechanical means.
Question 2
The Most Hazardous Legacy of 19th and 20th Century
Definition of Hazardous Wastes
Human activities that accompany civilization, such as agriculture, manufacturing, sports and recreation, mining, and mineral processing, among others, have resulted not only in positive outcomes but also in a huge chunk of waste products that are disposed to the environment. Rapid advancement in technology has even exacerbated the massive production of industrial waste, necessitating concerns. Although some of the waste products pose no threat to the environment, most waste products are capable of harming the environment and human health. Hazardous wastes are domestic or industrial waste products that contain toxic substances capable of causing corrosive, inflammatory, explosive, or reactive responses when exposed to other substances and may even cause a damaging effect on living things (Saleh, 2016). The classification of hazardous waste can be based on several properties: their properties, sources, chemical constituent, or the type of reaction when exposed to other substances or bodies (Goel, 2017). Nuclear wastes and other chemical wastes from weapons of war also qualify as hazardous waste because of the radioactive and explosive effect that they possess. The environmental impacts and the threat to public health posed by hazardous waste calls for waste management programs that can curtail them.
Hazardous Waste Management
The usefulness of substances that are the primary sources of hazardous waste leaves no choice for the preservation of the environment but to manage these wastes. The most desirable and apparent hazardous waste management is reduction and recycling (Blackman Jr, 2016). Reduction simply refers to the minimization of solid waste products either by alternative products that are less pollutant or managing the raw materials responsible for the production of the waste products. Recycling, on the other hand, refers to the reclamation of waste products and transforming them into a useful product rather than disposing it into the environment. Despite the desirable outcomes of the waste management methods, their prevalent use, especially with hazardous waste products in the contemporary era, is minimal, with alternative methods like treatment, storage, and disposal taking precedence.
Hazardous waste treatment can be accomplished through several means, including chemical, thermal, biological, or even physical methods (Blackman Jr, 2016). Redox reaction, ionic exchange, precipitation, and neutralization are the most commonly applied chemical treatment used in collaboration with physical means to achieve optimal solutions in hazardous waste management. Thermal treatment involves the use of an incinerator to physically destroy harmful waste or detoxify those that are unable to burn completely. Landfarming is the most applicable biological treatment method that leverages decomposition agents present in the soil, the soil pH, and other nutrients to initiate the decomposition of hazardous waste. Treatment waste management technique has proven to be cost-intensive, and therefore most industrial plants and largescale producers of hazardous wastes opt for alternative means, which is storage or disposal.
Waste disposal in the marine environment had been the norm in the 19th and 20th centuries. The pollution of the water bodies was highly unregulated, and bodies of water that cover the largest part of the earth provided cheap, discreet, and adequate volumes capable of handling large quantities of waste products. The two centuries were also dominated by civil wars and the disposal of radioactive products, explosive munitions, and bombs into the oceans and seas, which became the apparent waste management mechanism. The world wars of the 20th century led to the dumping of chemical weapons in a million tones into the sea, bearing in mind that the key player in the war had adopted ocean dumping as the primary waste disposal technique throughout the 19th and 20th century (Edwards & Beldowski, 2016).
The dumping of chemical munition into ...