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The California (USA) legislature passed a pair of bills in 2018 that require the State to develop microplastics management strategies for both drinking water and the coastal ocean.  Central to creation of those strategies is an understanding of the critical thresholds at which microplastics actuate biological responses and how various microplastic properties influence those thresholds.  To address this need, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) authority hosted a series of webinars on the topic, followed by a workshop among researchers and policy experts from around the world to galvanize science about the relationship between microplastics levels and biological effects.  Here, we present a series of papers that evolved from that workshop, which were foundational to California’s microplastics management policies.  Dr. Steve Weisberg, SCCWRP’s Executive Director, serves as Lead Guest Editor on this Collection.

Special Note: In keeping with research integrity principles, all papers co-authored by Dr. Weisberg, Dr. Koelmans, and other Microplastics and Nanoplastics editors were handled by the other editors of the journal without any competing interests. 


Lead Guest Editor

Steve Weisberg
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority, California, USA


Articles

Understanding health effects pathways and thresholds: filling a critical need to support microplastics management

Scott Coffin and Stephen B. Weisberg

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:11

Editorial -  Published on: 5 April 2022

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Risk-based management framework for microplastics in aquatic ecosystems

Microplastic particles (MPs) are ubiquitous across a wide range of aquatic habitats but determining an appropriate level of risk management is hindered by a poor understanding of environmental risk. Here, we i...

Alvine C. Mehinto, Scott Coffin, Albert A. Koelmans, Susanne M. Brander, Martin Wagner, Leah M. Thornton Hampton, Allen G. Burton Jr, Ezra Miller, Todd Gouin, Stephen B. Weisberg and Chelsea M. Rochman

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:17

Research - Published on: 23 June 2022

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Development and application of a health-based framework for informing regulatory action in relation to exposure of microplastic particles in California drinking water

Microplastics have been documented in drinking water, but their effects on human health from ingestion, or the concentrations at which those effects begin to manifest, are not established. Here, we report on t...

Scott Coffin, Hans Bouwmeester, Susanne Brander, Pauliina Damdimopoulou, Todd Gouin, Ludovic Hermabessiere, Elaine Khan, Albert A. Koelmans, Christine L. Lemieux, Katja Teerds, Martin Wagner, Stephen B. Weisberg and Stephanie Wright

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:12

Research - Published on: 25 May 2022

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A living tool for the continued exploration of microplastic toxicity

Throughout the past decade, many studies have reported adverse effects in biota following microplastic exposure. Yet, the field is still emerging as the current understanding of microplastic toxicity is limite...

Leah M. Thornton Hampton, Heili Lowman, Scott Coffin, Emily Darin, Hannah De Frond, Ludovic Hermabessiere, Ezra Miller, Vera N. de Ruijter, Andrea Faltynkova, Syd Kotar, Laura Monclús, Samreen Siddiqui, Johannes Völker, Susanne Brander, Albert A. Koelmans, Chelsea M. Rochman…

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:13

Research Article - Published on: 28 May 2022

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Screening and prioritization of nano- and microplastic particle toxicity studies for evaluating human health risks – development and application of a toxicity study assessment tool

Concern regarding the human health implications that exposure to nano- and microplastic particles (NMPs) potentially represents is increasing. While there have been several years of research reporting on the e...

Todd Gouin, Robert Ellis-Hutchings, Leah M. Thornton Hampton, Christine L. Lemieux and Stephanie L. Wright

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:2

Research Article - Published on: 14 January 2022

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Characterizing microplastic hazards: which concentration metrics and particle characteristics are most informative for understanding toxicity in aquatic organisms?

There is definitive evidence that microplastics, defined as plastic particles less than 5 mm in size, are ubiquitous in the environment and can cause harm to aquatic organisms. These findings have prompted leg...

Leah M. Thornton Hampton, Susanne M. Brander, Scott Coffin, Matthew Cole, Ludovic Hermabessiere, Albert A. Koelmans and Chelsea M. Rochman

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:20

Research - Published on: 6 August 2022

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Risk characterization of microplastics in San Francisco Bay, California

Assessing microplastics risk to aquatic ecosystems has been limited by lack of holistic exposure data and poor understanding of biological response thresholds. Here we take advantage of two recent advances, a...

Scott Coffin, Stephen B. Weisberg, Chelsea Rochman, Merel Kooi and Albert A. Koelmans

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:19

Research - Published on: 7 July 2022

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Research recommendations to better understand the potential health impacts of microplastics to humans and aquatic ecosystems

To assess the potential risk of microplastic exposure to humans and aquatic ecosystems, reliable toxicity data is needed. This includes a more complete foundational understanding of microplastic toxicity and b...

Leah M. Thornton Hampton, Hans Bouwmeester, Susanne M. Brander, Scott Coffin, Matthew Cole, Ludovic Hermabessiere, Alvine C. Mehinto, Ezra Miller, Chelsea M. Rochman and Stephen B. Weisberg

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:18

Perspective - Published on: 2 July 2022

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Supplemental articles


Release and intestinal translocation of chemicals associated with microplastics in an in vitro human gastrointestinal digestion model

The global production of plastic currently exceeds 300 million tonnes per year. The extensive use of plastics and bad waste management has resulted in the presence of microplastics at different levels in the f...

Ruud Peters, Nadine de Jong, Laura de Haan, Stephanie Wright and Hans Bouwmeester

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:3

Research Article - Published on: 21 January 2022

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Microplastics: a multidimensional contaminant requires a multidimensional framework for assessing risk

The global ubiquity and demonstrated toxicity of microplastics has led governments around the world to express the need for a risk assessment on microplastics. To conduct a risk assessment, scientists often dr...

Kennedy Bucci and Chelsea M. Rochman

Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2022 2:7

Perspective - Published on: 15 February 2022

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