Advances in Microplastic Pollution and Its Impact

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2024 | Viewed by 356

Special Issue Editor

CNR-ISMAR, Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council, 19032 Lerici, Italy
Interests: microplastics; marine litter; plastic pollution; microfibers; marine debris
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the first reports dealing with the presence of small plastic particles in the oceans, worldwide attention has been focused on this problem, and the number of scientific publications has seen exponential growth. Microplastics have been detected virtually everywhere, from remote mountain glaciers to the deepest parts of our oceans. Microplastic particles have been detected in human lungs as well as in human blood and placenta, while plastic pollution is now so widespread that it has been proposed as a new stratigraphic indicator of Anthropocene. However, despite growing attention, the actual amounts of microplastics in environmental compartments (terrestrial, marine, freshwater, and atmospheric) and their ecological impacts are still unclear.

Many aspects still need to be explored; therefore, this Special Issue invites contributions dealing with the latest developments in the study of microplastics. Topics include Physico-chemical phenomena resulting in the formation of MPs; interaction of MPs with the biosphere, including humans and biogeochemical compartments; socioeconomic, environmental impact, and risk assessment of microplastics in the environment; new methodologies for sampling or isolating MPs from complex environmental matrices; development of innovative approaches for the characterization and quantification of MPs; theory, simulation, and modeling of the degradation processes of MPs in the environment; study of the sources, fate, impacts and of the distribution at horizontal and vertical spatiotemporal scales of MPs in the environment; and innovative solutions to mitigate or remove MPs from the environment.

Authors are therefore invited to submit original contributions, research papers, reviews, and short communications on all aspects related to the issue of microplastic pollution.

Dr. Giuseppe Suaria
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microplastics
  • microfibers
  • plastic pollution
  • marine litter

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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