The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has formulated five early warning signs to be considered by regulators when it comes to materials and substances. These warning signs reflect many concerns raised about plastics and are thus worth considering during the design and regulation of new and established polymeric materials.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
EEA. Late lessons from early warnings: the precautionary principle 1896–2000 (European Environmental Agency, 2001).
RCEP. Twenty-seventh report novel materials in the environment: the case of Nanotechnology. (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 2008).
Ryan, P. G. Land or sea? What bottles tell us about the origins of beach litter in Kenya. Waste Manag. 116, 49–57 (2020).
Kyungjun, M., Cuiffi, J. D. & Mathers, R. T. Ranking environmental degradation trends of plastic marine debris based on physical properties and molecular structure. Nat. Commun. 11, 727 (2020).
GESAMP. Sources, fate and effects of microplastics in the marine environment: a global assessment (Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection, 2015).
Waller, C. L. et al. Microplastics in the Antarctic marine system: an emerging area of research. Sci. Total Environ. 598, 220–227 (2017).
Sfriso, A. A. A. et al. Microplastic accumulation in benthic invertebrates in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica). Environ. Int. 137, 105587 (2020).
Bucci, K., Tulio, M. & Rochman, C. M. What is known and unknown about the effects of plastic pollution: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Ecol. Appl. 30, e02044 (2020).
Gall, S. C. & Thompson, R. C. The impact of debris on marine life. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 92, 170–179 (2015).
Groh, K. J. et al. Overview of known plastic packaging-associated chemicals and their hazards. Sci. Total Environ. 651, 3253–3268 (2019).
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Velux Fonden’s financial support of the MarinePlastic project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Related links
Annex XIII of the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32006R1907&from=EN
International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Paulsen, F.L., Nielsen, M.B., Shashoua, Y. et al. Early warning signs applied to plastic. Nat Rev Mater 7, 68–70 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-021-00317-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-021-00317-9