T2. The global challenge of plastic pollution: causes, impacts and solutions

Plastic pollution is a global human-caused problem that affects all environments on Earth causing serious threats to organisms, including humans. Plastic can be found in fresh and marine waters, in soil and sediments and in the air, thus easily entering the trophic chain, geological and biogeochemical cycles. Plastic is now so abundant within the sedimentary record that it has been proposed to be used as a stratigraphic marker of the Anthropocene. The problem is complex and multifaceted, offering a broad scientific overview that ranges from the causes, to the most modern analysis and monitoring techniques, to the impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity up to possible technological solutions that allow for a more sustainable management.
Thanks to the multidisciplinary and integrated approach to the problem, this session aims to stimulate researchers' awareness of different aspects concerning plastic pollution. Main topics could include: monitoring strategies in different environmental contexts, transport and accumulation modelling, problems in sampling, recognition and quantification in environmental matrices, response of organisms, biodegradation and bioremediation, circular economy and many others.