This volume consists of 15 chapters and focuses on hazardous chemicals, how they are associated with plastics, and their environmental risks. It includes background information on plastics and additives chemistry, and their observed or potential effects on living organisms as well as the oceanographic aspects of marine debris dispersion. The respective chapters provide insights into the sorption/desorption of chemicals in and out of plastics, the mechanisms and kinetics, but also the scale of the concentrations of chemicals found in marine debris, particularly in microplastics. The occurrence of the various chemicals is analyzed, as well as the distribution profiles of the chemicals in microplastics throughout the world’s oceans. The implications of the fact that plastics carry within them several chemicals are discussed in detail. In closing, new research topics that warrant further attention are identified. The book will appeal to all scientists who are already working or interested in starting to work on the topic of marine debris, as well as policymakers, NGOs and the broader informed public.

Describes hazardous substances in our environment, how they get there, and the problems they cause.

Rapid Guide to Hazardous Chemicals in the Environment by Richard P. Pohanish Here, for the first time in one systematized reference, is detailed guidance to regulations, standards, and other relevant information regarding chemicals of environmental concern. Rapid Guide to Hazardous Chemicals in the Environment covers — in alphabetical order — by the USEPA’s regulatory name, approximately 1500 chemicals and chemical categories that appear in federal and state regulations. The chemicals were taken from 26 different listings, including Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, United States Department of Transportation’s list of Marine Pollutants, and California’s Proposition 65 list of Hazardous Chemicals known to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity. Each chemical record includes EPA name, Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) number, regulatory synonym names that appear in various federal and state regulatory documents, citations to the regulations, and values related to the impact of the regulations. Helpful notations such as administrative stays, EPA Category Codes, and Federal Register volume, page numbers, and dates for deletion of chemicals from a specific regulatory list are also provided. This book also contains EPA contact numbers, hotlines and bulletin boards, and a general summary of federal environmental regulations. As a single-source guide to all those chemicals that are generally recognized as having a major impact on environmental health, this volume is invaluable. Health, environmental, safety, and governmental and legal professionals will want to keep a copy close at hand for rapid access to accurate information on regulatory chemicals of the environment.

Selected papers presented at Envirotech Vienna 1989, First International ISEP Congress, Vienna, Austria, on 20-22 February 1989.