Prof. Edoardo PUGLISI
Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Abstract
Plastics represent one of the greatest technological discoveries of the modern era: cheap, resistant and versatile, they have brought and continue to bring enormous benefits to humanity, contributing to the development of everyday objects accessible to all and promoting progress in the medical, food, agricultural and technological sectors. However, as often happens, the success of an invention also reveals its critical issues over time. Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems globally today. It is now known that plastics, instead of degrading completely, tend to fragment into smaller and smaller particles, until they generate microplastics (from 5 mm to 1 μm) and nanoplastics (<1 μm). It is above all the latter that cause the greatest concern, since scientific evidence shows its ubiquitous diffusion in environmental matrices, food, beverages and living organisms, together with clear mechanisms of toxicity.
The seminar aims to present a brief state-of-the-art on the presence and impact of micro- and nanoplastics in the environment and agri-food systems, with particular attention to the challenges that research has to face in defining risk in its components of hazard (toxicity and ecotoxicity) and exposure. In the latter area, possible opportunities for transdisciplinary collaboration within our University will also be highlighted for common comparison.
