Understanding microplastics in water: Fact vs. fiction
While microplastics are detected nearly everywhere, including the human body, Arcadis Vice President and Director of Applied Research Brent Alspach cautions against conflating their occurrence with proven risk. He explains that the water industry is currently on a "major fact-finding mission" regarding microplastics due to significant knowledge gaps and that the current science does not yet fully support the conclusion that microplastics are dangerous simply because they are present.
Until more scientific understanding emerges regarding their exact dangers and mechanisms, he advises individuals concerned about microplastics to minimize their exposure to plastics generally. The Water Research Foundation offers communications resources (Project 5155) published in the previous year to help communicate information about microplastics to the public.
(Editor's note: The description for this video was written with the assistance of generative AI.)
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About the Author
Mandy Crispin
Mandy Crispin is the editor-in-chief of WaterWorld magazine and co-host of water industry podcast Talking Under Water. She can be reached at [email protected].
Bob Crossen
Editorial Director
Bob Crossen is the vice president of content strategy for the Water and Energy Groups of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B. EB2B publishes WaterWorld, Wastewater Digest and Stormwater Solutions in its water portfolio and publishes Oil & Gas Journal, Offshore Magazine, T&D World, EnergyTech and Microgrid Knowledge in its energy portfolio. Crossen graduated from Illinois State University in Dec. 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in German and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. He worked for Campbell Publications, a weekly newspaper company in rural Illinois outside St. Louis for four years as a reporter and regional editor. Crossen can be reached at [email protected].