Microplastic pollution in a rapidly changing world: Implications for remote and vulnerable marine ecosystems

Ecosystems in remote regions tend to be highly specific, having historically evolved over long timescales in relatively constant environmental conditions, with little human influence. Such regions are amongst those most physically altering and biologically threatened by global climate change. In addition, they are increasingly receiving anthropogenic pollution. Microplastic pollution has now been found in these most remote places on earth, far from most human activities. Microplastics can induce complex and wide-ranging physical and chemical effects but little to date is known of their long-term biological impacts. In combination with climate-induced stress, microplastics may lead to enhanced multi-stress impacts, potentially affecting the health and resilience of species and ecosystems. While species in historically populated areas have had some opportunity to adapt to mounting human influence over centuries and millennia, the relatively rapid intensification of widespread anthropogenic activities in recent decades has provided species in previously ‘untouched’ regions little such opportunities. The characteristics of remote ecosystems and the species therein suggest that they could be more sensitive to the combined effects of microplastic pollution, global physical change and other stressors than elsewhere. Here we discuss how species and ecosystems within two remote yet contrasting regions, coastal Antarctica and the deep sea, might be especially vulnerable to harm from microplastic pollution in the context of a rapidly changing environment

Gaining prescription rights: A qualitative survey mapping the views of UK counselling and clinical psychologists

Background: Over the last 5 years the British Psychological Society (BPS)has been exploring whether its practitioner members are interested in gaining prescription rights for psychiatric drugs and what such a ‘privilege’ might look like.Aims: This qualitative study aimed to survey the views of UK -based, qualified counselling and clinical psychologists with regards to gaining prescription rights.Method: Qualitative data was collected via 82 online surveys. The sample consisted of 37counselling and 45clinical psychologists with a mean age of 41and an average of 10years post qualification experience. The data was then analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes.Findings: The overarching theme –Gaining prescription rights: a crossroads in the professional identity of the psychologist: “why try on someone else’s clothing? ours is fine” explores how psychologists grapple with their professional identity within existing structures dominated by the medical model of distress, and how gaining prescription rights may contribute to some of the issues they already experience. 4 additional themes sit under this overarching pattern that weaves throughout. Theme 1 explores participants’ assumptions about psychiatric drugs as those assumptions serve as a springboard to their views on gaining prescription rights. Theme 2 examines the belief that gaining prescription rights will result in increased status and power for psychologists. Theme 3 illustrates how psychiatric drugs infiltrate the therapeutic space already (i.e. irrespective of psychologists’ prescription powers) and how psychotherapeutic sensibilities and implicit relational dynamics might weigh into the debate. Finally, theme 4 explores the notion that psychologists have a desire to gain knowledge on psychiatric drugs and the type of knowledge they deem important to be competent psychologists and/or prescribers and whether this would be best achieved through gaining prescription rights.Conclusion: Research from other countries and opinion pieces suggest that this is a controversial debate, spanning a broad range of views. Views on prescribing rights for psychologists speak to issues of professional identity, what psychologists do or believe they should do in practice, but also about who they are as people. Implications for practitioner psychologists, the people they serve, and wider society are discussed, with a particular emphasis on what this debate means for counselling psychology. More specifically, the discussion highlight show psychologists “silently collude” with the medical model of distress despite many being critical of it

Introduction: Plastic pollution in the global ocean

Plastic pollution is a growing environmental problem that is attracting increasing interest across society, from academics to the general public. A significant factor in the wide public interest in plastics is its visibility: present throughout urban and rural environments, washing up on beaches and even visible from space (Biermann et al., 2020; Topouzelis et al., 2019). With growing plastic production and usage, plastic waste within the environment will continue to increase. This increased input, along with its persistence, leads to accumulation and increasing ecosystem exposure, with as-yet-unknown consequences

The influence of exposure and physiology on microplastic ingestion by the freshwater fish Rutilus rutilus (roach) in the River Thames, UK

Microplastics are widespread throughout aquatic environments. However, there is currently insufficient understanding of the factors influencing ingestion of microplastics by organisms, especially higher predators such as fish. In this study we link ingestion of microplastics by the roach Rutilus rutilus, within the non-tidal part of the River Thames, to exposure and physiological factors. Microplastics were found within the gut contents of roach from six out of seven sampling sites. Of sampled fish, 33% contained at least one microplastic particle. The majority of particles were fibres (75%), with fragments and films also seen (22.7% and 2.3% respectively). Polymers identified were polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester, in addition to a synthetic dye. The maximum number of ingested microplastic particles for individual fish was strongly correlated to exposure (based on distance from the source of the river). Additionally, at a given exposure, the size of fish correlated with the actual quantity of microplastics in the gut. Larger (mainly female) fish were more likely to ingest the maximum possible number of particles than smaller (mainly male) fish. This study is the first to show microplastic ingestion within freshwater fish in the UK and provides valuable new evidence of the factors influencing ingestion that can be used to inform future studies on exposure and hazard of microplastics to fish

Presence and abundance of microplastics in the Thames River Basin, UK

The global increase in plastic production has led to growing concern about the environmental impacts of plastics and their degradation products. Microplastics have been extensively observed and studied in the marine environment but little is known about their presence and abundance in freshwater environments. Although rivers are recognised as a significant source of microplastics to the oceans, they are seldom considered in studies of the environmental presence of microplastics and there are no data reported to date on microplastics in UK rivers (or indeed any freshwater bodies). This study aimed to identify and quantify the abundance and types of plastics in the Thames Basin where population densities and sewage inputs are well described. Ten sampling sites on the River Thames and its tributaries were selected, ranging from densely populated, urban areas to sparsely populated, rural areas. Sites are all downstream of sewage treatment works (STWs) serving known populations, allowing correlation between population density with plastic types and abundances found. In addition samples were collected from sites at known distances downstream of STW outfalls, as well as the effluent itself, to try and establish the proportion of plastics directly entering from STWs, and its fate and transport pathways. River sediment and water samples were collected at all sites. Sediment samples were initially searched by eye, followed by flotation and overflowing using ZnCl2 solution. Plastics collected from the sediments were subsequently identified by Raman spectroscopy. Initial observations indicate that coloured and manmade particles are obviously visible in sediments from sites with high population densities compared to few evident manmade particles in sediments from areas with low population densities. Further analysis will allow for correlation of the plastic types and abundance with population density and sewage inputs to understand the distribution of plastics in river systems

Gaining prescription rights: A qualitative survey mapping the views of UK counselling and clinical psychologists

Objective: The British Psychological Society (BPS) has been exploring whether its practitioner members are interested in gaining prescription rights for psychiatric drugs and what such a privilege might look like. This qualitative study aimed to survey the views of UK-based, qualified counselling and clinical psychologists. Method: Qualitative data was collected from 82 participants via an online survey (37 counselling and 45 clinical psychologists). Along with the survey items, the last question asked participants to select one of three answers (yes/no/unsure) in relation to whether they supported prescription rights for psychologists. The qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis, from a critical realist perspective, to develop 3 themes. Results: Theme 1 explores how psychologists grapple with their professional identity within structures dominated by the medical model of distress, and constructions of the prescription rights debate as a crossroads for both discipline and profession. Theme 2 explores participants’ assumptions about psychiatric drugs as they seem to serve as a springboard to their views on prescription rights. Theme 3 examines the belief that gaining prescription rights will result in increased status and power for psychologists and what might be gained or lost as a result. Regarding the final question: 18 participants answered yes; 42 no; and 22 were unsure. Conclusion: We advocate for increased criticality in how UK psychology continues to consider this issue. We caution against an optionality approach that might risk obscuring wider implications for psychology beyond the preferences of individual practitioners

Evidence of Rickettsia and Orientia Infections Among Abattoir Workers in Djibouti.

Of 49 workers at a Djiboutian abattoir, eight (16%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 9-29) were seropositive against spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR), two (4%, 95% CI: 1-14) against typhus group rickettsiae, and three (6%, 95% CI: 2-17) against orientiae. One worker (9%, 95% CI: 2-38) seroconverted against orientiae during the study period. This is the first evidence of orientiae exposure in the Horn of Africa. SFGR were also identified by polymerase chain reaction in 32 of 189 (11%, 95% CI: 8-15) tick pools from 26 of 72 (36%) cattle. Twenty-five (8%, 95% CI: 6-12) tick pools were positive for Rickettsia africae, the causative agent of African tick-bite fever. Health-care providers in Djibouti should be aware of the possibility of rickettsiae infections among patients, although further research is needed to determine the impact of these infections in the country

Micro(nano)plastic toxicity and health effects: Special issue guest editorial

Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), collectively termed “Micro(nano)plastics [MNPs]” in the special issue, compose the vast majority of plastic contaminants. MPs have become ubiquitous in the global environment (Walker, 2021, Allen et al., 2022) and NPs have also been reported in environmental samples (Cai et al., 2021). MPs have been widely detected in hundreds of animal and plant species (Karbalaei et al., 2019, Litterbase, 2022), including human placentas and blood (Leslie and Depledge, 2020, Prata et al., 2020, Ragusa et al., 2021, Leslie et al., 2022) as MPs are inhaled or consumed via food products and drinking water (Danopoulos et al., 2020, Sequeira et al., 2020, Zhang et al., 2020, Adib et al., 2022). Due to their small sizes, ubiquitous and persistent nature, the potential toxicity and health effects of MNPs have attracted significant attention and spurring rapidly-increasing research efforts (e.g., Guo et al., 2020, Castro-Castellon et al., 2021, Karbalaei et al., 2021, Khoshnamvand et al., 2021, Lahive et al., 2022, Palacio-Cortés et al., 2022). Studies on laboratory animals have mostly focused on aquatic species and have shown accumulation of MNPs in tissues and organs, causing intestinal injuries, increasing oxidative stress, triggering inflammation, neurotoxicity, and impaired development (Castro-Castellon et al., 2021, Karbalaei et al., 2021, Kukkola et al., 2021, Matthews et al., 2021). However, the actual ecological and human health impacts of MNPs are still largely unknown and few published studies have directly investigated the effects of MNPs on humans (Weber et al., 2022). Evaluating the potential adverse ecological and human health effects of MNPs across levels of biological organization has become highly imperative but challenging due to the high heterogeneity of MNPs, unknown environmental concentrations, debated vector effects for associated chemicals, and co-impact with other environmental stressors, such as climate change and other chemical contaminants (Thornton Hampton et al., 2022). Currently, the concentrations of MNPs in the environment may be low, but their increasing inputs are inevitable based on current and projected plastic production data (Borrelle et al., 2020). Therefore, it has become imperative to evaluate the potential ecological and human health impacts of MNPs

Agricultural soils and microplastics: Are biosolids the problem?

Biosolids are the solid by-product of the wastewater treatment system. They are regularly applied to agricultural land in the UK to fertilize and increase crop yields, but they have been shown to contain high concentrations of microplastics. Here we sampled a selection of agricultural soils in the Southeast of England which had received or never received biosolid treatment. Sites were sampled on two occasions in the summer and winter. Microplastic (MP) numbers were high in both the biosolid treated fields (874 MP/kg) and the untreated fields (664 MP/kg) and a wide variety of polymers were found across sites. However, there was a lack of significant difference between treated and untreated soils. This suggests the influence of other microplastic sources e.g. agricultural plastic and general littering, and external conditions e.g. farm management and rainfall. Microplastic concentrations were higher in the summer suggesting that erosion, runoff, and wind transport may be removing microplastics from these systems. The dynamic nature of the agricultural soils may result in them becoming a vector for microplastics into the wider environment. The high variability in results seen here highlights the complexity of microplastic concentrations in heterogeneous agricultural soils. This study suggests that biosolids, whilst are likely a contributor, are not the sole source of microplastics in agricultural soils. Further research is required to determine source and sink dynamics in these systems. Understanding the sources of microplastic contamination in soils is imperative for future mitigation strategies to be effective