Cargando…
Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate
This article documents a debate between the two authors on the issue of microplastics in the environment. It is sparked by a viewpoint published by G. Allen Burton, who argues that the risk of microplastics is overrated. The authors have started debating this notion on Twitter, but the format has qu...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7268194/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32685194 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gch2.201900022 |
_version_ | 1783541565275242496 |
---|---|
author | Backhaus, Thomas Wagner, Martin |
author_facet | Backhaus, Thomas Wagner, Martin |
author_sort | Backhaus, Thomas |
collection | PubMed |
description | This article documents a debate between the two authors on the issue of microplastics in the environment. It is sparked by a viewpoint published by G. Allen Burton, who argues that the risk of microplastics is overrated. The authors have started debating this notion on Twitter, but the format has quickly turned out to be too cumbersome to exchange arguments. It is thus decided to continue the conversation by exchanging letters published as preprints in roughly four‐week intervals. In these contributions, a broad range of relevant issues are touched upon, including the differences in risk conceptions, risk communication in the attention economy, risk assessment in situations of scientific uncertainty, the need to test proper hypotheses, the problem of prioritizing environmental issues, the costs of action and inaction, the application of the precautionary principle or a strictly evidence‐based approach for policy‐making and, eventually, larger issues related to the Anthropocene. In hindsight, it is felt that this debate is rewarding because it made possible expressing and reflecting on the values and opinions in ways otherwise impossible in social media and standard scientific articles. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7268194 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-72681942020-07-17 Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate Backhaus, Thomas Wagner, Martin Glob Chall Essay This article documents a debate between the two authors on the issue of microplastics in the environment. It is sparked by a viewpoint published by G. Allen Burton, who argues that the risk of microplastics is overrated. The authors have started debating this notion on Twitter, but the format has quickly turned out to be too cumbersome to exchange arguments. It is thus decided to continue the conversation by exchanging letters published as preprints in roughly four‐week intervals. In these contributions, a broad range of relevant issues are touched upon, including the differences in risk conceptions, risk communication in the attention economy, risk assessment in situations of scientific uncertainty, the need to test proper hypotheses, the problem of prioritizing environmental issues, the costs of action and inaction, the application of the precautionary principle or a strictly evidence‐based approach for policy‐making and, eventually, larger issues related to the Anthropocene. In hindsight, it is felt that this debate is rewarding because it made possible expressing and reflecting on the values and opinions in ways otherwise impossible in social media and standard scientific articles. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019-06-11 /pmc/articles/PMC7268194/ /pubmed/32685194 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gch2.201900022 Text en © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Essay Backhaus, Thomas Wagner, Martin Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate |
title | Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate |
title_full | Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate |
title_fullStr | Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate |
title_full_unstemmed | Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate |
title_short | Microplastics in the Environment: Much Ado about Nothing? A Debate |
title_sort | microplastics in the environment: much ado about nothing? a debate |
topic | Essay |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7268194/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32685194 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gch2.201900022 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT backhausthomas microplasticsintheenvironmentmuchadoaboutnothingadebate AT wagnermartin microplasticsintheenvironmentmuchadoaboutnothingadebate |