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Microplastics in the environment: Much ado about nothing? A debate
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This paper documents a structured academic debate between two scientists on whether microplastics in the environment represent a genuine ecological crisis or a manageable risk requiring proportionate response. The exchange highlights key uncertainties in microplastic risk assessment and the challenge of communicating scientific evidence to policy audiences.
This manuscript documents a debate between the two authors on the issue of microplastics in the environment. It was sparked by a recent viewpoint article published by G. A. Burton in Environmental Science and Technology (http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b05463) and started as a Twitter debate. To expand, we decided to continue our conversation publishing 1000-word texts on PeerJ and responding to each other in roughly two-week intervals. Currently, the text contains the following: 1) An introduction, which sets the scene for the article 2) Martin's kick-off statement “Soul-searching on microplastics: Lost in translation, prioritization and communication?”, dated Feb. 27, 2018 3) Thomas' opening statement “A genuine research topic, but let’s avoid hyperboles”, dated March 18, 2018 4) Martin’s rebuttal “Moving forward: What are the risks of microplastics?”, dated April 18, 2018 5) Thomas’ rebuttal “We need to do a classical risk assessment, but we can’t stop there”, dated May 18, 2018 6) Final statement of both authors, dated July 12, 2018
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.