Environmental plastics in the context of UV radiation, climate change, and the Montreal Protocol.
Marcel A K JansenAnthony L AndradyPaul W BarnesRosa BusquetsLaura E RevellJanet F BornmanPieter J AucampAlkiviadis F BaisAnastazia T BanaszakGermar H BernhardLaura S BruckmanDonat-Peter HäderMark L HansonAnu M HeikkiläSamuel HylanderRobyn M LucasRoy MackenzieSasha MadronichPatrick J NealeRachel E NealeCatherine M OlsenRachele OssolaKrishna K PandeyIrina PetropavlovskikhSharon A RobinsonThomas Matthew RobsonKevin C RoseKeith R SolomonM P Sulbaek AndersenBarbara SulzbergerTimothy J WallingtonQing-Wei WangSten-Åke WängbergChristopher C WhiteAntony R YoungRichard G ZeppLiping ZhuPublished in: Global change biology (2024)
There are close links between solar UV radiation, climate change, and plastic pollution. UV-driven weathering is a key process leading to the degradation of plastics in the environment but also the formation of potentially harmful plastic fragments such as micro- and nanoplastic particles. Estimates of the environmental persistence of plastic pollution, and the formation of fragments, will need to take in account plastic dispersal around the globe, as well as projected UV radiation levels and climate change factors.