Microplastics in Agriculture and Food Science: Methods for Identification and Remediation

Microplastics in Agriculture and Food Science: Methods for Identification and Remediation presents fundamental insights into the sources of microplastics and their impact on important agricultural, food, and environmental resources. Presenting insights into these highly related fields, this book is the first to enable cross- and multidisciplinary understanding and application.

Microplastics are tiny particles created during plastic production as well as those particles remaining when plastic degrades and breaks down. They are sometimes difficult to identify, and the methods for qualifying and classifying them are not always clear despite the importance of their recognition and remediation. With insights into analytical methods including the challenges, this book addresses microplastics from the farm to the food pyramid, highlighting the issues they raise and the options for removing them.

Written by a global team of experts, this volume contributes to further understanding and addressing of this increasing global challenge, and is an excellent resource for researchers in agricultural science, environmental science, and food science (particularly food chemistry and food packaging).

• Presents analytical approaches for determining microplastics in food and agricultural settings and products
• Classifies the different methodologies and comments on each to guide readers to the best one for each matrix option
• Explores the widespread presence of microplastics worldwide and highlights their fate currently
• Demonstrates the effects of microplastics both on human health and life, and on the environment

Prof. Avino studies the development of innovative analytical methodologies for development and application of analytical and sampling methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of chemical compounds (e.g., contaminants, pollutants, nutrients) in food, agricultural, biological and anthropogenic matrices. These studies are aimed at evaluating inorganic and organic species present at trace and ultra-trace levels in food and environmental (smoke, air, water and soil) matrices, as well as the evaluation of the environmental and human health risks related to the exposure/ingestion of such compounds. In 1998 he received both the “Group Achievement NASA Award” and the “Next Generation Award” ( 22nd International Symposium on Chromatography). He has also received the “Environmental Sapio” Award for his research in the environmental field and in particular in the atmospheric particulate matter problems. Prof. Avino is author and co-author of scientific publications including original papers published in national and international journals and books.

Cristina Di Fiore is a Research Fellow at the University of Molise in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry. She obtained her Ph.D. in Science, Technologies and Biotechnologies of Food, working in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry. Precisely, her Ph.D. was based on the extraction and chemical determination of microplastics in several food matrices. She is the author of 26 articles, mainly focused on microplastic’s analyses, as well as on the development of analytical protocols for determination of several environmental pollutants.

Stefano Farris is Full Professor at the Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS) – University of Milan. His research focuses on the design and development of new high-performance materials using mainly biomacromolecules, by means of different approaches such as soft chemistry and nanotechnology. His research firstly deals with fundamental aspects to provide new suitable practical solutions, especially for the food packaging sector. This is accomplished by strong and fruitful collaborations with several industrial partners.