A pioneer in his field and credited with bringing the term "microplastic" to the attention of academia and the global press, Richard Thompson, Professor of Marine Biology and Director of the Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth, England, argues that tackling plastic pollution must go beyond simply changing individual habits. He believes it is crucial to involve industry in the search for more sustainable alternatives and to encourage public policies that can regulate and guide new behaviors.
Thompson is one of the speakers at the “São Paulo School of Advanced Science (ESPCA) in Microplastics,” an initiative held at Unicamp in partnership with UFSCar, with funding from the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp). The event, which runs until the 11th, aims to help students understand one of the most urgent environmental challenges of today, from a structured and science-based perspective.
With over 30 years of work focused on debris found primarily in the oceans, the British researcher is recognized for mapping the extent of plastic presence and its polluting impact on a wide variety of species and habitats around the world.
“My team was the first to describe microplastics, about 20 years ago, and since then we have shown that they literally contaminate our planet, from the poles to the Equator, from the deepest oceans to near the summit of Mount Everest. In fact, microplastics are now in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat,” he warns.
According to the professor, the goal is not to end plastic production, but to address the pollution caused by these materials. Therefore, the strategy for an effective response to the problem involves developing safer and more sustainable products, capable of reducing impacts when they are no longer used and begin to degrade in the environment. This approach shifts some of the responsibility from the consumer to the production systems. For the researcher, it is not enough to wait for people to change their habits while products continue to be manufactured without adequately considering their future environmental impacts. "Solutions to small particle pollution depend, to a large extent, on changes in the development and life cycle of all plastic products," he points out.
Thompson points out that so-called microplastics should be understood as part of a larger problem. Plastic pollution ranges from large, easily visible objects to increasingly smaller particles, including nanoplastics, which can be difficult to detect. Larger fragments present in the environment can also degrade and give rise to smaller particles. Therefore, the researcher believes that the "invisibility" of some microplastics is not necessarily the main obstacle to raising public awareness. "People already recognize plastic pollution from the waste they can see and can understand that smaller particles are also present in the air, water, and food," he emphasizes.
Criteria
The professor comments that, around the world, there are companies concerned with environmental issues, but observes that others continue to prioritize cost reduction and profits. Therefore, he considers it insufficient to rely solely on market forces to guarantee safe and sustainable products. “We cannot depend on the free market to create products that are automatically safe for society and the environment. Therefore, public policies are necessary to stimulate innovation, establish safety and sustainability criteria, and prevent companies that invest in more responsible products from being harmed by competition from cheaper and less sustainable alternatives,” he emphasizes.
Among the measures advocated by Thompson are tests to verify the safety of materials, identification and labeling systems that allow for the recognition of products developed according to more sustainable criteria, and mechanisms capable of encouraging companies to invest in new solutions.
Collaboration space
In this search for joint and socially and economically viable solutions, the British researcher points to the structure found at Unicamp and the ESPCA project as examples of the importance of collaboration between different areas of knowledge to achieve a common gain for society. Thompson says he is impressed with the Campinas campus, the laboratories, and the University's ability to bring together researchers from different specialties. For him, complex environmental issues require the integration of areas such as chemistry, biology, environmental sciences, and social sciences. Spaces that allow this interaction, such as the University's, contribute to the formation of more active scientific communities and the search for innovative solutions.
125 researchers
The “ESPCA in Microplastics” brings together 125 researchers from 35 countries – 75 Brazilians and 50 foreigners – selected from 1.103 applicants. The program includes lectures, theoretical and practical classes, presentations of papers, project development, and activities at the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM).
The school's coordinator, Professor Cassiana Carolina Montagner, from the Institute of Chemistry (IQ) at Unicamp, emphasizes that the study of microplastics involves different areas, such as chemistry, social sciences, environmental monitoring, and assessment of effects on organisms. In addition to addressing environmental and health impacts, the researchers involved believe that the scientific results obtained can contribute to the creation of public policies, international regulations, and the development of more sustainable materials.
Professor Walter Waldman, from UFSCar, who is also responsible for coordinating the event, points out that bringing the results of academic research closer to society in general is fundamental to strengthening the fight against the challenges posed by plastic pollution.
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