Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Food, Water and Environmental Safety

Since the term microplastics surfaced in early years of this century its presence in the environment and food chain has become an area of great interest and concern. Contamination by microplastic in air, land, aquatic bodies, flora and fauna are being investigated through multidisciplinary research efforts. In the current research, attention is being given to interactions of microplastic and nanoplastics with human, plant and animal hosts, as well as with other biotic and abiotic contaminants. At this time of COVID-19 pandemic, a considerable increase of microplastic and nanoplastics will probably occur. The high demand for face masks, PPE, and disposable consumer items made of synthetic polymers will generate a high volume of waste. Owing to its durable nature, inertness, and slow degradation, microplastic and nanoplastics will continue to increase in volume and linger when left without mediation. This thematic series focusses on contaminants predominantly in food. Topics are, but not limited to:

• Prevalence of different microplastics in environment and food chain
• Detection methods for micro-and nanoplastics
• Toxicity of micro- and nano-plastics
• Microbial interactions on microplasticsInteraction of microplastics with food and environmental contaminants
• Microplastics as allergens (carriers)
• Legislation
• Risk assessment
• Climate change and microplastics

Lead Guest-Editor
Tanja Cirkovic-Velickovic, University of Belgrade-Facaulty of Chemistry, Serbia

Guest-Editors
Jana Asselman, Ghent University, Belgium
Jaehak Jung, Korea Institute of Analytical Science and Technology, South Korea 

Deadline for submissions: 31 December 2022

Before submitting your manuscript to this collection, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines for the International Journal of Food Contamination. The complete manuscript should be submitted through the International Journal of Food Contamination submission system. To ensure that you submit to the correct article collection please select the appropriate thematic series in the drop-down menu upon submission. In addition, indicate within your cover letter that you wish your manuscript to be considered as part of the relevant article collection. 

All submissions will undergo rigorous peer review and accepted articles will be published within the journal as a collection.

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• Authors retain copyright, licensing the article under a Creative Commons license: articles can be freely redistributed and reused as long as the article is correctly attributed

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