Microplastics in Agriculture and Food Science

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.

• Part I: The Contaminants of the 21st Century: An Introduction to Microplastics1. Plastics in the Agricultural Field2. Plastics in the Food Sector3. Principle Plastic Polymers in Agricultural and Food Sectors4. From Plastics to MicroplasticsPart II: Analytical Methodologies for Microplastics Determination: between Limitations and Innovations5. Sampling Methods for Microplastics Determination6. Pre-treatment of Food and Agricultural Matrices for Microplastics Extraction7. Analytical Methodologies for Qualification of Microplastics8. Quantification of Microplastics: A Call for Method Harmonization9. Polymer Solubilization: A Potential Solution for Microplastics Quantification10. Quality Assurance and Quality Control: The Prevention of Airborne ContaminationPart III: Microplastics in agriculture11. Microplastics Contamination in Soil12. Microplastics Contamination in Crops13. Artificial Crop Irrigation and Microplastics14. Microplastics and Agricultural Vehicle Tires15. Fertilizers and Microplastics Contamination of Crops16. Atmospheric Particulates and MicroplasticsPart IV: Microplastics in farm animals17. Feed Production Process and Microplastics Contamination18. Microplastics in Farm Animals: Health Effects19. Microplastics: From Animal to HumanPart V: Microplastics in the food sector20. Food Processing and microplastics21. Food Packaging and Potential Microplastics Release22. Food Pyramid and MicroplasticsPart VI: Human exposure to microplastics23. Are We Eating Microplastics?24. Microplastics in Food Production and Agricultural EnvironmentsPart VII: Contaminants associated with microplastics25. Microplastics and plasticizers26. Microplastics and organic contaminants27. Microplastics and inorganic contaminantsPart IIX: Fate of microplastics and toxicological studies28. Translocation of microplastics in human tissue29. Microplastics and potential damage to human cells30. 3-D models for studing microplastics effects on humansPart IX: Additional Topics and Considerations31. Use of agricultural products as bio-indicators32. Potential solutions in the agriculture and food sector33. Regulatory Gaps in Microplastics Field in food and agriculture sectors