This webinar will provide attendees with an awareness of the California regulatory activity that could presage similar steps in other states and view the results of microplastics communications work conducted under Water Research Foundation 5155 and California's Consumer Messaging Workgroup.
Since the invention of the first synthetic polymer in 1869, the category of materials that has come to be known as "plastics" has transformed the world in profound and productive ways, enabling advancements that would otherwise have been impossible. The worldwide proliferation of plastics has prompted anthropologists to characterize our present time as the "Plasticene Age."
However, the transformational benefits of plastics have not been benign, eliciting environmental challenges on a global scale. Microplastics (typically interpreted to include nanoplastics) are especially problematic ; although studies have shown microplastics to be virtually ubiquitous across the planet, analytical methods are both cumbersome and limited (particularly for nano-scale particulates), and human toxicological impact is poorly understood. This ubiquity, coupled with the many remaining analytical and toxicological unknowns, is justifiably pushing this emerging contaminant further into the spotlight -- transitioning it from an intriguing curiosity to a practical reality that necessitates active steps toward preparedness.
This session will build upon the prior 2022 webinar (titled, "Microplastics in Drinking Water: Key Issues and The Frontier of Contaminant Knowledge) and help utilities better understand the state of microplastics as an important emerging contaminant, gain awareness of the California regulatory activity that could presage similar steps in other states, and view the results of microplastics messaging work conducted under Water Research Foundation (WRF) 5155 and California's Consumer Messaging Workgroup (CMW).
Learning Objectives:
(1) Prepare for what my be on the regulatory horizon with respect to microplastics.
(2) Apply insights from the consumer survey towards tailored consumer messaging.
(3) Effectively respond to customer and media inquiries on microplastics.
Panel of Experts:
— Moderated by: Brent Alspach, PE, BCEE; Vice President & Director of Applied Research, Arcadis
— Scott Coffin, PhD; Research Scientist III, California State Water Resources Control Board, Div of Drinking Water
— Patricia (Patsy) Tennyson; Executive Vice President, Katz & Associates
— Alma Beciragic, PhD; Management Consultant II, Arcadis
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