Microplastics in aquatic environments and implications for food safety and human health

Organic contaminants represent a major global environmental concern due to their persistence, ubiquity, and potential adverse effects on ecosystems and human health. While legacy compounds such as phthalates (PAEs), bisphenol A (BPA), and organophosphate esters (OPEs), face regulatory restrictions, emerging contaminants, including microplastics (MPs), non-phthalate plasticizers (NPPs), and bisphenol substitutes, remain largely unregulated. Significant knowledge gaps persist regarding their occurrence, transport, and contribution to human exposure, exacerbated by the lack of standardized sampling and analytical methodologies. This PhD Thesis aims to bridge the gap between environmental contamination and human health risk by integrating environmental monitoring, analytical methods development, and exposure assessment for plastic-related contaminants in aquatic environments and food matrices. Focusing on the environmental continuum from groundwater to marine ecosystems, this research assesses the presence of MPs in water, resident fauna, and commercially important fish species. Overall, the Thesis presents an integrated assessment of plastic-related contamination from the environment to the human diet, offering new empirical evidence and methodological tools to support risk assessment and regulatory development. The findings highlight the need for standardized methodologies and the inclusion of MPs and associated additives in environmental monitoring and food safety frameworks to better protect ecosystems and public health.