There is a date for #INC-5.3! But, it is only for the "election of officers including for the position of Chair". It will take place in Geneva on 7 February, immediatedly after the first session of the ISP-CWP. www.unep.org/inc-plastic-... #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticTreaty

📢 PhD opportunity! 📢 Are you interested in studying how different farming practices influence soils, including chemical levels and bioavailability, functional soil outcomes and other ecosystem endpoints? Check out this ECOSOLUTIONS PhD! @ukceh.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

BPA free doesn't always mean BPA free! Does anyone have a link to the actual study? I want to know whether they tested for other bisphenols. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The Chair of the #GlobalPlasticsTreaty negotiations, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, is stepping down, for personal and professional reasons. #INC5.2 #INC5 #PlasticsTreaty www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I hate doing expenses claims...

Plastics Treaty — What happened? What's next? Negotiations collapsed in Geneva. Disappointing, yes. Defeat? Certainly not. 📽️ Watch: What happened, what's next — and why we still have hope! #PlasticsTreaty #INC52 youtu.be/-HgqLVANa78

"Because of the complexity and number of chemicals to assess and the enormous variability of their uses, the regulatory system is overwhelmed and not sufficiently protective ... chemical pollution has become a serious global issue." www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

🌍 A UKCEH team were observers at the latest UN talks on a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Negotiations ended without consensus after 2 intense weeks, but there are glimmers of hope 🔗 tinyurl.com/mrxmfm87 🧵🧪 1/ @samharrison.science @richardkcross.bsky.social @feuchtmayr.bsky.social #INC5

The #PlasticsTreaty talks have ended without a treaty. To call this process a failure is an understatement. The world doesn't need more plastic. People know it, doctors know it, markets know it. We must now restart — not repeat. 👉 Read our statement: bit.ly/4fIWhCC

There will be no #GlobalPlasticsTreaty from #INC5.2. The Chair informed us at just after 6am this morning that, despite best efforts and a new revised Chair's text overnight, consensus could not be reached. #PlasticsTreaty

It is 5.30am in Geneva and the final #INC5.2 plenary is scheduled to resume. The new revised Chair's text is many steps from being able to fully end plastic pollution, but it is a few steps in the right direction. Now we find out how countries will react. #PlasticsTreaty #GlobalPlasticsTreaty

New revised Chair's text. Chemicals of concern are now explicitly mentioned, and majority voting is possible at COPs where consensus cannot be reached. But still no article on sustainable production and consumption. #PlasticsTreaty #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #INC5.2 resolutions.unep.org/incres/uploa...

#INC5.2 final plenary started at 11.30pm and almost immediately adjourned until Friday, at a time to be announced. Informal negotiations still ongoing with a Heads of Delegation meeting starting at 2am. #PlasticsTreaty #GlobalPlasticsTreaty

Waiting for the final plenary of #INC5.2. Will it be this side of midnight?! #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #PlasticsTreaty

Les Aubes - a series of free concerts every morning during summer from 6-7am on Bains des Pâquis. Completely free and the best bit is you can watch whilst enjoying your morning swim! #INC5.2 #PlasticsTreaty #GlobalPlasticsTreaty

I escaped from the madness of #INC5.2 and Geneva with a day trip across the border to the Chamonix valley today. The (literal) high point of my walk was Lac de la Perseverance (photo 3), which seems a very suitably named lake to visit right now! #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #PlasticsTreaty

"We have to think about who we're solving this problem for: the next generation & the environments we depend on." Ben von Wong's brilliant, innovative art calling is calling on the world to #BeatPlasticPollution. Great to catch up with him at #INC5.2 as we continue negotiations on a #PlasticsTreaty

Some reflections on the first few days of #INC5.2 negotations in Geneva, towards a #GlobalPlasticsTreaty. Are the negotiations going well? Frankly, not really, though there are reasons for hope 👇 @ukceh.bsky.social #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticTreaty #GlobalPlasticTreaty

#INC5.2 is go!

Insightful screening of Homo Plasticus: Plastic Inside Us this evening, followed by an equally as insightful panel discussion. Lots of emerging evidence of the real health risks plastics pose to society, underpinning the need for a strong #GlobalPlasticsTreaty #INC5.2 #PlasticsTreaty

Panel discussion on "science and research for an effective instrument": strong support for science-based decisions free of conflicts of interest, and a need for transparency in not just Treaty processes, but the data needed to support it. #INC5.2 #PlasticsTreaty @bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social

🌍 Advancing science to end plastic pollution: UKCEH scientists are at the final Global Plastics Treaty talks this week as official Observers—ensuring negotiations are shaped by scientific evidence and expertise. #PlasticsTreaty #INC5 🧵🧪 1/

#INC5.2 Conversation with Observers starts with @ingerandersen.bsky.social highlighting that UNEA 5/14 mandated negotiations for a strong #PlasticsTreaty considering the full lifecycle of plastics, with safe and sustainable production. #GlobalPlasticsTreaty

Plastic is often seen as a cheap material but scientists in The Lancet argue it is expensive when including damage to health One estimate of the health damage from just three plastic chemicals – PBDE, BPA and DEHP – in 38 countries was $1.5tn a year. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

"Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding US$1·5 trillion annually" #INC5.2 #PlasticsTreaty #GlobalPlasticsTreaty www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

I'm on my way to Geneva for #INC5.2 - the final session for nations to negotiate a #GlobalPlasticsTreaty As the negotiations near their final stage, it is now more than ever crucial that decisions are grouded in science. The @ukceh.bsky.social delegation is going with five key messages 👇

1/2 Important read ahead of #INC5.2 negotiations for a global #PlasticsTreaty: „In an era when governments with vested interests increasingly sabotage collective action, it is vital to demonstrate that a determined majority can still make international law. backchannel1.substack.com/p/the-consen...

❓ Are you joining INC-5.2 and looking for an independent scientist to help understand a topic or get the latest data? 🙋🏼‍♂️🙋🏻‍♀️ Over 50 of our scientists are here in Geneva to help – come talk to us! 👩🏽‍🔬 Get an overview of Scientists’ Coalition members at INC-5.2 ➡️ drive.google.com/file/d/1aESm...

New report from @wwf.de and @unibirmingham.bsky.social highlighting the potential health risks of micro- and nanoplastics. #INC5.2 #GlobalPlasticsTreaty www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/gl...

📢 Hot off the press! 📢 #Pharmaceutical legislation in the EU is going through changes. In this article, we talk about these changes in the context of environmental risk assessment, offering thoughts on how environmental protection could be strengthened. enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10....

We just need the soil we grow our food on to get the same attention now! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The first measurements of TFA in UK rivers have revealed concerningly high concentrations. This highlights the need for wider monitoring of TFA in the UK.

🚨 Our plastic fragmentation model FRAGMENT-MNP is now published in @joss-openjournals.bsky.social! This was my first time publishing in JOSS and I found it very refreshing. joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21... @praetorius-a.bsky.social @richardkcross.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @cefic.bsky.social

Just published in JOSS: 'FRAGMENT-MNP: A model of micro- and nanoplastic fragmentation in the environment' https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.08061

Classic warning sign in student reports written with AI

📣 We're proud to announce our new science framework, marking a major milestone in our evolution. Five cutting-edge science areas, each led by newly appointed Associate Science Directors and Group Heads, will shape the future of environmental research. 🌍 See more: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

German authorities have classified TFA, a type of PFAS forever chemical, as toxic to reproduction: "may harm the unborn child. Suspected to damage fertility." The European Chemicals Agency will now consider a similar measure & possible restrictions on use. 1/5 www.pan-europe.info/press-releas...

Really interesting bigger picture talk on next generation of environmental exposure models by @samharrison.science at #SETAC #Vienna, from monitoring using #CitizenScience to #Modelling and #Visualisation including a #TheoryOfChange 👍 "It's important to engage with other disciplines"

Exposure modelling is a crucial part of assessing the risk from chemicals. Come and find out about the latest advances in exposure modelling at our #SETACVienna session on Wednesday! 0930 and 1140 in Hall D3, with posters up all day (172-194). @praetorius-a.bsky.social

It's difficult to overstate just how much environmental research and operations, including things like weather forecasting, depend on Unidata. This is scary.

#SETACVienna here I come! I'm taking a #FlightFree journey starting with the @eurostarnews.bsky.social to Brussels, then DB trains to Frankfurt and Vienna. Departure: 0704. Arrival: 2305 (if I make the connections!) Plenty of time to write that presentation! 😬 #FlyingLess @flightfreeuk.bsky.social

Excited to be part of the @ukceh.bsky.social contingent heading to #SETACVienna this year! Take a look at this post for a flavour of some of the work UKCEH scientists are presenting. www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...

RIP American science: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions, layoff staff, and terminate more funded grants.

Strong words from Ursula von der Leyen today: “Science belongs to humanity. We must protect it, prioritize it, and give it the freedom it needs to flourish.” At the launch of the EU’s “Choose Science - Choose Europe” initiative, she announced four key actions. 🧵1/3

Second grumble of the day: these are all recent papers and only a few have data available. Some don't even have a "data available upon request" statement. How is this still an issue?! I'm resorting to guesstimating data from (low resolution) figures (interestingly, ChatGPT does a reasonable job...)

I've just read about 10 papers reporting the size distributions of microplastics in the environment. All of them reported an unbounded lowest size bin (e.g 0-1 um), yet none of them comment on the minimum detectable size in their analysis. This is *very* misleading - we can do better than this!

New blog post: #Conda + #Fortran degenerateconic.com/conda-plus-f...

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081