ONE HEALTH APPROACH IN WASTE MANAGEMENT AND THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION

This research project, financed by the Next Generation EU within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience plan (PNRR), explores the impact of waste management on biodiversity through the lens of One Health. The transition towards a circular economy aims to strike a sustainable balance between the development of technologies introduced to maximize revenue while meeting the ever-increasing demand. This has intensified the use of recycled waste materials. While these practices may support resource efficiency and nutrient recovery, they may open a window for the entry of persistent contaminants. This thesis adopts a One Health approach to investigate the occurrence, transfer, and exposure pathways of micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) and associated contaminants within the terrestrial environment. The research first examines agricultural soils as major sinks for MNPs, originating from secondary waste streams such as compost, sludge, and digestate. Building from this context, the current evidence on the presence of MNPs in tissues of terrestrial mammals is synthesized, and results reveal that these contaminants are not retained in environmental matrices but are mobile and travel up the food chain. A lot of methodological constraints, such as heterogeneous analytical protocols, inconsistent reported units, and unavailability of detection techniques for nanoplastics, were highlighted across the studies, signaling possible oversights in results and hindering more robust cross-study comparisons and risk assessments. A standardized soil-based biotest was adapted to assess migration of nanoplastics from contaminated soils under environmentally relevant conditions using metal-doped nanoplastics as tracers. This was conducted to address the methodological constraint of nanoplastic detection as observed in the literature. This approach enabled a more reproducible evaluation of particle stability, uptake, and translocation, while maintaining key rhizospheric processes. Finally, the work investigated the possibility of MNPs adsorbing co-contaminants. Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were identified in some recycled plastic classified End of Waste, using a combination of target and non-target analysis. This was further complemented by carrying out migration tests of the identified PFAS into living tissues through oral, dermal, and food contact routes, thus attempting to provide an exposure-relevant assessment of contaminant mobility. Therefore, this thesis demonstrates that while circular economy practices are essential for sustainable resource management, they could be an avenue for contaminant transfer across soils, plants, animals, and humans. The findings obtained underscore the need for integrated analytical approaches, standardized methodologies, and encourage the increased implementation of One Health risk assessment frameworks to ensure that circular practices are both sound from the perspective of humans, animals, and the environment