CLEAN Framework Applies Occupational Safety Logic to Global Microplastic Pollution

Microplastics—plastic particles smaller than five millimetres—have been detected in air, freshwater, marine systems, soils, food chains, and even human lungs, blood, and placenta. A new open-access review published in Green Technology, Resilience, and Sustainability argues that responses to this pervasive contamination remain fragmented, reactive, and sector-specific, and proposes a structured alternative: the CLEAN framework, which translates occupational safety and health (OSH) principles into population-scale environmental governance through a One Health lens.

The framework, introduced by Abhijeet Das and Satchidananda Mishra, organizes mitigation into five sequential, mutually reinforcing pillars: Cut, Lock, Extract, Amend, and Network. Cut emphasizes source reduction through sustainable material design, circular economy practices, and low-waste manufacturing. Lock focuses on containment and filtration across industrial and environmental pathways, including advanced wastewater treatment, stormwater controls, and upstream capture technologies. Extract addresses removal of legacy contamination from soils, sediments, and aquatic systems using nature-based and engineered remediation methods, while Amend supports ecosystem restoration through habitat protection and soil–water amendments that enhance microbial, plant-based, and physicochemical recovery. Network promotes cross-sectoral collaboration, harmonized standards, transparent monitoring, and effective risk communication.

The authors draw an explicit analogy with workplace hazard management. In OSH, individuals face chemical, physical, or biological hazards within defined workplaces, and risks are managed through monitoring, protective measures, and systemic interventions. The review reframes the environment itself as a workplace, exposing entire populations to chronic, multi-route intake through contaminated food and water, inhalation of airborne particles, and dermal contact. Indoor environments rich in synthetic textiles, carpets, and 3D-printing materials can concentrate exposure, disproportionately affecting workers in poorly ventilated factories—particularly vulnerable groups such as low-wage female workers.

The evidence base synthesized in the paper spans several domains. Micro- and nanoplastics can cross biological barriers, reach vital organs including the brain, and carry endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as BPA and phthalates, raising concerns about developmental, neurological, and hormonal effects; chronic low-level exposure may have cumulative impacts on immune function and metabolic regulation. The particles also serve as vectors for microbial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes, accumulating biofilms in wastewater systems, agricultural runoff, and wildlife habitats, thereby promoting cross-species pathogen transmission. In ecosystems, ingestion by insects such as bees and butterflies impairs feeding, navigation, and reproduction, threatening pollination, soil fertility, and food security, while in oceans microplastics may reduce carbon sequestration by affecting plankton.

A regional illustration underscores the scale of the problem: in 2016, India generated approximately 9.4 million metric tonnes of plastic waste, of which only 60 percent was recycled, leaving the remaining 40 percent to accumulate in landfills or disperse into soils, rivers, and other ecosystems. Contrary to public focus on visible items such as bottles and bags, the review notes that recent analyses identify synthetic textiles and tire wear particles as the dominant contributors to global microplastic pollution, surpassing packaging-related plastics in environmental prevalence.

A distinctive feature of CLEAN is its tiered classification of mitigation technologies by evidence maturity. Tier I comprises field-validated, operational measures—plastic bans, extended producer responsibility policies, and microplastic interception at wastewater treatment plants—supported by robust empirical evidence showing significant reductions in microplastic loads entering aquatic environments. Tier II includes pilot-scale interventions such as stormwater filtration, road-runoff capture devices, constructed wetlands, and biochar-amended soils, which show meaningful removal efficiencies but lack long-term performance data under variable conditions. Tier III covers experimental approaches, including enzymatic and microbial polymer degradation and magnetic or nanomaterial-based extraction; the discovery of PET-degrading bacteria illustrates theoretical potential but remains far from ecosystem-scale application.

The framework also incorporates quantitative risk tools. The authors propose a composite Risk Priority Index calculated as hazard severity multiplied by exposure intensity and population vulnerability, drawing on concentration benchmarks such as predicted no-effect concentrations, which for microplastics in aquatic environments typically span low microgram-per-litre to milligram-per-litre levels depending on polymer type, particle size, and biological receptor. A hypothetical worked example describes a river basin downstream of textile and urban runoff sources where measured microfiber concentrations exceed reported freshwater PNEC values threefold, prioritizing Cut, Lock, and Network interventions before downstream Extract and Amend measures. The framework deliberately avoids prescribing fixed numerical thresholds, instead offering a structured decision pathway adaptable to evolving toxicological evidence.

Equity dimensions receive explicit attention. Informal waste workers, textile and recycling workers, coastal fishing communities, subsistence farmers, and populations near industrial or urban runoff zones face disproportionate exposure through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact, often without legal or political recourse. The framework operationalizes justice concerns by identifying high-burden populations using indicators such as proximity to microplastic sources, livelihood dependence on contaminated media, limited access to protective infrastructure, and cumulative exposure from co-existing stressors like air pollution and unsafe water.

On implementation, the review acknowledges significant barriers: economic costs of advanced monitoring and circular economy initiatives, technological limits in detecting and removing microplastics across diverse matrices, policy fragmentation, enforcement gaps, and behavioural inertia. Enablers include rising public awareness, advances in high-resolution detection and integrated biomonitoring, and ongoing United Nations negotiations on a Global Plastics Treaty, which the authors argue could embed One Health principles into international law with enforceable targets, technology transfer, and financial support for low- and middle-income countries. Illustrative case studies range from Rwanda’s 2008 plastic bag ban and the Netherlands’ Plastic Pact NL to Japan’s seawater-soluble plastics and India’s sunlight-degradable plastics research.

The authors are careful to position their central metaphor. The term “microplastics pandemic” is used as an analytical and epidemiological analogy rather than a literal comparison to infectious disease: microplastic pollution involves no biological transmissibility or person-to-person spread. Instead, the framing emphasizes ubiquity, chronicity and latency, and systemic burden, aligning with the precautionary principle in environmental epidemiology, where policy action often precedes complete mechanistic certainty. The study identifies its own limits—longitudinal exposure studies, standardized monitoring protocols, and field-scale validation of pilot technologies remain critical gaps—and presents CLEAN not as a replacement for existing frameworks such as DPSIR or source–pathway–receptor models, but as an operational translation of their diagnostic insights into coordinated, prevention-oriented action across human, animal, and environmental health.

Subject of Research: An OSH-inspired One Health framework for mitigating microplastic pollution

Article Title: Tackling the microplastics pandemic: the CLEAN framework as an integrated one health approach for global environmental and public health

Article References: Das, A., & Mishra, S. (2026). Tackling the microplastics pandemic: the CLEAN framework as an integrated one health approach for global environmental and public health. Green Technology, Resilience, and Sustainability, 6(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44173-026-00031-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44173-026-00031-1

Keywords: microplastics, One Health, CLEAN framework, occupational safety and health, environmental policy, circular economy, wastewater treatment, environmental justice, nanoplastics, Global Plastics Treaty, Tackling, pandemic