The plastic world: sources, amounts, ecological impacts and effects on development, reproduction, brain and behavior in aquatic and terrestrial animals and humans.

The following set of papers concerning contaminants in plastic were presented at a workshop held in association with the International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies, 36th Session, Erice, Sicily, 19th–24th August, 2006 (Ragiani, 2006). The World Federation of Scientists was founded in 1973, and since then the Erice International Seminars on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies have been held annually in Erice, Sicily, under the direction of Professor Antonino Zichichi. The seminars are held at the Ettore Majorana International Centre for Scientific Culture, which is named after an outstanding Italian physicist, Ettore Majorana. Embracing 114 schools, covering all branches of science, the Center is situated in the pre-medieval city of Erice, where three restored monasteries provide an appropriate setting for high intellectual endeavor. The World Federation of Scientists is the only group in the world engaged in the study of planetary emergencies, both theoretically and experimentally, via the implementation of pilot projects. The World Federation of Scientists has identified 63 planetary emergencies, and meetings consist of seminars and associated workshops, which are sponsored by panels devoted to studying these planetary emergencies. The workshop on ‘‘The Plastic World’’ was cosponsored by the permanent panels on Water Quality and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals.