Microplastics: An Emerging Future Risk

Presenters: Nicoletta George, MBA, CPCU, AIDA, AIC, Dominik Scheiben, Ph.D. and Kevin Tallec, Ph.D. 

Sept. 21, at 11 a.m. ET

Microplastics, tiny plastic particles that pose potential risks to human and animal health, are becoming a growing concern for regulators and stakeholders around the world. While the full risks to human health are not yet known, regulators are taking action to restrict the use of microplastics and prevent their accidental dispersal into the environment. As this issue gains attention, it could have implications for the insurance industry, with potential liability claims arising from the impacts of microplastics on human health and the environment. Insurers may need to assess their exposure to this emerging risk and develop strategies to mitigate it. Join us for this webinar to understand microplastics, the concerns and risks for the environment and human health, current regulations, litigation activity and implications on the insurance industry.  

 

Nicoletta George, MBA, CPCU, AIDA, AIC

Global Underwriting Manager, General Liability 

AXA XL
 

Nicoletta George is global underwriting manager of general liability and GCUO casualty at AXA XL. Before joining AXA XL in 2014, she held various strategic and underwriting roles at other global insurance organizations. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Adelphi University, the Prosci Certified Change Practitioner Certification and the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Insurance Data Analytics and Associate in Claims designations from The Institutes. She is serving as a committee member on the CPCU Society Risk Management & Loss Control Interest Group.

Dominik Scheiben, Ph.D. 

Risk Consulting Practice Leader Environmental

AXA XL
 

Dominik Scheiben is an environmental scientist with a PhD in atmospheric physics. As part of AXA XL’s casualty risk consulting team, Dominik is Practice Leader Environmental and supports the underwriting and claims teams globally via technical risk assessments in the environmental, chemical and mining sectors. He has almost 10 years of experience working in this field and has participated in various deep dives and case studies on topics such as climate change litigation, PFAS, tailings dams, microplastics, remediation of groundwater and soil pollution, pesticides, and others.

Kevin Tallec, Ph.D. 

Environmental Engineer 

Cedre (France)
 

Kevin Tallec is a marine biologist working on the fate and impacts of aquatic litter. He held a PhD and a post-doctoral position between 2016 and 2021 at Ifremer (France) on the toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics on aquatic invertebrates and associated-early life stage.

Kevin Tallec has worked at Cedre since 2022 and his main missions are: (1) Organize the French National Monitoring of Meso- and microplastics on beaches to provide data to French and European stakeholders to implement new regulations tackle aquatic litter, (2) Improve the knowledge and the spill response implying plastic items/debris notably plastic pellets/nurdles, (3) Contribute to the development of methodologies to quantify aquatic litter.