Top Research Papers on Microplastics

The presence of microplastics in environmental compartments is generally recognized as a (potential) health risk. Many papers have been published on the abundance of microplastics at various locations around the globe, but only limited knowledge is available on possible mitigation routes. One of the mitigation routes is based on the choice of plastic materials used for products that may unintentionally end up in the environment. As a first approach, this paper presents a method to calculate the tendency of polymers to form microplastics, based on their mechanical and physical properties. A Mic...

Evidence is accumulating that feeding bottles and medical devices can contribute to MP exposure in newborns and infants and there is evidence to support the hypothesis that MPs and their additives are potential obesogens.

The ubiquity of microplastics in the global biosphere raises increasing concerns about their implications for human health, but whether these contaminants pose a substantial risk to human health is far from understood.

Patients with carotid artery plaque in which MNPs were detected had a higher risk of a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause at 34 months of follow-up than those in whom MNPs were not detected.

This review comprehensively summarizes the current technologies for eliminating microplastic from the environment and highlights two key aspects to achieve this goal: 1) Catalytic degradation of microplastics into environmentally friendly organics (carbon dioxide and water); 2) catalytic recycling and upcycling plastic wastes into monomers, fuels, and valorized chemicals.

This research agenda for microplastics has been produced as part of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s roadmap for the sustainable use of plastics. It begins by describing the knowledge needs at an overarching level

It is concluded that the issue of microplastics in the food chain is still not sufficiently examined, and should be paid more attention to maintain the health of the population.

The mass production, continual usage, and improper disposal of plastic products have resulted in significant environmental pollution. The larger plastic polymers gradually break down into smaller particles called microplastics (<5 mm). Existing studies on the occurrence and ecological impact of microplastics have focused on the aquatic ecosystems, with very little attention given to the soil environment. The soil represents a natural sink for microplastics from sources such as sewage sludge, landfills, plastic mulch from agricultural activities, fertilizers, and municipal wastewater effluent. ...

Microplastics are extremely complex, and as the food chain comes full circle, it is dreaded that these could have a deleterious influence on humans. Although the risk of plastics to humans is not yet established, their occurrence in food and water destined for human consumption has been reported. The prevalence of micro-sized plastics in the ecosystem and living organisms, their trophic transfer along the food web, and the discernment of food species as competent indicators have become research priorities. The scale of the issue is massive, but what are the main culprits and causes, and could ...

ABSTRACT:Lagoons are known to act as a source and a sink of microplastics in the environment. The extent of their occurrence is, however, still largely unknown. This study reports available scientific evidence on the occurrence and abundance of microplastic in lagoon ecosystems, globally. This study identified knowledge gaps as well as recommendations to overcome barriers for an effective emerging pollution management. Microplastics of various shapes, polymer types, colours and sizes have been recorded in water, sediments and biota in different lagoon environments. Sampling processing methods ...

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants of considerable persistence and have been a global concern for the past decade. Recently, atmospheric MPs have gained attention. The presence of MPs in the air has been reported from different regions and in air masses over water bodies, demonstrating MPs’ capability of long-range transport and wide spatial distribution away from their source of origin. This review of atmospheric MPs raises questions about the validity and legitimacy of approaches adopted for assessing MP in indoor and outdoor aerosols. The review also provides insi...

The effect of microplastics on the water activity of bulk water and ammonium sulfate solutions is investigated and a variety of plastic compositions and microplastic morphologies including plastics that have been aged by UV irradiation and mechanical forces in the lab are compared.

There is an urgent need to be aware of the harm of MPs to the human immune system and more studies about immunological assessments, and further elucidate the immunological hazards and risks of humans that exposed to MPs.

Microplastic, which is of size less than 5 mm, is gaining a lot of attention as it has become a new arising contaminant because of its ecophysiology impact on the aquatic environment. These microplastics are found in freshwater or drinking water and are the major carriers of pollutants. Removal of this microplastic can be done through the primary treatment process, secondary treatment process, and tertiary treatment process. One approach for microplastic remediation is ultrafiltration technology, which involves passing water through a membrane with small pores to filter out the microplastics. ...

Description

28 Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles of ≤5 mm with a ubiquitous presence in 29 aquatic ecosystems. MPs harm marine life and can cause severe health 30 problems for humans. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) that involve the 31 in-situ generation of highly oxidant hydroxyl radicals can be an alternative to 32 fight MPs pollution. Of all the AOPs, photocatalysis has been proven a clean 33 technology to overcome microplastic pollution. In this work, we propose novel 34 C,N-TiO 2 /SiO 2 photocatalysts with proper visible-active properties to degrade 35 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) MPs...

The increasing accumulation of persistent nondegradable microplastics in the marine environment represents a global environmental problem. Among emerging approaches to tackle microplastics are micro- and nanomotors, tiny devices capable of autonomous propulsion powered by chemical fuels or light. These devices are capable of on-the-fly recognition, capture, and decomposition of pollutants. In the past, various micromotors were designed to efficiently remove and degrade soluble organic pollutants. Current effort is given to the rational design and surface functionalization to achieve micromotor...

Plastic in Indonesia are used as wrappers on household scale to large industrial products. To reach low-income consumers the company releases cheap plastic products and daily necessities in smaller plastic wrap which causes high use of plastics even in rural areas and causes macro to micro-sized plastics pollution. This study used a systematic literature review method. Google Scholar and Science Direct databases are used in this literature study. The inclusion criteria in selecting articles to be reviewed contain the keywords "microplastic", "microplastic abundance" and "urban areas". Based on...

Abstract Microplastics are globally ubiquitous in marine environments, and their concentration is expected to continue rising at significant rates as a result of human activity. They present a major ecological problem with well-documented environmental harm. Sea spray from bubble bursting can transport salt and biological material from the ocean into the atmosphere, and there is a need to quantify the amount of microplastic that can be emitted from the ocean by this mechanism. We present a mechanistic study of bursting bubbles transporting microplastics. We demonstrate and quantify that jet dr...

Экологическая проблема распространения микропластиков привлекает все большее внимание. Достижения аналитической химии позволили накопить и систематизировать обширный массив данных по содержанию микропластиков в объектах окружающей среды и живых (микро)организмах. Ситуация с микропластиками сформировала задачу, как минимум, по выделению таких загрязнителей из объектов окружающей среды и, как максимум, по эффективной их деструкции. В обзоре систематизирована информация о (био)каталитических методах, которые применяют для разложения различных микропластиков. Продемонстрированы достоинства и недос...

Microplastics (MPs), measuring less than 5 mm, have been causing environmental concerns in aquatic ecosystems, and less work has been done in indoor environments, where humans spend most of their lives. This finding revealed a diverse range of MPs within indoor house dust samples. These MPs encompassed fibres, fragments, foams, pellets and films. Due to the ubiquity of textile-based items, fibres are the most common indoor MP. The MPs have different colours like black, red, blue, yellow, white and brown. The study revealed there were substantial differences in MP sizes across different househo...

Plastic plays a vital role in today's world but has become increasingly problematic. Plastics and Microplastics: A Reference Handbook discusses the history and evolution of plastic and its many uses, both in the United States and around the world. Beginning with a history of plastic—from the first scientific discovery of the material to its diversity of forms and uses in the present day—Plastics and Microplastics: A Reference Handbook discusses the history and evolution of plastic and its many uses, both in the United States and around the world. Importantly, it delves into the problems and c...

The effects and risks of microplastics correlate with three-dimensional (3D) properties, such as the volume and surface area of the biologically accessible fraction of the diverse particle mixtures as they occur in nature. However, these 3D parameters are difficult to estimate because measurement methods for spectroscopic and visible light image analysis yield data in only two dimensions (2D). The best-existing 2D to 3D conversion models require calibration for each new set of particles, which is labor-intensive. Here we introduce a new model that does not require calibration and compare its p...

A common phenomenon that fish ingest microplastics inadvertently rather than intentionally is revealed, and insights into the pathways via which microfibers enter fish are provided and potential strategies to assess future ecological risk and food safety related to microplastic are provided.

Marine microplastics are an increasingly big concern. We analyze the occurrence of microplastics in Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) across 2+ to 12+ ages sampled from the Bering Sea. Results show that 85% of the fish have ingested microplastics and elder fish ingest more with over a third of microplastics in the 100- to 500-micrometer size range, indicating the prevalence of microplastics in Alaska pollock distributed in the Bering Sea. A positive linear relationship is obtained between fish age and microplastic size. Meanwhile, the number of polymer types increases in elder fish. The lin...

New light is shed on microplastic exposure, which provides basic data for the risk assessment of microplastics to human health and indicates that inhalation is a potential way for plastics to enter the human body.

Sea ice can serve as a temporary sink for microplastics (MPs), and thus, it too can function as a secondary source of and transport medium for MPs. This study aimed to explore the effect of various MP properties and environmental characteristics on the entrainment and enrichment of MPs in ice under varying turbulence conditions. It was found that high rotation speed in freshwater distinctively enhanced the entrainment of hydrophobic MPs in ice, this being attributable to the combined effects of frazil ice and air bubbles. The hydrophobic nature of these MPs caused them to be attracted to the w...

This detailed review has the potential to add to existing knowledge about the ecotoxicity effects of MPs in both fish and humans, which will be useful for the forthcoming study.

Findings confirm the serious problem of slowly degrading plastics (which rarely degrade fully) in natural marine environments and highlight the need for certain improvements in studies of these phenomena.

While it was easy to detect reference MP in cells post-exposure, the identity of only two types of air-borne MP was confirmed in cells and the study highlighted possible sources of artifacts and inconsistencies in analyzing airborne MP.

Abstract Analyses of air and house dust have shown that pollution of the indoor environment with microplastics could pose a fundamental hygienic problem. Indoor microplastics can result from abrasion, microplastic beads are frequently added to household products and microplastic granules can be found in artificial turf for sports activities and in synthetic admixtures in equestrian hall litter. In this context, the question arose as to what extent particulate emissions of thermoplastic materials from 3D printing should be at least partially classified as microplastics or nanoplastics. The disc...

Microplastic particles have been detected in water sources such as in oceans, lakes and rivers worldwide, which have received much attention in recent years. This review includes a summary of the analytical techniques such as sampling, processing and identification used by researchers to evaluate microplastic in lake water from 35 studies. Microplastic abundance and its morphological characteristics were also compared. Bulk sampling and volume-reduced sampling were almost equally implemented during sample collection. During sample processing, digestion were followed by 85.71 % of the researche...

Although microplastics (MPs) in solid organic waste have been intensively studied, the presence of MPs in organic fertilizer and their potential as new emerging pollution to environment because of their use in agriculture has not been explained completely. Therefore, the identification and quantification of MPs in commercially available compost is important. This study aimed to estimate the quantity of MPs in commercial composts. The characteristics of MPs (shape, color, size, and type of polymers) were identified. This study found that MPs in commercial compost samples were found, reaching up...

The main changes in sperm quality along the lifespan and the upcoming studies on the effects of MPs in male fertility in mammals are summarized.

It is concluded that the plastic packaging of drinking water and food and dust exposure are important sources of human exposure to MPs, and a positive correlation exists between the concentration of fecal MPs and the severity of IBD.

This paper aims to inspire future studies into core elements of micro- and nano-plastics, the biological reactions caused by their specific and unusual qualities, and the possible health impacts on humans, as well as suggestions for additional research.

The widespread presence of microplastic and other anthropogenic microparticles in the gastrointestinal tract, fillet, and livers of seven species of sportfish from Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada suggests that microplastics are translocating, but that excretion of translocated particles or growth dilution may be occurring rather than bioaccumulation and biomagnification.

Abstract. In recent years, airborne microplastics have been identified in a range of remote environments. However, data throughout the Southern Hemisphere, in particular Antarctica, are largely absent to date. We collected snow samples from 19 sites across the Ross Island region of Antarctica. Suspected microplastic particles were isolated and their composition confirmed using micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μFTIR).We identified microplastics in all Antarctic snow samples at an average concentration of 29 particles L−1, with fibres the most common morphotype and polyethylene ter...

This work provides an initial attempt at constructing a pharmacokinetics model for microplastics, and further research is required because future works should be conducted using histopathology techniques to obtain the precise location in the tissues and radiolabelled particles to allow tracking through time.

To better understand unexpectedly low plastic loads at the ocean’s surface compared with inputs, unidentified sinks must be located. Here, we present the microplastic (MP) budget for multi-compartments in the western Arctic Ocean (WAO) and demonstrate that Arctic sediments serve as important current and future sinks for MPs missing from the global budget. We identified an increase of 3% year−1 in MP deposition from sediment core observations. Relatively elevated MP abundances were found in seawater and surface sediments around the summer sea ice retreat region, implying enhanced MP accumulatio...

Chemical absorption from food and ingested microplastic of the nine intake media based on biphasic, reversible, and size-specific sorption kinetics reveals that the contribution of microplastics to total chemical intake is small.

This approach aims to obtain a comprehensive toxicological profile of deposited MPs in the lungs, encompassing local and systemic effects, taking into consideration three levels of complexity, i.e., the particles themselves, the additives present in the plastics, and the exogenous substances adsorbed onto them.

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of N95 respirators, barrier face coverings, disposable gloves, gowns, and other measures to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2. For example, population-based estimates suggest that over seven billion facemasks, which translates to 21,000 tons of synthetic polymer, are used daily in the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Hantoko et al. 2021). After use, these products end up in the synthetic polymer environmental waste stream and contribute to the growing problem of plastic pollution at an estimated rate of abo...

The results showed that fibers and natural particles had no effect on the specific growth rate, chlorophyll a content, and root length of duckweed, while a significant reduction in the latter was observed when duckweed was exposed to microbeads and tire wear particles.

Microplastics and nanoplastics are an environmental stressor for cardiac function in living organisms, and a risk assessment of their influence on the cardiovascular system certainly merits further analysis.

The developed relational database is adaptive and meets the specific demands of microplastics, e.g., a large variety of sampling, processing and analytical methods, many types of plastics, and a very wide size spectrum ranging from micrometres to millimetres.

This preliminary study investigates how many microplastic fibers had been released to the water by KF-AD, KF94, surgical, and FFP1 standard facemask standards in South Korea, and shows that most of the layers of facemasks are composed of polypropylene.

Shape matters for microplastics, but its definition, particularly for hyperspectral imaged microplastics, remains ambiguous and inexplicit, leading to incomparability across data. Hyperspectral imaging is a common approach for quantification, yet no unambiguous microplastic shape classification exists. We conducted an expert-based survey and proposed a set of clear and concise shapes (fiber, rod, ellipse, oval, sphere, quadrilateral, triangle, free-form, and unidentifiable). The categories were validated on images of 11,042 microplastics from four environmental compartments (seven matrices: in...

Shallow lakes and ponds, providing essential ecological and environmental services, are simultaneously disrupted by various pollutants of emerging concern (PECs). As a group of PECs, microplastics (MPs) ubiquitously found in freshwater are toxic to a huge variety of organisms. However, the consequence of secondary factors such as food quantity determining MPs toxicity, and the corresponding water safety risks await assessment is still poorly understood. Accordingly, we investigated how MPs across three particle sizes (10, 1 and 0.07 µm) interacted with food abundance to affect survival, reprod...

In this research, the fate and removal of microplastics (MPs) entering and leaving a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was investigated. Additionally, application of the microfiltration membrane technique for MPs removal was evaluated. In the first phase, the quantity, type and size of the MPs were studied from three different points of the WWTP. The results showed that the average amount of MPs entering into the WWTP, accumulated in the sludge matrix and discharged from the effluent were 206, 183 and 94 MP/L, respectively. The MPs were observed mainly in the forms of fibers, pellets, and frag...