• MNPs cannot be avoided in the cycle of life as they are found in all survival resources. • Irrespective of the types or sources, micro & nanoplastics are dangerous pollutants. • Their deleterious impacts are linked to their nature: small size, featherweight, and durability. • Unknown MNPs persist in biomarkers of various organisms and ecosystems. • The available technologies for detecting and removing MNPs from the environment are inefficient. The prevalence of micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) across the various environments and their negative impact on ecosystems have become a serious global threat and are currently a subject of many environmental concerns. Studies have provided evidence that MNPs have the potential to leach toxic plastic chemical additives and can adsorb a variety of persistent organic environmental pollutants, thereby enhancing their bioavailability, toxicity, and dispersion. Moreover, these MNPs easily penetrate the food chain and might cause health problems when ingested by humans and other organisms. Currently, there is complexity in understanding the mechanisms by which these toxic chemicals adsorb/desorb onto/from MNPs, and the physical and biological impacts of these chemical additives. To date, there is a considerable lack of knowledge on the major chemical additives of concern used in the plastic industry, their fate once MNPs dispose into the environment, the factors that affect their degradation, and their consequent impacts on human health. This review critically analyzes the current knowledge concerning the physical, chemical, and biological impacts of MNPs, and the various chemical and organic pollutants associated with MNPs. Emphasis was laid on their types, occurrence, fate, and distribution in the environment. The different techniques used in their identification, characterization, and removal were also elucidated. Furthermore, the consequent harmful effects of MNPs on human health were discussed to spur more future studies and fill knowledge gaps in this area. 

Toxic Chemicals and Persistent Organic Pollutants Associated with Micro-and Nanoplastics Pollution

A central challenge in microplastics (MP, diameter   250 μm, with drastic improvements in analysis time as compared with the best available technology, such as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. Primary challenges we identified through the review include improving spatial resolution to detect smaller MP and development of robust models for data analysis. Parameters and practices for reporting quality assurance and quality control measures are summarized and recommendations are made for future research. We conclude that HSI is a promising technology for MP analysis but requires adaptation for this new application.

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Hyperspectral imaging as an emerging tool to analyze microplastics: A systematic review and recommendations for future development

Moving forward in microplastic research: A Norwegian perspective.

Abstract In this work, freshwater microplastic samples collected from four different stations along the Italian Po river were characterized in terms of abundance, distribution, category, morphological and morphometrical features, and polymer type. The correlation between microplastic category and polymer type was also evaluated. Polymer identification was carried out developing and implementing a new and effective hierarchical classification logic applied to hyperspectral images acquired in the short-wave infrared range (SWIR: 1000–2500 nm). Results showed that concentration of microplastics ranged from 1.89 to 8.22 particles/m 3 , the most abundant category was fragment, followed by foam, granule, pellet, and filament and the most diffused polymers were expanded polystyrene followed by polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride, with some differences in polymer distribution among stations. The application of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) as a rapid and non-destructive method to classify freshwater microplastics for environmental monitoring represents a completely innovative approach in this field. 

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Andrea Faltynkova

Papers

Hyperspectral imaging as an emerging tool to analyze microplastics: A systematic review and recommendations for future development

Hyperspectral imaging: An early systematic review of emerging applications for rapid microplastic analysis