Plastics in soil: Analytical methods and possible sources

Microplastic particles cause intestinal damage and other adverse effects in zebrafish Danio rerio and nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Biodegradation of bioplastics in natural environments.

On account of environmental concerns, the fate and adverse effects of plastics have attracted considerable interest in the past few years. Recent studies have indicated the potential for fragmentation of plastic materials into nanoparticles, i.e., "nanoplastics," and their possible accumulation in the environment. Nanoparticles can show markedly different chemical and physical properties than their bulk material form. Therefore possible risks and hazards to the environment need to be considered and addressed. However, the fate and effect of nanoplastics in the (aquatic) environment has so far been little explored. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of the literature on this emerging topic, with an emphasis on the reported impacts of nanoplastics on human health, including the challenges involved in detecting plastics in a biological environment. We first discuss the possible sources of nanoplastics and their fates and effects in the environment and then describe the possible entry routes of these particles into the human body, as well as their uptake mechanisms at the cellular level. Since the potential risks of environmental nanoplastics to humans have not yet been extensively studied, we focus on studies demonstrating cell responses induced by polystyrene nanoparticles. In particular, the influence of particle size and surface chemistry are discussed, in order to understand the possible risks of nanoplastics for humans and provide recommendations for future studies.

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Emergence of Nanoplastic in the Environment and Possible Impact on Human Health

Human populations are using oceans as their household dustbins, and microplastic is one of the components which are not only polluting shorelines but also freshwater bodies globally. Microplastics are generally referred to particles with a size lower than 5 mm. These microplastics are tiny plastic granules and used as scrubbers in cosmetics, hand cleansers, air-blasting. These contaminants are omnipresent within almost all marine environments at present. The durability of plastics makes it highly resistant to degradation and through indiscriminate disposal they enter in the aquatic environment. Today, it is an issue of increasing scientific concern because these microparticles due to their small size are easily accessible to a wide range of aquatic organisms and ultimately transferred along food web. The chronic biological effects in marine organisms results due to accumulation of microplastics in their cells and tissues. The potential hazardous effects on humans by alternate ingestion of microparticles can cause alteration in chromosomes which lead to infertility, obesity, and cancer. Because of the recent threat of microplastics to marine biota as well as on human health, it is important to control excessive use of plastic additives and to introduce certain legislations and policies to regulate the sources of plastic litter. By setup various plastic recycling process or promoting plastic awareness programmes through different social and information media, we will be able to clean our sea dustbin in future.

H. F. Tse

Papers

Plastic waste in the marine environment: A review of sources, occurrence and effects.