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Microbial Bioremediation of Microplastics
Summary
Tiny plastic bits called microplastics are now everywhere in our environment—and even in our bodies—raising concerns about long-term health effects. This review paper rounds up what scientists currently know about using bacteria and other microbes to break down these plastic particles, a promising cleanup strategy, while also pointing out the challenges researchers still need to solve before it works at scale. The takeaway: nature may offer tools to help tackle plastic pollution, but we're not there yet, so reducing microplastic use in the first place still matters for protecting our health.
Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment and are defined as small (< 5 mm) heterogeneous plastic particles that vary in size, color, shape, and polymer type. These relatively new pollutants are considered contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) due to their widespread accumulation, bioavailability to aquatic and terrestrial organisms, and potential to induce toxicity in wildlife and humans. This chapter explores the main anthropogenic sources of various types of microplastic (MP) accumulation and disposal into the environment as well as potential interactions with indigenous microbial cells. The chapter also examines key degradation processes commonly used by microbes in remediating discarded MPs, in the plastisphere and in surrounding environments, and current challenges associated with interactions between microbes and MPs biodegradation. Furthermore, the chapter highlights alternatives to MPs to reduce their availability and ensure degradative potentials of microbes of these pollutants in the environment.