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Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Environment: Analytical Approaches, Environmental Fate, Life Cycle, and Remediation Strategies—A Scoping Review
Summary
This review pulls together existing research on tiny plastic particles (microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics) that are now found almost everywhere, in water, soil, air, and even our food. The big takeaway: scientists still lack standardized methods to detect and measure these particles, especially the smallest ones, which makes it hard to fully understand how much we're exposed to and what health risks they carry, including their ability to carry other harmful chemicals into our bodies. This matters because better detection tools and cleanup strategies are needed before we can accurately assess how these ubiquitous particles affect human health.
Microplastics have emerged as one of the most widespread and significant environmental pollutants, occurring in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, the atmosphere, food, and living organisms. Given the rapid expansion of research in this field, a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge is warranted. The aim of this study was to map the available literature on microplastics, with particular emphasis on advanced identification and characterisation techniques, environmental transport and transformation processes, life cycle assessment, and remediation strategies. This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines using publications retrieved from the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. The analysis demonstrated substantial advances in analytical methodologies, particularly spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, enabling the accurate characterisation of micro- and nanoplastic particles. It also highlighted the complex mechanisms governing the transport and transformation of microplastics across environmental compartments, as well as their important role as vectors of chemical contaminants. From a systems perspective, life cycle assessment of plastics was identified as an essential tool for evaluating their environmental impacts. Current mitigation approaches, including filtration technologies, wastewater treatment processes, and biological remediation strategies, were also reviewed, along with their limitations and potential for future development. This review identifies the lack of standardised analytical methodologies and the limited capability for nanoplastics detection as two major challenges hindering the global harmonisation of microplastics research. The findings emphasise the need for further interdisciplinary studies and the implementation of integrated strategies encompassing the entire life cycle of plastics to effectively reduce microplastics emissions and mitigate their environmental impacts.