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Microplastics in Freshwater Environment
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This review of existing research shows that tiny plastic particles from everyday sources, like wastewater, farm runoff, and even air pollution, are building up in our lakes, rivers, and streams, where they can carry harmful bacteria, heavy metals, and hormone-disrupting chemicals. Fish and other freshwater animals that ingest these particles can suffer serious health problems, and since these same pollutants can move through the food chain and water supply, they may pose risks to human health too. The bottom line: stronger pollution policies and better cleanup methods are needed to protect both aquatic ecosystems and the people who depend on them.
The ubiquity of plastic products has been made possible by their ubiquitous nature, and freshwater has been one of the most concerning areas of accumulation and ecological impact. The chapter is a literature review of peer-reviewed articles published between 2016 and 2024 and covers the sources of microplastics (MPs) in the environment, their pathways, and their effects. Municipal wastewater effluents, agricultural runoffs, air deposition, and intensive aquaculture practices were recognized as anthropogenic sources of MPs in the freshwater bodies. Due to their physicochemical stability and size, MPs are easily carried to the water column, tend to accumulate in the sediment, and fix into the shoreline substrates. In case they are discharged into freshwater, the MPs may be able to support the proliferation of microbes and contain heavy metals and other pollutants. This dualism exposes them to the risk of the environment. It has been found out that various freshwater species prey on such particles leading to physiological deformities that include oxidative stress, gastrointestinal imbalance, reproductive dysfunction, and extreme cases that result in killing the organism. In addition, the MPs increase the functions of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals, pathogenic organisms, and the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes, and this highlights the two-fold increase in the risks of such to aquatic organisms and human beings. The conclusions made in this chapter could be summarized as the need to design more effective policy structuring, specific methods of dealing with pollution, and interdisciplinary scientific cooperation to overcome these environmental and human health-related challenges of MPs in freshwater environments.
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This review summarizes how microplastics enter freshwater ecosystems from sources like industrial runoff, urban waste, and agriculture, and how they accumulate in sediments where aquatic organisms ingest them. Researchers found that microplastics reduce feeding efficiency, inhibit growth, and harm reproduction in freshwater species, while also acting as carriers for toxic chemicals that build up through the food chain. The study highlights the need for better waste management and further research to understand the full scope of risks to both aquatic life and human health.
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