Microplastic Pollution in the Environment

Microplastic is plastic rubble of less than 1.0 mm. This material is accumulating and gathering in marine and aquatic habitats. The breakdowns of these microplastics provide a possible pathway or route for the migration and transfer of these pollutants, which are monomers, and plastic additives to aquatic organisms with undefined consequences on their environmental health. In this chapter, the presence of microplastic pollutants on the six continents from the poles to the equator, with more materials in densely populated semi-urban and urban areas was highlighted. The chapter revealed that the important sources of microplastics are sewage contaminated by fibres from washing clothes, oxidation and transformation of plastic materials and other solid wastes. Scientific assessment of microplastics from sediments in the marine and sea revealed that the magnitudes of polyester and acrylic fibres utilised in clothing production were established in habitats that received industrial discharges and domestic effluent originating from municipal systems. Over 40 journal articles on microplastics in marine environments were reviewed and discussed. Evaluations of wastewater from domestic washing machines established that a typical garment can generate greater than 1.9 × 103 fibres per wash of a garment. This result suggested that a large quantity of microplastic fibres established in the marine environment can originate and be derived from sewage as a result of washing clothes made from fibres. As world populations rise and people utilise more artificial textiles, pollution of habitats and animals by microplastics is expected to increase. It was concluded that microplastic materials in marine environments can be attributed to flow dynamics, anthropogenic discharges, tidal exchanges and microplastic density. The presence of microplastics was proved by substantial relationships of microplastics with the stream pollution index, suspended solids loadings, flow velocity, chemical oxygen demand, surface loadings, hydraulic loadings and the presence of several polymer types of microplastics in freshwater and stream sediment. It was established that Arctic provinces are turning into a hotspot for plastic pollution, and this calls immediately for protective measures.