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Unraveling Microplastics: Sources, Environment and Health Impacts, and Detection Techniques
Summary
This research review summarizes what we know about microplastics—tiny pieces of plastic pollution that are now found everywhere in our environment, including inside human bodies. Scientists have found these plastic particles in our water, food, and even our blood, but we still don't fully understand what health problems they might cause. The study shows we need better ways to detect and measure microplastics, plus more research and government action to protect people from this growing pollution problem.
Microplastics (MPs) have become a widespread environmental contaminant, raising concern due to their persistence, capacity to transport pollutants, and potential risks to ecosystems and human health. Their increasing global production, prolonged degradation, and ubiquity in aquatic environments underscore the need for improved monitoring and mitigation strategies. Current findings indicate widespread MP contamination, including within the human body, emphasizing significant ecological and health concerns. This review examines the definition, sources, environmental transport mechanisms, associated risks, and current detection methods for MPs in natural and engineered water systems. The methods discussed encompass a broad range of analytical and sensing technologies used to identify, characterize, and quantify MPs across diverse environmental matrices. The review highlights that no single technique is sufficient for comprehensive MP analysis; instead, the combination of multiple methods enhances sensitivity, specificity, and reliability. Progress in automated sample preparation, advanced sensing platforms and standardized methodologies is key to improving detection efficiency and comparability across different studies. In particular, the extensive body of scientific literature underscores the imperative for standardized and harmonized protocols regarding data collection and analysis, as well as homogeneous limits of detection and units of measurement. Reducing MP pollution will require interdisciplinary collaboration, regulatory action, and increased public awareness to protect environmental integrity and human health.
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