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A state of the art-mini review on the sources, contamination, analysis, and consequences of microplastics in water
Summary
Researchers reviewed global studies on microplastics in water, finding that adults may ingest up to 1.2 million microplastic particles annually through drinking water alone, with secondary microplastics — fragments shed by larger plastic items — being the primary source of contamination.
The widespread use of plastic has caused microplastic to be recognized as an emerging pollutant and a serious concern. Microplastics in water have been investigated in various studies, a review of which can be useful in different aspects of this issue. This review showed that the origins of microplastics in water are classified into two main groups including primary microplastic and secondary microplastics. The intensity of pollution of water sources in different countries has been reported from less than one to thousands of microplastics per liter. Finally, drinking water is a concern as a major source of exposure to microplastics, and it is estimated that each adult ingests 0.2–1.2 × 10 6 microplastics annually via drinking water. The most important methods of analyzing this pollutant in water include FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The most important environmental and health risk associated with it is oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, disruption of the energy homeostasis and metabolism, disruption of immune function, neurotoxicity, and cancer. Therefore, provide solutions to reduce the entry of microplastics into water resources, as well as to develop methods to remove them from polluted waters is necessary. • Microplastics in water is a pervasive problem that was reported in all studies. • The density of microplastics in water varies in different countries. • Secondary microplastic is the main source of water pollution. • There are six commonly used methods to detect microplastics in water.