Microplastics On Mangrove Ecosystem and Scope of Biodegradation—a Review

Mangroves are one of the most productive and diverse ecosystems offering a range of ecosystem services. Human interventions deteriorate mangrove ecosystems by converting them into a sink for all kinds of waste, including plastics and microplastics. Microplastics are potentially hazardous materials to ecosystems and human health due to their size, bioavailability, and potential for transmission of toxins and pathogens which necessitates their degradation. A significant strategy for microplastic degradation is by utilizing an indigenous microbial consortium. The current manuscript is a comprehensive review analysis of microplastic contamination in mangrove ecosystems and the possible degradation method by microorganisms. A thorough analysis of articles was done using different search engines and keywords. The result of the analysis showed that most of the literature dealt with isolation, separation, identification, and quantification of microplastics, techniques for identification of microplastics, an overview of microplastic biodegradation, and a few research articles focused on microbial degradation of microplastics. Although numerous articles were published, an all-inclusive manuscript considering various facets of microplastic pollution and microbial degradation possibilities was not seen. The exploration of the literature revealed significant gaps in microplastic research which can be relied upon for future study.