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Plastic and Micro/Nanoplastic Pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Impacts, and Solutions
Summary
This review documents the growing microplastic and nanoplastic pollution problem across sub-Saharan Africa, where rapid plastic use and poor waste management are creating significant contamination in waterways, sediments, and aquatic life. The harsh climate conditions in the region accelerate plastic breakdown into smaller, more dangerous particles. The pollution threatens food production, water quality, and public health in communities that often lack the resources to monitor or address the problem.
Sub-Saharan Africa faces increasing levels of plastic production and importation, unregulated usage, and inadequate waste management systems. This region’s harsh conditions often lead to plastic breaking down into microplastics and nanoplastics. This review explores the abundance of micro/nanoplastics across different environmental mediums, such as surface waters, sediments, and aquatic organisms, in sub-Saharan African countries. It also highlights knowledge gaps concerning the region’s abundance of micro/nanoplastics. The effects of plastics and micro/nanoplastics on food production, water quality, health, and the environment are discussed. Strategies to address the challenges of plastic pollution are proposed. Finally, the review concludes with future perspectives for addressing the ongoing challenges of plastic waste management in sub-Saharan Africa. The materials for this study were sourced from published articles on Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and additional platforms, including reports and various press releases, using keywords such as plastic waste, micro/nano-plastic, sub-Saharan Africa, toxicity, and circular economy. Articles were initially screened by reviewing abstracts, followed by a thorough reading of full papers to identify relevant studies. Key information was extracted from these selected articles and incorporated into this review.