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Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Contaminants with Microplastics Current Scenario, Sources and Effects
Summary
This review chapter covers the current state of microplastic contamination across marine and terrestrial environments, explaining how microplastics act as vectors for other pollutants — including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and heavy metals — that accumulate on their surfaces. These contaminant-laden particles are consumed by marine organisms and travel up the food chain, reaching human food sources. The work underscores that microplastics are not just a physical hazard but also a chemical delivery system that amplifies the toxic burden on ecosystems and people.
Microplastics (MPs), attributed as emerging threats, are ubiquitous in the ecosystem, found in surface waters (seas, lakes, rivers, ponds) and terrestrial environments. Currently, marine microplastic pollution is at an alarming level which is not limited only to aquatic life. Microplastics are less than 5 mm in size and can be of two kinds, primary and secondary based on their sources. Primary microplastics are used in household products such as toothpaste, shaving cream, face wash, scrubs etc. and can easily end up in the oceans via rivers from wastewater treatment plants. Secondary microplastics involve the breakdown and degradation of plastic debris into microplastics under biological and physical conditions. Various polymers are used to manufacture microplastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, etc. Their abundance in the ecosystem not only poses a threat to their entry into our bodies, but they are also carriers for other emerging contaminants including additives, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, fertilizers, metals and persistent organic contaminants. The highly hydrophobic surface of microplastics make them favourable to hydrophobic pollutants and the concentration of metal ions on their surface depends on electrostatic interactions. Several other interactions such as hydrogen-bonding and π–π interactions also frame them as contaminants carriers. Furthermore, microplastics have similar dimensions to plankton leading to their consumption by marine organisms. As a result, MPs with sorbed contaminants are found in their tissues and transferred through the food chain promoting bioaccumulation and biomagnification of these contaminants. This chapter deal with the recent scenario of microplastics in the environment and demonstrates their role in bioavailability of emerging pollutants and hazardous effects on biota.
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