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Microplastic in Ecosystems: Abundance, Transportation, and Biodegradation
Summary
This review examines the abundance, transportation pathways, and degradation mechanisms of microplastics in ecosystems, discussing how landfill sites, mulch degradation, and transport contribute to environmental contamination. The authors evaluate physicochemical degradation methods alongside bacterial biodegradation, noting limitations of current approaches and highlighting the potential of omics tools for understanding microorganism-mediated plastic breakdown.
Microplastics are ubiquitous, non-biodegradable pollutants of global concern, with serious ecotoxicological effects, infiltrate food chain and cause risks to living organisms. The widespread presence of microplastics has raised concerns about their abundance, transport and degradation. Microplastic mainly enter the ecosystem by transportation, landfill sites, mulch degradation etc. Microplastic degradation is a complex process and depends on the polymer type and different environmental factors. While different physio-chemicals methods are used for microplastic degradation, however these approaches are limited by high cost, low efficiency and secondary pollutant generation. Several bacterial species are known to degrade plastics; however, little is known about the structural and functional dynamics of these microorganisms. Here, in this chapter, the abundance, transportation and degradation of microplastic has been quantitatively discussed. Additionally, different omics tools have been discussed in relation to microplastic degradation.