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A Review of Microplastics in China Marine Waters
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A comprehensive review of microplastic research across China's four coastal seas found highly variable contamination levels, with offshore mariculture zones and the South China Sea most polluted, and polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene accounting for nearly 90% of identified polymers. The review underscores the scale of marine microplastic pollution in one of the world's most densely populated coastlines, where contaminated seafood and water directly threaten human health.
Microplastics (<5 mm) are ubiquitous in the environment and can pose potential danger to the ecosystem and even human health. As the sink of microplastics, the ocean, especially the densely populated coastal area, has become a hotspot for research on microplastic pollution. In the last decade, the research of marine microplastics has been rapidly increasing in China. This review summarized the microplastic research conducted in China marine waters so far, and introduced the trends and progress of microplastic research in the four seas along the coast of China. We reviewed and compared the current sampling, extraction, and identification methodologies of China’s microplastic research. According to the sampling method, the 30 reviewed studies were separated into two categories, trawl sampling and bulk sampling, to summarize relevant data, including abundance, sizes, shapes, colors and polymer types of microplastics. The main results showed that the distribution of microplastics in China’s marine environment varied significantly, with offshore mariculture zones and the South China Sea being the most contaminated areas. Transparent, granules (or pellets) and fibers were the most dominant microplastic colors and shapes, and the size of microplastics was influenced significantly by the sampling method. Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) were the most common polymer types found in the China Sea, accounting for 49.96%, 29.97%, and 12.38% of the total studies, respectively. Compared with other global data, China’s coastal microplastic pollution is at an intermediate level and does not seem to be a major microplastic pollution source.
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"A comprehensive review of 1,862 sampling sites across China found microplastics in every environmental medium studied—seawater, sediments, inland water, soils, and atmospheric fallout—with polypropylene, polyethylene, and PET as the dominant polymer types. China's scale as the world's largest plastic producer and user makes these findings especially alarming, highlighting the urgent need for standardized detection methods and stronger national pollution controls."
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Marine microplastic accumulation, estimated at over 250,000 tons in ocean environments, is driven by fragmentation of larger plastic debris and represents a persistent and growing contamination challenge. These particles are ingested by marine organisms across food web levels, raising concerns about biomagnification and human dietary exposure.
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Researchers reviewed the pathways and consequences of microplastic pollution in marine environments, focusing on how post-consumer plastic waste breaks down and accumulates across ocean ecosystems. The review underscores the widespread ecological risks posed by microplastics to marine life, with potential implications for human health through seafood consumption.
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