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Understanding microplastic pollution of marine ecosystem: a review
Summary
This review summarizes the current understanding of microplastic pollution in oceans, covering where they come from, how they spread, and their harmful effects on marine life and potentially human health. Microplastics are found throughout the ocean -- from surface waters to deep sediments -- and can transfer toxic chemicals to organisms that consume them. The authors highlight that significant gaps remain in detection methods and understanding the full scope of how marine microplastics affect the food chain that leads to our plates.
Microplastics are emerging as prominent pollutants across the globe. Oceans are becoming major sinks for these pollutants, and their presence is widespread in coastal regions, oceanic surface waters, water column, and sediments. Studies have revealed that microplastics cause serious threats to the marine ecosystem as well as human beings. In the past few years, many research efforts have focused on studying different aspects relating to microplastic pollution of the oceans. This review summarizes sources, migration routes, and ill effects of marine microplastic pollution along with various conventional as well as advanced methods for microplastics analysis and control. However, various knowledge gaps in detection and analysis require attention in order to understand the sources and transport of microplastics, which is critical to deploying mitigation strategies at appropriate locations. Advanced removal methods and an integrated approach are necessary, including government policies and stringent regulations to control the release of plastics.
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