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Microplastics as a Serious Challenge in Marine Environment
Summary
This review summarizes how microplastics accumulate in marine environments, acting as carriers for other toxic chemicals and posing health risks to marine organisms and the humans who eat them. The paper highlights the dual threat of microplastics as both physical contaminants and vectors for co-pollutants.
Today, the production of plastic materials has multiplied with the growth of the population and the development of industry in the world. Microplastics are released into the sea environment as a result of the decomposition of plastic materials and are carried into the water by wind or waves. Unlike small inorganic particles in seawater, microplastics increase the concentration of organic pollutants by splitting. Microplastics are ingested by marine life and have adverse effects on them. The potential degradation of these substances in the marine ecosystem is still being quantitatively evaluated and modelled. Due to the increasing levels of pollution by plastics in the seas, a better understanding of the effects of microplastics in the ocean food web is of great importance.
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