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Microplastic as an invisible threat to the coral reefs: Sources, toxicity mechanisms, policy intervention, and the way forward
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This review examines how microplastics threaten coral reefs by causing physical damage, chemical toxicity, and disruption to coral biology. Microplastics can block coral feeding, carry harmful chemicals, and promote disease-causing bacteria on coral surfaces. While focused on coral ecosystems, the findings matter for human health because healthy reefs support fisheries and coastal communities that millions of people depend on.
Microplastic (MP) pollution waste is a global macro problem, and research on MP contamination has been done in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. Preventing MP pollution from hurting them is essential to maintaining coral reefs' ecological and economic benefits. However, the public and scientific communities must pay more attention to MP research on the coral reef regions' distribution, effects, mechanisms, and policy evaluations. Therefore, this review summarizes the global MP distribution and source within the coral reefs. Current knowledge extends the impacts of MP on coral reefs, existing policy, and further recommendations to mitigate MPs contamination on corals are critically analyzed. Furthermore, mechanisms of MP on coral and human health are also highlighted to pinpoint research gaps and potential future studies. Given the escalating plastic usage and the prevalence of coral bleaching globally, there is a pressing need to prioritize research efforts on marine MPs that concentrate on critical coral reef areas. Such investigations should encompass an extensive and crucial understanding of the distribution, destiny, and effects of the MPs on human and coral health and the potential hazards of those MPs from an ecological viewpoint.
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.