Occurrence and Detection Problems of Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Water Environment of Russia

Numerous studies on plastic pollution of natural environment have been published. Special attention is paid to micro- (<5 mm) and nano-sized (<100 nm) plastic particles (MP and NP, respectively). The particles are found universally: in waters and bottom sediments of the World Ocean in rivers, lakes and groundwater, beach sediments, and even in Arctic and Antarctic snow and ice, in foodstuff and bottled water, as well as in living organisms at all stages of the food chain. Environmental pollution with plastic has already become as global a problem as climate change. This review analyzes and summarizes the current publications on the problems of MP and NP contamination in natural waters, mainly over the territory of the Russian Federation. A schematic map of MP occurrence in surface waters of Russia has been plotted for the first time. A summary table is presented on MP concentrations in surface water and groundwater, bottled mineral and tap water, as well as in bottom sediments of the world rivers, seas and oceans. It is clearly shown that there is a shortage of studies of MP and NP contamination in groundwater, although their content is also quite high. The problem of measuring the MP and NP concentrations, along with determining their composition, is described and the features, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of all the main detection methods are considered. Generalized schemes of water and soil sampling and preparation for MP determination are presented. It is concluded that no optimum procedure is available and only the integration of techniques allows one to identify MP and NP contamination in the best way.