Effects of Nanoplastics on Aquatic Organisms

Nanoplastics (NPs) pollution is an issue of special concern due to their presence in the environment and unique features, especially those related to their size, which include: (i) colloidal properties, (ii) the ability to penetrate cell membranes and cumulate in organisms, (iii) high surface area to volume ratio resulting in high ability to absorb and release chemicals, and (iv) their tendency to aggregate. These characteristics as well as their environmental fate, effects on biota, different methods of sampling and the need to use sophisticated analytical techniques lead to separation of the studies on nano- and microplastics. Although numerous studies have indicated adverse effects of NPs, a proper environmental risk assessment is impossible as we still do not have precise data on the concentration of NPs in natural environments due to imperfect detection methods. This chapter offers a comprehensive survey of the influence of NPs on aquatic biota. To the best of our knowledge, none of the previous state-of-the-art papers included observations of the effects of NPs on aquatic organisms at all levels of biological organization. Therefore we aim to fill this gap, reviewing the content of nearly 200 articles on the effects of NPs on aquatic life, from the molecular to ecosystem level.