Harnessing Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation: A Sustainable Approach to Mitigating Environmental Pollution

Microplastics are very tiny fragments of plastics that are usually less than 5 mm in size. They originate from the development of commercial products or from the disintegration of bigger polymers. Microplastics exist in all components of the environment including the aquatic and air environment. They are usually found in large quantities in such environments, this makes them major pollutants of the ecosystem. Microplastics exist on the earth for prolonged years because they are not easily degraded. These recalcitrant materials find their way into the food chain resulting in contamination. Furthermore, humans tend to feed, drink, and inhale them unknowingly because of their microscopic size. There are diverse health implications associated with inhalation of microplastics in humans notably are inflammation, cell death, autoimmune disorder, cancer, and even death. The immune system of humans does not have the ability to fight these plastics so whenever they are introduced into the body, the dendritic cell launches an attack but fails severally. Hence, there is a need to identify sustainable means of mitigating microplastics and subsequently eradicating them from our ecosystem. Groups of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes have the potential to biodegrade microplastic sustainably. This review discusses the role the group of microbes play in mitigating environmental pollution by microplastics.