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Plastic Pollution and the Ecological Impact on the Aquatic Ecosystem
Summary
This review examines plastic pollution's ecological impact across aquatic ecosystems, noting that over 300 million tons of plastic are produced annually and around 75% of marine litter is plastic. Microplastics and nanoplastics are highlighted as especially harmful because their small size allows direct ingestion by aquatic life at all levels of the food chain.
Plastic pollution in the environment is currently receiving worldwide attention. Improper dumping of disused or abandoned plastic wastes leads to contamination of the environment. Contamination by bulk plastics and plastic debris is currently the one of the most serious problems in aquatic ecosystems. In particular, small-scale plastic debris such as microplastics and nanoplastics has become a leading contributor to the pollution of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Over 300 million tons of plastic is produced annually, and around 75% of all marine litter is plastic. Plastic litter is widespread in aquatic ecosystems and comes from a variety of sources. The abundance of plastics, combined with their small size and subsequent association with plankton in the water column, allows for direct ingestion by aquatic biota at different trophic levels.