Ecotoxicity of Microplastic Pollutants to Marine Organisms: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Plastic is a ubiquitous material used across the globe. It is easily transported to various habitats and can then be ingested by animals, with the potential to bioaccumulate up the food chain further. Although classified as solid waste, some plastics can be considered hazardous waste due to the chemicals used in the production process and those that can be adsorbed, such as hydrophobic pollutants in seawater. Plastics can break down into secondary particulate plastics, or be microscopically primary plastics, smaller than 5mm. Marine organisms of all sizes can mistake plastic for food or consume prey with microplastics. This can cause detrimental toxic effects at a cellular, biochemical, and muscular level.This research uses a systematic quantitative literature review (SQLR) method to determine the most common polymers, hazardous chemicals, and marine organisms to ingest microplastic and incur ecotoxicological consequences. The results indicated polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) to be the topmost common polymers, with sizes between 1-100 μm. Plastic was observed to be a sink for non-additive pollutants more than a vector. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were the most common pollutants found. Biological impacts and side effects included mortality, reproductive effects, genotoxicity, accumulation, and behavioral effects. Further research is needed regarding the interrelationship of plastic polymers, additives, and non-additives combined for inducing toxic effects.

Microplastics in the riverine environment: Meta-analysis and quality criteria for developing robust field sampling procedures

“…Generally, data showed that the smallest MP size range used by both water column and benthic sediment studies were the most commonly detected in the samples, implying that small MPs may be the most abundant MPs in riverine environments which is consistent with previous freshwater and marine studies (Lu et al, 2021;Niu et al, 2021;Palmer and Herat, 2021). This is thought to be due to larger MPs continually fragmenting into a number of smaller MPs overtime due to biological, mechanical and chemical breakdown (Andrady, 2011;Lambert and Wagner, 2016;Yuan et al, 2020).…”

Evaluation of the ecological health and food chain on the shores of four River Nile Islands, Egypt

“…According to Sun et al ( 2021 ) increased predation is critical for small-bodied zooplankton dominance in the aquatic system. The study islands’ major rotifer species are eutrophic indicator species (Palmer & Herat, 2021 ). As a result, the considerable dominance of rotifers over other zooplankton groups in the studied area, both in terms of abundance and species composition, provides evidence of the trophic status of the Nile River islands.…”

Removal of Polystyrene Microplastics from Aqueous Solution Using the Metal–Organic Framework Material of ZIF-67

“…MPs have become extremely conspicuous and have already been detected in personal care products, food (e.g., drinking water, milk, and table salt), and baby products [6][7][8][9]. Additionally, MPs are known to adsorb many types of pollutants such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and chemical additives such as flame retardants and antioxidants [2,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], thus exacerbating their adverse effects on human and animal health [18][19][20][21][22]. For example, after ingesting microplastics, the marine invertebrates' digestive enzyme systems would be damaged, and even their reproductive system might be affected [19,23].…”