Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Sources, Fates, Impacts and Microbial Degradation
Open Access
- 22 February 2021
- Vol. 9 (2), 41
- https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9020041
Abstract
The serious global microplastic pollution has attracted public concern in recent years. Microplastics are widely distributed in various environments and their pollution is already ubiquitous in the ocean system, which contributes to exponential concern in the past decade and different research areas. Due to their tiny size coupled with the various microbial communities in aquatic habitats capable of accumulating organic pollutants, abundant literature is available for assessing the negative impact of MPs on the physiology of marine organisms and eventually on the human health. This study summarizes the current literature on MPs in the marine environment to obtain a better knowledge about MP contamination. This review contains three sections: (1) sources and fates of MPs in the marine environment, (2) impacts of MPs on marine organisms, and (3) bacteria for the degradation of marine MPs. Some measures and efforts must be taken to solve the environmental problems caused by microplastics. The knowledge in this review will provide background information for marine microplastics studies and management strategies in future.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0900604)
- Guangdong Province Universities and Colleges Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (2018, 2019KZDXM003 and 2020KZDZX1040)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (42077364)
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