Environmental emission, fate and transformation of microplastics in biotic and abiotic compartments: Global status, recent advances and future perspectives

Muhammad Ubaid Ali; Siyi Lin; Balal Yousaf; Qumber Abbas; Mehr Ahmed Mujtaba Munir; Muhammad Uzair Ali; Audil Rasihd; Chunmiao Zheng; Xingxing Kuang; Ming Hung Wong

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148422

Environmental emission, fate and transformation of microplastics in biotic and abiotic compartments: Global status, recent advances and future perspectives

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Oct 15:791:148422. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148422. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: ali@sustech.edu.cn.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: linsy@mail.sustech.edu.cn.
³ Department of Environment Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Turkey; CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China. Electronic address: balal@metu.edu.tr.
⁴ Department of Environment Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Turkey. Electronic address: qumber@metu.edu.tr.
⁵ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China. Electronic address: muju212@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁶ Business School of Xiangtan University, Xiangtan University, Hunan, China. Electronic address: uzair@smail.xtu.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Gujrat, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan. Electronic address: audil@uaar.edu.pk.
⁸ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: zhengcm@sustech.edu.cn.
⁹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: kuangxx@sustech.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; Consortium on Health, Environment, Education and Research (CHEER), Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: minghwong@eduhk.hk.

PMID: 34412398
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148422

Abstract

The intensive use and wide-ranging application of plastic- and plastic-derived products have resulted in alarming levels of plastic pollution in different environmental compartments worldwide. As a result of various biogeochemical mechanisms, this plastic litter is converted into small, ubiquitous and persistent fragments called microplastics (<5 mm), which are of significant and increasing concern to the scientific community. Microplastics have spread across the globe and now exist in virtually all environmental compartments (the soil, atmosphere, and water). Although these compartments are often considered to be independent environments, in reality, they are very closely linked. Ample research has been done on microplastics, but there are still questions and knowledge gaps regarding the emission, occurrence, distribution, detection, environmental fate and transport of MPs in different environmental compartments. The current article is intended to provide a systematic overview of MP emissions, pollution conditions, sampling and analytical approaches, transport, fates and transformation mechanisms in different environmental compartments. It also identifies research gaps and future research directions and perspectives.

Keywords: Environmental compartments; Microplastics; Occurrence and identification; Weathering and biodegradation.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollution / analysis
Microplastics*
Plastics*
Soil

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics
Soil