Plastic and Microplastic in the Environment

Abstract

"In recent years, microplastics (MPs) have received special attention from the mass media and scientific community. MPs are ubiquitously found all over the world, from overpopulated to remote regions. Until now, studies on MPs is mainly focused on marine environments. Freshwater environments are reported as the main sources of MPs to the oceans, however, knowledge of MPs in the environments is insufficient. This chapter reviewed the potential sources and pathways of MPs in freshwater environments. A summary of the analytical methods for sample collection, preparation, and analysis of MPs was also presented. Furthermore, the global distribution of MPs in river and lake systems was also reported. This review showed that MPs have been found ubiquitously in freshwater environments from remote to densely populated areas. The MPs pollution in China was reported higher than in other parts of the world.

Topics & Concepts