Abstract
Microplastics are micrometre-sized emerging pollutants produced by plastic fragmentation. They have been recently detected in most ecosystems, even in remote areas. Here, we review microplastics with emphasis on sources, occurrence, transport, detection methods, policies, toxicity, and management methods. In the transport section, we discuss sorption kinetics, layered microplastics, and influencing factors such as biofilm formation. Microplastic management can be done by adsorption, filtration, oxidation, and biodegradation. Microplastic interaction is influenced by temperature, pH, salinity, and dissolved organic matter.
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Abbreviations
- AD:
-
Anaerobic digestion
- AOP:
-
Advanced oxidation process
- ARG:
-
Antibiotic resistant gene
- ATR-FTIR:
-
Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy
- ASP:
-
Activated sludge process
- COD:
-
Chemical oxygen deman
- COF:
-
Covalent organic frameworks
- DLVO:
-
Derjaguin–Lsndau–Verwey–Overbeek
- DOM:
-
Dissolved organic matter
- DSC:
-
Differential scanning calorimetric
- EDL:
-
Electrical double layer
- EDX:
-
Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
- EPFR:
-
Environmentally persistent free radicals
- EPS:
-
Exo poly saccharides
- ETPs:
-
Effluent treatment plants
- FPA:
-
Focal plane array
- HDPE:
-
High-density polyethylene
- HIS:
-
Hyperspectral imaging
- HRT:
-
Hydraulic retention time
- J :
-
Flux
- \(K^{*}_{{{\text{mpl}} - w}}\) :
-
Three phase partitioning coefficient
- \(K_{{{\text{mpl}} - w}}\) :
-
Partitioning co-efficient
- K ow :
-
Octanol/water partitioning coefficient
- K surf :
-
Plastic layer thickness of readily sorbing the contaminants
- K w :
-
Mass transfer coefficient of the aqueous phase
- LCR:
-
Lorentz contact resonance
- MALDI-TOF-MS:
-
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry
- MLSS:
-
Mixed liquor suspended solids
- MLVSS:
-
Mixed liquor volatile suspended solids
- MOF:
-
Metal organic frameworks
- mpl:
-
Microplastics layers
- mpo :
-
Mass of spherical particles
- NOM:
-
Natural organic matter
- PA:
-
Polyamide
- PAHs:
-
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- PCPs:
-
Personal care products
- PCBs:
-
Polychlorinated biphenyls
- PE:
-
Polyethylene
- PET:
-
Polyethylene terephthalate
- PLM:
-
Polarized optical or light microscopy
- POPs:
-
Persistent organic pollutants
- PP:
-
Polypropylene
- Py-GC-MS:
-
Pyrolysis—gas chromatography mass spectrometry
- Py-MS:
-
Pyrolysis mass spectrometry
- \(\rho_{{{\text{po}}}}\) :
-
Mass density of spherical particles
- q e :
-
Equilibrium uptake
- q max :
-
Maximum sorption capacity
- \(r_{{{\text{po}}}}\) :
-
Radius of spherical particles
- RO:
-
Reverse osmosis
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscope
- SPE:
-
Solid phase extraction
- SSA:
-
Specific surface area
- (TED)-GC-MS:
-
Thermoextraction and desorption GCMS
- t g :
-
Transition temperature
- TGA:
-
Thermogravimetric analysis
- UF:
-
Ultrafiltration
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Kheerthana Ramesh was contributed data curation and writing—original draft; Padmanaban Velayudhaperumal Chellam was involved in conceptualization, writing—review and editing, and supervision; and Baranidharan Sundaram was perfomed writing—review and editing.
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Ramesh, K., Chellam, P.V. & Sundaram, B. Transport of layered and spherical microplastics in aqueous ecosystems: a review. Environ Chem Lett 22, 1221–1255 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-024-01730-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-024-01730-6