Microplastics; What are Microplastics and what kind of danger do they bring?
The process of degradation of the plastics that have been frequently used by people in their day-to-day lives creates microplastics. Becoming a serious timely concern of the world, microplastics bring more serious effects on the whole environment including humans, other fauna, and flora. The danger of microplastics expands throughout all the ecosystems making a great threat to the survival of all the organisms. This can be identified as a result of waste not being properly disposed and managed. Sustainable waste management can solve this issue. Moving into a circular economy that includes 3R principles; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle would help a lot here. Since this has become a global concern, a lot of organizations on national, regional, and global levels are working on avoiding microplastics from the environment. Here it's essential to know
- What are microplastics?
- Techniques for identifying microplastics
- Effects of microplastics on the environment
Let's explore the above matters through this discussion.
What are microplastics
Generation of Microplastics
Based on the production of Microplastics, microplastics are synthetic materials of high polymer content and are in the form of solids that are not dissolved in water. Both commercial production and the breakdown of larger plastics in different ways can make plastic debris that includes microplastics. Microbeads, resin pellets and larger plastics with break apart can be popular sources of microplastics. The synthetic textiles, marine coatings, road markings, city dust, vehicle tires, cosmetics and personal care products are some sources of microplastic pollution of the environment.
Ways Microplastics Enter to Environment
- Directly through industries such as textiles, tires, and cosmetic exfoliants.
- Various ways (physical, chemical and biological) of fragmentation of larger plastic residues such as greater in size of 5mm
There are 2 types of microplastics in the environment based on the environmental pollution resulting from microplastics.
- Primary sources - plastic pellets, fibers, nurdles and cleaning product additives
- Secondary sources - microplastics derived by degradation of macroplastics under weathering processes (single-use-plastics including straws which are to be used just once and then to be discarded).
Classification of Microplastics
Based on the size, microplastics are smaller plastic particles generally sized less than 5mm. Based on the availability of the environment, microplastics can be of different types as fibers, microbeads, fragments, nurdles, and foam.
Degradation of Microplastics
The process of microplastic degradation in the environment can change the properties of microplastics, as well as the physical and chemical actions of microplastics in the environment. Oxidation processes, biofilm growth, and thermal radiation can be identified as the causes of microplastic degradation. Properties like color, surface morphology, size, and density of microplastics can be changed due to degradation.
Techniques for Identification of Microplastics
Through the processes based on both the physical and chemical characterization of isolated particles, microplastics can be identified. One of the most used methods under this is the microscopical technique.
Effects of microplastics on the environment
The most significant fact is that microplastics can affect all living beings on earth including human beings.
- Microplastics can obstruct certain living organisms' gastrointestinal tracts if they are eaten by them. These living things often believe they don't need to eat, which causes starvation.
- Humans can come into contact with microplastics by inhalation or ingestion. The process of absorption involves various organs in humans, whereby it damages cells and triggers immunological and inflammatory reactions that impact human health.
- Microplastics can carry a variety of hazardous pollutants and can seep from a live body's plastic surface. Trace metals and possibly dangerous organic compounds are among these pollutants. The risk of harmful impacts increases when such substances seep into living things. It exposes the live organisms to elevated levels of poisons.
- Furthermore, as microplastics are thought to have carcinogenic qualities, they may potentially result in cancer.
- Microplastics tend to absorb and collect contaminants from the surrounding environment when they are present in water due to their small size and high surface-to-volume ratio. The accumulated concentrations begin to vary depending on the spatial features.