Micro-plastics in Aquatic Environment: Source, Fate, Emerging Threats, and Regulatory Effort

Abstract

Presences of plastics in aquatic environment, and their possible cascading along the food chain are an environmental concern. To understand the current setup in plastics pollution, we submit the evolution of the plastics industry, the production process, and the magnitude of plastics produced and plastic waste generated. In the second section, we give an over view of sources of micro plastics in aquatic environment including; domestic, leisure, aquaculture, maritime activities and horticulture. Thirdly, we address the behavior and distributions of micro plastics in aquatics system (rivers, estuaries, lakes and ocean) and their matrixes (surfaces, water column, and sediments). In fourth section, we raise the insidious natures of micro plastics pollutions, as a threat to life, and, in the fifth section we identify the developments in policies that targets to mitigate plastic pollution.