As there are limited standardized procedures for quantifying microplastics in the aquatic environment, qualitative criteria were developed to identify studies that applied practices such as the use of controls, use of appropriate and clean glassware, and application of contamination avoidance measures. (2018) collected 12 sediment samples from six beaches at the foreshore (between low- and high-water marks) and backshore (high-water mark to inland limit of beach). A review by Provencher et al. Chemosphere. Furthermore, exposure of fabrics to chemical detergents can cause the breakdown of synthetic fibres into smaller fibres (SAPEA 2019). There is a lack of studies on microplastics in soil, and further research is needed to fully understand the interactive effects that plastic pollution will have on soil fauna and potential uptake into food crops. 2018. PE fragments (size ranges of 4–6 µm, 20–25 µm and 125–500 µm) at 1 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg dry sediment. 2001; Fournier et al. Deleterious effects of litter on marine life. This is how we make money. 24:100489. Werner S, Budziak A, van Franeker J, Galgani F, Hanke G, Maes T, Matiddi M, Nilsson P, Ooesterbaan L, Priestland E, et al. [PDF] Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue (QC): CINE. 2015). Chemosphere. Further studies would assist in understanding their environmental impact, particularly in comparison to conventional plastics. To study transfer along a natural food chain, Batel et al. 2020)), or from water-based sources (e.g., fishing-related litter (Driedger et al. 2019). Sci Total Environ. 2006; Wright et al. In: Bergmann M, Gutow L, Klages M, editors. The effects of biofilms on human health are also discussed. For example, Pikuda et al. Yin L, Chen B, Xia B, Shi X, Qu K. 2018. 2019. Another study by Redondo-Hasselerharm et al. Novotna K, Cermakova L, Pivokonska L, Cajthaml T, Pivokonsky M. 2019. Sysselmannen, Norway, p. 1-13. Occurrence of microplastics in fishes from two landing sites in Tuticorin, south east coast of India. Small-sized microplastics and pigmented particles in bottled mineral water. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2012. Sci Rep. 7:44501. Mar Environ Res. Moving forward, the use of standardized quality criteria will ensure that only data of acceptable quality are being used to inform scientists and policy makers and that the data are both reproducible and directly comparable. The body burden (mass of microplastics per individual) was found to be 4.9 ng/larvae, 3.4 ng/larvae, and 3.1 ng/larvae for the 2 μm beads for bead concentrations of 1.40 mg/L, 1.05 mg/L, and 0.70 mg/L, respectively. 78 p. [CCME] Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. The results indicate that microfibres are not transferred to the coelomic fluid upon ingestion of contaminated sediment. This experiment studied the effects of different microplastics and their mixture with surfactants on the mortality and immobilization of D. magna. The CaPSA framework identifies several key research priorities, including the detection of plastics in the environment, understanding and mitigating potential impacts on wildlife, human health and the environment, plastic design and alternatives, sustainable plastic production, and recycling and recovery. Scheurer and Bigalke (2018) found microplastics at concentrations up to 55.5 mg/kg (593 particles/kg) in floodplain soil samples in Switzerland, with a mean concentration of 5 mg/kg. However, a major drawback of these staining methods is the possible introduction of false positives through the staining of biological organisms, such as marine algae or organic matter. 47(13):7137-7146. 2018. 2018; Bordós et al. Lusher et al. Marine microplastic debris: An emerging issue for food security, food safety and human health. Identification and quantification of macro- and microplastics on an agricultural farmland. Microplastic pollution in commercial salt for human consumption: A review. Control group was exposed to sediment without microplastic. 17(9):1513-1521. 233:588-595. 53(14):8426-8436. (2016)). An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling. 2016). They observed that, while the zebrafish were able to uptake the microplastic particles, no significant accumulation or further retention was observed within their intestinal tract, and no transfer to other organs was observed. Au et al. This was done by first picking visible particles from the top layer of shoreline, followed by shovelling a 5 cm layer into a tray. Helsinki (FI): ECHA. Irregular PS fragments (20–500 μm) mixed with sediment at 0.1%, 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% sediment dw. Nat Geosci. Corcoran PL, Norris T, Ceccanese T, Walzak MJ, Helm PA, Marvin CH. Following 25 days of exposure, cell morphology mostly recovered. J Hazard Mater. The modelled results found that atmospheric microplastics could be contributing to marine pollution. Environ Sci Technol. Inflammation and lipid droplets were reported in the livers of mice administered high concentrations of PS microplastics by gavage (Deng et al. b Includes chemical products, toys, household furniture, etc. 2013; McCormick et al. 2018). Koelmans AA, Mohamed Nor NH, Hermsen E, Kooi M, Mintenig SM, De France J. This study investigated the effects of leachate from expanded PS on four microalgal species: Dunaliella salina, Scenedesmus rubescens, Chlorella saccharophila, and Stichococcus bacillaris. 2009. At the lowest tested temperature (18°C), C. dubia was the most sensitive species. (2008). Significant increase in polymorphonuclear leukocyte cell count in BALF. 234:495-502. 46(2):277-288. Mason SA, Daily J, Aleid G, Ricotta R, Smith M, Donnelly K, Knauff R, Edwards W, Hoffman MJ. [cited in WHO 2019]. The use of plastic debris as nesting material by a colonial seabird and associated entanglement mortality. This study investigated the bioavailability of PAHs sorbed to microplastics to the marine copepod species Acartia tonsa and Calanus finmarchicus. 2017), but the presence of these effects cannot be determined due to poor quality histological images (Braeuning 2019). 2016. 2018; Vidyasakar et al. Marine litter in Croatia ranged from 3.4 items/kg dw to 528 items/kg dw, with macroplastics making up 1.3% to 11.3% of samples. Moreover, many studies on the occurrence of macroplastics in the environment are linked to effects such as entanglement or ingestion and much of this discussion is found in Section 6. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. [AMAP] Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme. 2019. 1999. 151:110827. Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: More than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. A review of floc strength and breakage. Internationally, a limited number of studies have investigated the presence of microplastics in tap and bottled water. Overall, there is a lack of significant evidence that biodegradable, compostable, biobased, and oxo-degradable plastics will fully degrade in natural environments (UNEP 2015; European Commission 2018, 2019). Bisphenol A and its analogs in muscle and liver of fish from the North East Atlantic Ocean in relation to microplastic contamination. Environ Toxicol Chem. De Falco F, Gullo MP, Gentile G, Di Pace E, Cocca M, Gelabert L, Brouta-Agnésa M, Rovira A, Escudero R, Villalba R, et al. Huerta Lwanga E, Gertsen H, Gooren H, Peters P, Salánki T, van der Ploeg M, Besseling E, Koelmans AA, Geissen V. 2017. Toxicity results for studies using commercially formulated nanoplastics, which are likely to contain preservatives, antimicrobials, or surfactants, must therefore be carefully considered (Pikuda et al. Micro-sized litter (defined as <1 mm in this study) accounted for 71% of the demonstrated impacts, while macro-sized litter (defined as >1 mm in this study) accounted for 29%. Carney Almroth et al. Air currents and wind can transport particles long distances. Copepods exposed to 0.23 mg/L had reduced survival rate, number of nauplii/clutch and fecundity. Plastic items found in urban litter in these cities include cigarette butts, plastic films, straws and plastic packaging. 2016. 110(1):383-395. Primary uses of plastics in the construction sector include plastic and foam building and construction materials, paints and coatings, profile shapes, and reconstituted wood and plywood. 2012). The advanced processes of ozonation combined with GAC filtration increased the removal by 17.2% to 22.2%. Liu Z, Yu P, Cai M, Wu D, Zhang M, Chen M, Zhao Y. 246:164-171. 90 p. AET Group (Kitchener, ON). Environ Pollut. 2020; Renzi et al. Hanachi et al. 2020a. This study investigated the effects of PS microplastics on juvenile Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis), which were exposed to PS at concentrations of 0, 0.04, 0.4, 4, and 40 mg/L for 7, 14, and 21 days. Litter & microplastics features in table salts from marine origin: Italian versus Croatian brands. On shorelines, foams from fishing and aquaculture were found at similar concentrations as grocery bags. No observable effects were seen with 6 μm microbeads. l Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase, Colourless PS particles (100–400 μm) at approx. Of the 13 water samples taken, 12 contained microplastics ranging from 3.52 to 32.1 particles/m3 with an average of 13.8 particles/m3. Microplastics are likely to be retained in soils for long periods of time due to factors such as vertical transport that draw the particles away from the surface, hindering degradation (Horton and Dixon 2017; Huerta Lwanga et al. (2016) found that food and water were the main pathways of exposure for all organisms, and input from microplastic particles was negligible. Of the 4 800 kt of plastic polymers produced in Canada in 2016, 77% was exported. Microplastics were analyzed by Micro-Raman spectroscopy, yielding a distribution of 57.8% PE, 36.0% PP, and 3.4% nylon. Hamar (NO): Norwegian Water. 60 p. Farrell P, Nelson K. 2013. 2016). 2017; EFSA 2016; FAO 2017; Barboza et al. In the 6 μm treatment group, B. koreanus had slightly irregular growth, and no significant changes in fecundity and life span. Jaikumar G, Baas J, Brun NR, Vijver MG, Bosker T. 2018. The figure shows the locations of beach cleanup surveys, the number of surveys conducted, and the percentages of anthropogenic litter comprised of plastic for each of the Great Lakes. Microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: Detection, occurrence and removal. Environ Sci Technol. Liebezeit G, Liebezeit E. 2014. Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. 38(10):2087-2100. Sci Adv. The mean concentration of microplastics sized 1 to 5 mm was 0.34 particles/kg dry weight (dw) of soil (ranging from 0 to 1.25 particles/kg dw). 49(1-2):33-42. Weight loss only at low concentration. [cited in PAME 2019]. Keswani A, Oliver DM, Gutierrez T, Quilliam RS. 2011; ECCC 2019c). Plastic pollution in the aquatic environment is summarized below with a focus on four compartments: shorelines (including the intertidal zone), surface waters, benthic zone (i.e., the bottom of a water body) and groundwater.