Investigating the Human Impacts and the Environmental Consequences of Microplastics Disposal into Water Resources

Abstract

During the last decades, one of the most contentious environmental issues has been the investigation of the fate of microplastics (MPs) and detrimental consequences in natural and water resources worldwide. In this respect, it is critical research firstly to track the ways in which MPs are determined as key anthropogenic pollutants in terms of ecological risk and secondly to plan feasible policies under which the role of science and society in tackling this global issue in the future should be prioritized. In this study, a systematic theoretical, technical, and planning analysis was developed in alignment with a Scopus search deployed in the second half of the year 2021 and covering a wide chronological range (from 1970s onwards) and thematic contexts of analysis by using keywords and key phrases organized into two groups. The document results were graphically represented, revealing the main scientific focus of studies. Subsequently, our study investigated the quantitative assessment methods of MPs in marine environments, denoting the range of standard procedures applied for collecting and analyzing samples of water, bottom sediments, and coastal deposits. The technological part of the study includes the presentation of the relevant analytical techniques applied for MPs tracking and monitoring in water resources, determining the wide spectrum of plastic compounds traced. Of particular interest was the determination of environmental depletion and human implications caused, even by extremely low concentrations of MPs, for marine biota, posing potential risks to marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and food availability. Finally, the research proposed the challenges of actions needed to support scientific, industry, policy, and civil society communities to curb the ongoing flow of MPs and the toxic chemicals they contain into water resources, while rethinking the ways of plastics consumption by humanity.