Comprehensive Review regarding the Profile of the Microplastic Pollution in the Coastal Area of the Black Sea

Abstract

Lately, the interest in researching microplastics in the Black Sea has increased, highlighting areas of accumulation in which the amounts of microplastics are alarming, such as seafood consumed by the population. The Black Sea has special characteristics in terms of currents and wave dynamics that create opportunities for the accumulation of microplastics in hotspot points, such as in the context of large rivers discharge that contains large amounts of pollutants and new sources of contamination. This article offers a literature-based profile on plastic pollution in the Black Sea—pollution that originates in the discharge of large rivers, transportation, and other economic activities, even the COVID-19 pandemic—in order to highlight “microplastic hotspots” before the current political crisis that directly involves the Black Sea worsens.