Research on Ecological Effects of Microplastics and Removal Methods

Abstract

In recent years, with the continuous accumulation of microplastics (MPs), the environmental pollution caused by MPs has become increasingly serious. In this paper, whether the accumulation of MPs will cause serious damage to the ecological environment and organisms and if harm is caused, how to eliminate it are analyzed. The results show that MPs are mainly produced by human activities, which have caused pollution to the water environment, soil environment and atmospheric environment. MPs destroying the water cycle, enriching heavy metals in the soil and aggravating the greenhouse effect indirectly threaten the organisms living in the environment. Due to the large amount of MPs enrichment, the survival rate of soil animals and aquatic animals is decreasing year by year, their growth and development are seriously inhibited, and the living conditions are becoming difficult. Because of the blockage of MPs, the ability of plant roots to absorb water is greatly reducing, the activity of various enzymes in the plant body is decreasing, and the efficiency of photosynthesis is affected. As the highest trophic level, humans are naturally not immune to the harm of MPs. The higher the trophic level, the more enriched the content of MPs, which poses a great threat to health. In the future, the elimination of MPs will become a focus of attention. The existing physical treatment method, chemical treatment method and biological treatment method should be improved and reasonably combined to achieve the optimal treatment effect, hoping to reduce the harm of MPs as much as possible.