Microplastics in multimedia environment: A systematic review on its fate, transport, quantification, health risk, and remedial measures

Abstract

The ever-increasing presence of microplastics in many environmental components has been a cause of worry for humanity due to their small size and potential health risk. Since the last decade, numerous studies have been conducted on the prevalence and dispersion of microplastics. However, at present, there aren't any systematic studies on fate and transport of microplastics that consider multimedia environmental systems and their mitigation measures. Also, there are limited studies on the routes through which humans are exposed to microplastics. In this review, about 380 articles were evaluated to uncover the extent of microplastic fate, transport, and pollution in different environmental components, including soil, freshwater, marine, and atmosphere, as well as its effect on different ecosystems. We gave special attention to understanding many routes and sources of microplastics intended for human consumption and their consequences on human health. Furthermore, we tried to emphasize on the different methods used for sampling, extraction, identification and characterization of microplastics, along with associated benefits and limitations. This study highlighted existing knowledge and gaps in the remediation of microplastics. On this basis, the bottleneck and current challenges have been proposed.