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Microplastics as emerging pollutants:

Problems and Solutions
A Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the M.Sc. Degree in Chemistry
(CHEM-4106)

Submitted
by
Mr.Tarkeshwar maddeshiya

M.Sc.(F) Chemistry (Inorganic Group I)

Exam Roll No: 1887939

Under the guidance

of

Professor R.K. Sharma

Professor Ramesh Chandra

DEPARTMENT OF
CHEMISTRY
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
Delhi 110007
April, 2020

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify this project report entitled “Micro plastics as emerging pollutants:
problems and solutions” has been compiled by Tarkeshwar maddeshiya, student of
M.Sc. Inorganic Chemistry, IV Semester (Paper No. 4106, Examination Roll No.

1887939) purely on the basis of literature towards the partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Chemistry from
University of Delhi.

Prof. Ramesh Chandra

Prof. R.K. Sharma Head of Department
Department of Chemistry Department of Chemistry
University of Delhi University of Delhi
New Delhi – 110007 New Delhi – 110007
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DECLARATION

The project entitled “Microplastics as emerging pollutants: problems and solutions”

is in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Paper No. 4106

(Inorganic Chemistry Project and Evaluation) for the award of degree of Masters in
Science (M.Sc.) in Chemistry of the University of Delhi.

I hereby states that:

 The Project is an original script extracted from the published literature and has been
written in my own language.
 The content of this does not contain any text, diagram without appropriate
acknowledgement.
 This work has not been submitted earlier for any diploma and/or degree of the
University of Delhi or any other university.
 I stand solely responsible for the errors/mistakes that might have occurred in the
compilation of the project report despite all precision taken to the best of my ability.

DATE: 26/05/2020

Tarkeshwar maddeshiya
M.Sc. Final Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
University of Delhi

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I sincerely thank Prof. Ramesh Chandra, Prof. R.K. Sharma & Dr. Sriparna
Dutta, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, New Delhi for his valuable
guidance and for being my source of inspiration and constant encouragement. I
express my heartfelt gratitude for his devoted attention, his encouragement and
timely suggestions were extremely beneficial during the course of my project. I am
obliged to central science library staff, for the valuable information and internet
facility provided by them in their respective fields. I am grateful for their
cooperation during the period of my assignment. Lastly, I thank almighty, my
parents, and friends for their constant encouragement without which this
assignment would not be possible.

Tarkeshwar Maddeshiya
M.Sc. CHEMISTRY (FINAL)
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ABSTRACT

Microplastic pollution represents a side-effect stemming from a global plastic

waste mismanagement problem and includes degraded particles or mass produced

plastic particles less than 5 mm in largest dimension. The small nature of

microplastics gives this area of pollution different environmental concerns than

general plastic waste in the environment. The biological toxicity of particles, their

internal components, and their surface level changes all present opportunities for

these particles to adversely affect the environment around them. Thus, it is

necessary to review the current literature surrounding this topic and identify areas

where the study of microplastics, some of the ways by which microplastics affect

the environment and attempt to shed light on how this research can continue. In

addition, we review on current solution to avoid micro plastic pollution The

method including hydrothermal processing and solvent extraction provide a unique

opportunity to separate plastic waste from environment.

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CONTENTS Page No

1. Introduction 7
2. What are microplastics 8-9
3. Type of microplastics 9-13
On the basis of industrial sources.
 Primary
 Secondary
On the basis of size.
4. Source of microplastic 14 -15
5. Characteristics of microplastics. 16-18
Microplastic density.
6. Microplastic behaviour. 18-24
Physical behaviour
Chemical behaviour
Biological behaviour
7. Ecological effects of microplastic. 24-26
8. Toxicological analysis of microplastic. 26-27
9. Emerging solutions for microplastic pollution. 27-30
Solvent extraction.
Hydrothermal process.
10. Some other ways to avoid micro plastics pollutants. 30-31
11. Challenges and bottle necks. 31-32

12. Conclusions. 32-33

13. Reference 33-37

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1. Introduction:

Over the last few decades, plastic contamination has become a major cause of concern
among scientists, politicians, and the public. World production of plastic surpassed
the 320 million tons mark in 2016, most of which is intended for packaging, i.e., for
immediate disposal. Consequently, these materials greatly contribute to the
generation of waste and it is estimated that between 5 and 13 million tons leaks into
the World's oceans every year. When inappropriately dumped or mismanaged, plastic
waste can accumulate in both terrestrial and marine environments and, once released,
it may be subjected to degradation by several agents or routes, such as solar radiation,
mechanical forces, and microbial action. This leads to fragmentation and breakdown
of those larger materials into microplastics, defined as plastic particles less than 5
mm and, eventually, nanoplastics, which range from 1 to100 nm, though the latter
has only been recently identified as potentially deleterious towards the environment
and research is currently underway. In addition, these particles can be intentionally
produced with micro- and nano-sizes and disposed directly into the environment.
Although their presence and associated dangers have long
been reported, the ubiquity of microplastics in the oceans has become of increasing
concern. Consequently, numerous attempts have been made to assess their potential
effects not only to the environment, but specifically to biota and, ultimately, to
humans. Due to their small size, these particles can be ingested by several marine
species, leading to direct physical damage and potential toxicity effects.
Microplastics may also leach plastic additives, including persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) and potentially toxic elements that are adsorbed in higher concentrations than
those found in the surrounding environment. These pollutants may transfer and
accumulate in different tissues of organisms, possibly undergoing bio magnification
along the food chain. Hence, consumption of contaminated seafood poses a route for
Human exposure to microplastics, POPs, and potentially toxic elements. Pops
including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAHs) have also been shown to accumulate on microplastics, thus enhancing their
potential toxic effect in the environment. Such dangers have been demonstrated for
numerous organisms, such as blue mussels, in which von Mouse-tail. Verified that
microplastics, namely, high-density polyethylene (PE), ranging from 0 to 80 mm
were ingested and taken up into the cells and tissues of these organisms. Microplastic
particles were drawn into the gills, transported into the stomach and into the digestive
gland, where they accumulated in the lysosome system after 3 h of exposure. More
recently, Jovanovic reported potential negative effects of the ingestion of
microplastics and nanoplastics by fish, including possible translocation of
microplastics to the liver and intestinal blockage, yielding not only physical damage,
but also histopathological alterations in the intestines and modification in lipid
metabolism. It should be noted, however, that, despite demonstrating the potential
fate and effects of microplastics on biota, these studies, as well as other numerous
reports described in the scientific literature, focus on experiments on the use of
polymeric particles at concentrations that far exceed those determined in the
environment, thus not accurately simulating natural settings regarding composition,
morphology, and concentration.
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2. What is Microplasitc:
Microplastics is the smaller pieces of plastic have become progressively more
abundant in aquatic environment this is small plastic particles can be categorized
based on their size as either microplastics, Mini-micro plastics are Nanoplastic.
The term microplastic (MP) generally refers to any piece of plastic
is smaller than 5 mm to 1 µm in size along its long dimension is considered to be a
nanoplastic (NP). However due to incredibly small size of nano plastics and thus
the difficulties in detecting and recovering them most studies of the aquatic
environment tend to ignore nano plastics and only focus on micro plastics and mini
micro plastics. Microplastics which have smaller than 1 mm in size along its longest
dimension then the term Mini microplastics (MMP) is used. Fig:-
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3. Types of Microplastics:-
On the basis of degradative and industrial source of microplastic there are two main
categories-
 Primary microplastic:-Primary microplastic are typically small
spherical microbeds which are intentionally manufactured by the plastic
industries for use in cosmetic personal care products, dermal exfoliators,
cleaning agents and sand blasting shot. Many primary microplastic are often
carelessly released directly into the Marine environment. Such as during sand
blasting activities.
Another form of primary microplastic is Industrial feedstock.
These small colored pellets of plastic are manufactured globally by the plastic
industry for the purpose of being melted down and moulded to form larger
plastic artifact. A major source of plastic pollution in the aquatic environment
sterm from industrial plastic feedstock. In some cases this may occur due to
the direct release of these primary microplastics from industrial effluent pipes.
While in other cases their entry into the aquatic environment may be a result
of industrial spillage.
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 Secondary microplastics:- Secondary mircoplastics are irregularpieces
of plastic that have been unintentionally produced as a result of the
degradation of larger pieces of plastic, such as plastic bags, creates bottles and
especially ropes and nets over a period of time these large pieces of plastic
litter will degrade as a result of exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun and
by mechanical means, such as tidal waves to form smaller and smaller pieces
of plastic.
Another source of secondary micro plastics is discarded carpets and
anti-predotor netting which owing to its fibrous nature, can release large
volume of fibers in to the surrounding water. Consequently it has been
estimate that 18% of all microplastics originate from the degradation of plastic
ropes and nets.
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3.2 On the basis of size and appearance:-

On the basis of size and appearance microplastic are subdivided into 10 types.
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4.Source of microplastic:

The existence of microplastics in the environment is often established through aquatic

studies. These include taking plankton samples, analyzing sandy and muddy
sediments, observing vertebrate and invertebrate consumption, and evaluating
chemical pollutant interactions. Through such methods, it has been shown that there
are microplastics from multiple sources in the environment.
Microplastics could contribute up to 30% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch polluting
the world’s oceans nad, in many developed countries, are a bigger source of marine
plastic pollution than the visible larger pieces of marine litter, according to a 2017
IUCN report.
Other source are Sewage treatment plants, Car and truck tires, Cosmetics industry,
Clothing, Manufacturing, Fishing industry, Packaging and shipping, Plastic water
bottles, Agriculture runoff, Aquaculture, Ocean dumping, Stormwater, The shipping
and fishing industries, Urban runoff, Waste management etc.
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5.Microplastic characteristics
Microplastics collected from the aquatic environment exist in all manner of shapes,
colors and sizes with some exhibiting a spherical appearance, while others appear
to possess a fibrous or random shape. Primary microplastics will tend to have a
manufactured appearance, exhibiting either a sphericalor fibrous shape, and have a
consistent even surface. On the contrary, secondary microplastics will tend to have
a more random appearance and are therefore more difficult to categorize. One
particularly difficulty is that weathering can dramatically change the appearance of
both types of microplastic. Furthermore, microplastics display a vast variety of
different colors. As such, these different colors are used as part of the standardised
system for categorizing microplastics recovered from the environment It is worth
noting here that the color of microplastics often provides an indication as to the
degree at which they are contaminated with chemical pollutants. Indeed, researchers
found the highest levels of pollutants on yellow and black microplastics. In a study
of microplastics present in the sediments of the Humber River and Humber Bay,
Canada, the amount of white colored plastics significantly outweighed other
colors, with the next most abundant being grey and black pellets, followed by
green, blue and very small amounts of pink and purple plastics.
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Microplastic density
The density of a microplastic is a key factor that will affect its spatial distribution
in the aquatic environment. In a study involving the collection of microplastics by
Neuston nets from the North Atlantic, microplastics with a greater density than that
of seawater were found floating on the surface waters. Similarly, in a study of plastic
litter on surface waters, 99% of the microplastic recovered by Neuston nets in the
western North Atlantic Ocean had an average density less than that of seawater, with
the density of the microplastics ranging from 0.808 to 1.238 g/ cm3.
Incidentally the density of seawater is considered to be 1.025 g/cm3. These results
may be surprising since intuitively on would not typically expect to find material
floating on the surface with a density greater than that of sea water. Thus it is
possible. That microplastics with a density significantly greater than that of seawater
can be found on surface waters albeit in small qualities and not exclusively in the
bottom sediment.

6.Microplastic behaviour:-
When Microplastic enter the aquatic environment their behavior tends to falls into
three categories.Physical behavior such as accumulation, sedimentation and
migration. In this we shall focus on the physical behavior of microplastic in the
aquatic environment.

Microplastic in the terrestrial environment and the atmosphere :-

At the present time there is very little data on the extent of microplastic pollution in
the terrestrial environment as well as limited information thus for relating to the
effects on the terrestrial fauna. However soil applied with sewage sludge for 15 years
had much greater concentrations of plastic fibers. Than soil where no sewage had
been applied. It was estimated that 29% of the microplastics were synthetic fibers
and over the course of ta year b/w 3 to 10 tonnes of fibers would be deposited from
the atmosphere over a 2500 km2 area. Consequetnly atmospheric fallout may well be
another route in which microplastics can reach the aquatic environment in significant
volumes.

Microplastics in lakes:-
Microplastics, such as microbeads from consumer products, are often transported
into large bodies of freshwater by urban watercourses and tributaries as well as being
deposited directly via industrial effluents and treated outflows from water treatment
plants. Indeed, some lakes have been found to contain vast quantities of microplastics.
A study of the surface waters of the Laurentian Great Lakes in North America (Lake
Erie, Lake Superior and Lake Huron) found
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significant amounts of contamination from microbeads derived from consumer
personal care products.
The most abundant types of microplastics found in the sediments were
polyethylene which represented 74% of the plastics present followed by poly
propylene (17%) and then nitrocellulose (9%) and were b/w 0.5 mm and 3.0m in
size.
Microplastics in marine surface waters:-
Polystyrene has become one of the most frequently detected types of microplastic
on the surface of the oceans. An analysis of data collected between 2007 and 2013
from 1571 sites around the world concluded that there are now over 5.25 trillion
pieces of plastic present on the surface of the world’s oceans with a mass of at least
268,940 tonnes and of which 35,450 tonnes are in the form of microplastics.
Furthermore, a study in 2001 which involved sampling the surface water at 11
indiscriminate locations in the North Pacific Gyre, using 333 μm neuston nets,
discovered the greatest profusion of microplastics ever documented in the Pacific
Ocean at that time with 334,271 microplastics per km and with a mass of over 5
kilograms per km2.
Microplastics in rivers and estuaries:-
Plastic pollution originating in lakes may be transported out of these bodies of
water and into the marine environment by naturally flowing watercourses, such as
rivers and estuaries. The estuarine environment is a unique and fruitful aquatic
habitat, as a result of their variable salinity.
in the Goiana Estuary in Brazil, high amounts of rainfall were positively correlated
with the flushing of microplastics into the lower parts of the estuary near the sea,
where higher concentrations were detected during the rainy season than in the dry
season. Since higher concentrations of microplastics were found in the upper and
lower parts of the estuary, as opposed to the middle section where the waterfronts
meet, it is hypothesized that during low rainfall, the middle section of the estuary
acts as a barrier preventing the progress of micro plastics towards the sea. However,
when rainfall is high and freshwater surges down the estuary, the micro plastics are
able to pass the barrier and be carried out to sea. Similarly, increases in 2 mm–5 mm
polystyrene micro plastics were observed at the Nakdong river estuary, located in
the Southeastern Sea of Korea after the rainy season in July, as opposed to the levels
of polystyrene micro plastics before the rainy season in May.
In the river Danube in Austria, Europe’s second largest River (after the River Volga
in Russia), it was alleged that under normal conditions, 200 grams of micro plastics
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were emitted each day (during a monitoring period in 2010) into the river via
industrial wastewater at a manufacturing site, and in line with local legislation,
which specified the maximum allowable amount of plastic that can be released into
running water to be 30 mg/L. Consequently, under normal conditions, it was
estimated that at that time, 95.5 tone’s (equivalent to 2.7 million non-returnable 1.5
L bottles) of plastic could potentially be released into the water annually at thissite.

Chemical behavior, such as the adsorption and absorption of

pollutants:-
All the disease affecting human health, it is estimated that more than 50% are purely
the result of environmental factors, while industrial, agricultural other
anthropological activities on land environment with hazardous chemicals.
Consequently the contamination of the world’s aquatic environments with noxious
chemicals is an area of serious and growing concern. For example, in Europe it is
estimated that there are over 700 different chemical pollutants are spilled into the
water surrounding North America while led than 10% resulting from oil spills. More
ever, assessed plastic materials have been estimated to release b\w 35 and 917 tons
of chemical activities into the global marine environment every year, with the vast
majority being released from plasticized PVC.
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Several decades ago, researchers found that polypropylene micro plastics will
readily adsorb hydrophobic organic compounds, since then micro plastics in the
aquatic environment have been found to be contaminated with persistent organic
pollutants (POPs) by way of sortie processes and consequently these interactions are
coming under increasing scientific scouting.

e.g of some persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

 Chlordane, Dichlorodipheny, Frichloro ethane (DDT) Hexachlorocyclo hexane

(HCH), Perfluro alkylates phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHa)
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The interactions of persistent organic pollutants with micro plastics involves three
distinct phenomena, desorption, absorption and adsorption.

Desorption;-
The term desorption essentially refers to a process in which a substance is released
from the bulk or surface if another substance. For example, the pollutants which
contaminate micro plastics may be desorbed following ingestion of the micro plastics
by an aquatics organism Thus the processes of absorption and adsorption are
important precursors to the desorption of chemicals form contaminated micro
plastics following ingestion, and the subsequent toxicity which may result from the
diffusion of these chemical pollutants into the tissues. However, chemicals added to
the plastic during manufacture, such as plasticizers and flame retardants, also have
the potential to leach out from the plastics following ingestion and exhibit
toxicological effects.

Absorption:-
The term absorption and adsorption are often a source of confusion. The main
difference between the two processes is that is a surface phenomenon.
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In case of absorption, water borne chemical pollutants diffuse into the bulk of the
plastics materials. For example, in case of polypropylene the PAH phenonthrene has
been observed to undergo surface diffusion into the bulk of the polypropylene
matrix. While deeper diffusion does not occur, it does take place in polyethylene
which has a molecular geometry in which the polymer chains are less tightly packed
than polypropylene thereby allowing phonon there to permeate through these gaps.
In some cases chemicals pollutants cannot penetrate into the bulk of the plastics
material and adhere to the materials surface instead.

Adsorption:-
adsorption can be defined as a process in which material (adsorbate) travels from a
gas or liquid phase and forms a superficial mono molecular layer on a solid or liquid
condensed phase (substance). Each phase is a distinct domain comprised of constant
applicable physical properties, such as chemical composition, which is separated by
a boundary from another part of a main body system. In the context of adsorption of
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to micro plastics, the POP would be considered
as the adsorbate and micro plastics as the substrate. Furthermore, the water (liquid
phase) and micro plastics (solid phase) are considered immiscible and the POP is
considered as a solute since it is dissolved in a solvent (water).
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The biological behavior and effects of contaminated micro plastics:-

Ingestion of contaminated micro plastics:-
The ingestion of contaminated micro plastics by aquatic organisms provides a viable
route for the transfer of toxic chemicals into the tissues of the organism in which
micro plastics act as a vector for transport of sorbed contaminants and chemicals
activities into organisms. While the investigation of such phenomena and the
mechanisms by which this occurs is very much in its infancy, there has been a
significant garnering of evidence thus for certainly micro plastics can pick up water
borne chemical contaminants during their time spent in polluted waters and can
concentrate these contaminants up to 1 million times greater than the surrounding
water. At the same time, fish regularly consume micro plastics. Indeed in the gulf of
Mexico 10 % of marine fish and 8% of fresh water fish were found to have consumed
micro plastics.
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Effect of contaminated microplastic:-

1- Humans:-
There is very little in formation in the literature thus far, with regard to effects
of ingested microplastics on humans. However a study in the later 1980’s fed
healthy human volunteers with 15 g of microplastics, measuring less than 2mm
in diameter while the specific type of plastic is not specified. The researchers
noted that in comparison that in comparison to the volume of ingested
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microplastics, the resulting faces were typically 3 times greater in volume.

Furthermore, there was a significant increase in transit through the
gastrointestinal system, which they attributed to mechanical activation of
mucosal receptors in the epithelial lining of the intestine. Study also found that
microplastics significantly accelerated the transit time of material through the
human gastrointestinal system. Incidentally increased gastrointestinal transit time
from microplastic ingestion has also been demonstrated in pigs and dogs,
indicating that effect is not confined to humans. Certainly any condition that
increases transit time of food through the gas trointestinal system can reduce the
absorption of vital nutrients and eventually result in nutritional deficits.
Furthermore many plastics contain chemical additives such as phthalates which
can be toxic and the monomers of polyester and poly (methyl) meth acrylate) are
mutagens and respiratory irritants.

Seabirds:-
As early as 1988, researchers were drawing associations b\w persistent organic
pollutants (POPs), seabirds and micro plastics. For example a study found a
positive correlation b\w the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) present
in south African seabirds and the volume of small pieces of plastics that they had
ingested and surmised that the seabirds were likely accumulating PCBs partly
from plastics ingestion.

Fish:-
Micro plastics are ingested by fish and the consumption of micro plastics by fish
interfere with biological processes, such as the inhibition of gastrointestinal
function, as well as causing blockages and inducing feeding impairment.
Furthermore fish are often found to have bio-accumulated water bone pollutants
to various degrees. For example, a study found high levels of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) of 1066-3112 mg/g in the liver of fish collected from an
abandoned metropolitan dumping area for sewage sediment in garroch head, a
Scottish coastal region in Argyll and bute.

7.Ecological effect of microplastic: -

The ecological effects of the micro plastics particles are an ongoing area of
research. Much of research seeks to understand pervasiveness of the particles in
the environment, especially giving context to how they can be affecting humans.
Major concerns in the field of micro plastic are summarized in table.
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Particle ingested by organisms in the environment affect the overall ecology

of the food chain. For example, zoo plankton who eat too much plastic, represent
a wasted opportunity for energy production in that trophic level of the food web.
Thus, for lower trophic level organisms, a reduction in total energy was shown
to strongly affect population of all other zooplankton due to loss of trophic energy
from ingestion of plastic, plastic materials at small particle sizes, can accumulate
them onto biofilms that bacteria in the environment seep secrete onto the surface
of the micro plastics. Most common chemical risks are persistent. Organic
pollutants (POPs) chemicals set aside by the Stockholm convention to be either
phased out or regulated because of their inherent and potential hazard to public
health. Other accumulates include halogenated flame retardant pesticides and
polyphenol. Varies geographically and thus plastic pollution can also be used as
a method of sampling for research regarding global chemical contamination.
Accumulation also varies by type of plastics because of difference in
diffusivity and crystallinity. In general, capacity for absorption and transport of
POPs are positively correlated with both hydrophobicity and molecular weight
of the polymer matrix. Compound specific interactions can also occurs because
of the chemistry b/w the polymer and specific compounds. Finally the ratio of
surface area to diffusion length is a strong determinant in affinity for accumulates
and thus smaller particles are much better at absorbing chemicals contaminants.
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Human exposure to micro plastic have generally used non-human

analog sources to measure the amount of plastic likely to be within the human
food chain or the likelihood of humans eating these things and ingesting plastic.
These studies while giving more credence to the hypothesis that micro plastic
contaminants are widespread throughout human food consumption had yet to
directly quantify micro plastic exposure in humans. A recent study identified MP
in human stool samples and represents a first step at quantification of MP in
human body.

8.Toxicology analysis of plastic waste by size link b/w micro plastic

and nano plastic toxicity:-
Toxicology of MPs has been investigated to understand its hazardous impact on
wildlife and underlying risks for human health we know plastics break down into
MPs the large surface area of micro plastic particles enables debris and clays.
This allows the formation of micro plastic particles of a higher density which
tend to present in subsurface water. These micro plastic particles cause direct
physical damage to feeding and digestive systems in organisms by internal
abrasion penetration and blocking on the other hand plasticizers flame retardants
and other harmful activities are commonly used during manufacturing of plastic
resins. Removal of these chemicals is difficult which allows them to stay in the
environment as hazardous pollutants. Micro plastic particles as serve as vector of
persistent organic pollutants and toxic metals. Transfer and release of toxins to
the body may cause more severe indirect chemical injuries to aquatic animals
including carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting effects.
Mircoplastic if they
break down to the nanoplastic particle the toxicity of microplastic can be
significantly amplified nanoplastic can enter the gut or the respiratory track and
aggregate in the systemic circulations and tissues. Studies have shown that once
the aggregates of nanoplastic in tissues surface a threshold can centration they
can lead to inflammation. For instance evidence shows that polystreme
nanoplastic with the size of 64 mm lead to inflammation in rat lung tissue. A
study suggests that nanoplastic ingested by adult Japanese rice fish(oryzias latipe)
can be accumulated in the gills, intestines, testis, liuer, blood and the brain
indicating that nanoplastic are able to pass through blood brain brasseries.
In recent years the bisphenol A(BPA) plasticizer has been of high interest to
consumers worried about the toxicological effects of the additive on the bodies.
Hornanot al on of the original groups studying the toxicity of BPA, found that
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BPA- substitute additive like bisphenol F and Bisphenol S have the potential to
induce simile effects as those of BPA in mice populations. This is prime example
of how chemical additives can have unintended can sequences when leaching
from microplastics into the human body or human food sources.

Potential Public Health and Sanitation Issues from microplastics:-

The toxicological effects of microplastics present potential isues with public
health and sanitation particularly regarding drinking water, nanoplastics, ability
to cause inflammation of internal organs could cause health risks in the futher if
this is not mitigated.
There is an increasing concern that MPs possesses non-negligible risks for
human health. The abundance of microplastic particles in shrimps fishes and
ducks across the ocean around the world has been reported recently. As a result
daily interaction with microplastic particles in food webs was proposed through
different ways such as oral dermal and inhalational exposure researchers
hypothesize that this daily interaction could be a contributor to toxicological
effects on humans.

9.Emergin solutions for microplastic pollution:-

Literature indicates that microplastics are mainly derived from packing materials
(food and other types). We know that microplastic contain heterogeneous in
composition (e.g. pollutants served) on microplastic and addative content present
in the plastics and may be partially degraded from transportation process
recycling methods for microplastics therefore needs to be modified accordingly.
The following discussion presents some possible options to recycle microplastics
based on this consideration.
Solvent extraction:-
solvent extraction technique is one of the emerging solutions for recycling
microplastic in this process when a polymer is dissolved in a certain solvent and
heated to a designated temperature where it is then cooled and put into a new non-
solvent. This mixture (the polymer in the new non-solvent or anti-solvent) can be
finished by reprecipitating the original polymer so that it can be treated for
analysis. In one articles by achilias et al. (2009) solvents were used to chemically
recycle the polymers from plastic packing and results were summarized in fig.
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Packing.

In fig depicts, xylene appeared to be a good solvent for majority of the

polymers with high yields in recovery. Different dissolution solvent and n-hexane
as the non-solvent. In another article by the same group, published in the journal
of hazardous materials in 2007, the dissolution re-precipitation technique was
also examined alongside the method of catalytic pyrolysis. In the dissolution- re-
precipitation method two solvent/non solvent systems, three dissolution
temperatures and four initial polymer concentrations were investigated. In fig
summarizes the percent recovery of polyolefin by dissolution re-precipitation. In
fig increasing polymer concentration in the solvent shows decreased recovery
valves. This was found to be due to difficulties in stirring caused by the increased
viscosity.
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Recently, a spinout from the proctor and gamble company was granted
a patent that expanded on the solvent extraction techniques to recycle polymers.
The reason that they needed to invent this technology was that their current ways
for recycling plastics are primarily mechanical. These are nor efficient methods
because they do not produce the virgin like polymers therefore yielding cross
contamination and co-dissolution of the products. There is a need for an improved
solvent based method to purify the contaminated polymers that is readily
available and economically advantageous while also yielding a clear product to
be used in pristine form.
In this specific patent there were four methods for reclaiming polymers using
super critical fluids solvents. One method was extraction, which is when the
polymer is dissolved in a solvent through a range of temp and press and the
contaminated fluid is then extracted while the polymer remains as a product.
Another method is dissolution, which is at least partial
Incorporation of a solute (polymeric or non-polymeric) in a solvent at the
molecular level.
Purification was another method which is separation dissolved polymer solution
from undissolved contamination at a temperature and pressure where in the
polymer remains in the fluid solvent. The final method was separation which is
separating the pourer polymer from the fluid solvent at a temperature and
pressure so the polymer precipitates in one layers. The four methods were
examined at 180-220 degree c and 1000-20000 psi.

Fig-

Hydrothermal processes:-
After the sampling and separation process, micro plastic can be subject to
industry used recycling process in large volume. The summary of different
techniques is shown in tab.
 Page 30 of 37

An emerging tertiary recycling

technology, hydrothermal processing (HTP) uses sub or super critical fluids to
depolymerize synthetic polymers. This now technology with demonstrated
research in its effectiveness for poly olefins, could be highly efficient in recycling
of micro plastics which are largely made up of poly olefins. The utility of HTP
using supercritical water is its use of water as a non-toxic, eco-friendly solvent
can reduce secondary pollution in past-processing of waste plastic through other
chemical recycling methods.
The critical state of water (T>,380c with p>,
22.1MPa) gives specific properties such as dielectric constant, ionic strength and
heat mass transport coefficient, which correlates with high molecular diffusivity
and low viscosity, allowing sub or super critical water to be a suitable chemical
medium for complex reactions. Meanwhile, possible rxn including hydrolysis
cracking free radical reactions and cyclization indicate the feasibility for
feedstock recycling and valve added chemical synthesis. As a result water in sub
or super critical condition acts as a reaction medium catalyst, reactant or product
depending on the reaction pathways and reaction conditions.
However, heterogeneity in micro plastics caused by
compositions, particle size and absorbed chemical from the environment
complicates the selection and implementation of recycling process. Impurities in
micro plastics mean that particles must go through separation and sorting,
repetitive washing and drying steps for mechanical recycling. Moreover, micro
plastics and reprocessing, which limits the quality of products and application of
mechanical recovery. Conventional pyrolysis, as a thermochemical technique can
destroy polymer structures and convert them into oil products under higher temp.
However product distribution is complicated without further upgrading or
separation. Catalytically pyrolysis attempts to promote reaction selectivity, but
sometimes lowers the oil yields and therefore needs more investigation on
catalyst selection and process optimization. Most importantly, micro plastic
sampled from the aqua environment may contain high moisture content that needs
additional drying process before entering pyrolysis.

10.Some other ways to avoid micro plastic pollutants: -

Micro plastics are small bits of plastic that end up in our waterways worldwide.
Plastic debris from discarded industrial plastic products, from old water bottles
to shampoo containers, is a major source of global pollution, the national oceanic
and atmospheric administration (NOAA) says while plastic pollution is an
 Page 31 of 37

international concern, micro plastics are a different kind if environmental

contaminant. Less than five millimeters in length, according to the NOAA, micro
plastics not only contaminate our oceans and rivers, they might also be a
significant contributor to air pollution.
Here are some ways to avoid micro plastics pollutions.

1. Filter your tap water:-

According to tap water, researchers say that micro plastics are in as much as
94% of U.S tap water in Europe, filtering your water can reduce your intake
of micro plastics, based on a review of various water filter brand
specification, consumer lab says. Most carbon block water folters can
remove micro plastics and biodegradable coconut shell based carbon block
filters may also be effective, says tap water.
2. Avoid plastic containers:-
plastics takes a long time to break down and micro plastics are a result of that
process by avoiding the use of plastic containers like water bottels whenever
possible we can help keep plastics out of landfills and lesson our
consumption.
3. Avoid beauty products with microbeads:-
microbeads are small pieces of plastics added to some health and beauty
products, such as toothpastes and facial scrubs. By limiting or avoiding
products with microbeads. We can help discourage manufacturers from
using them while reducing our own exposure to plastics.
4. Try to limit eating meat & fish:
Mircroplastic are eaten by marine life and some land animals, such as chicken.
Since mircoplastics seem to be entering the food chain. We have to limiting
our consumption of meat and fish to avoid this pollutions.
5. Air dry our closthes:
Studies show that washing and drying synthetic fibers may release over
700000 microplastic fibers into the environment. The plastics pollution
coalition says that air drying clothes or simply reducing their time in the dryer,
can help cut back on mircoplastic produced by clothes washing.

11.Challenges and bottenecks

The largest issue of sampling microplastics is separating the plastic from large
environmental sample mixture. Separation techniques used for microplastics
processing are generally inaccurate, time consuming and specific to certain
 Page 32 of 37

particle size. Recent research into this area has attempted to develop a
standardized method of collecting small plastic particles using magnetic iron
nanoparticles bonded to a hydrophobic silence tail that allows the hydrophobic
silence tail that allows the hydrophic interactions b/w the tail and the plastic
polymer to sorb the particles to each other and be removed together with a
magnet. In addition, coupling current sorting methods used in nano-
manufacturing like magnetic field flow fractionation or gel electrophoresis
with traditional microplasitc separation methods could produce much more
efficient sampling processes.
In addition the transport and degradation mechanisms of plastic in the
environment on the macro scale are poorly understood. The majority of
plastics use occurs on land, yet much of plastic is assumed and observed to be
in the ocean understanding how the plastic is broken down to the micro size
and transported to the ocean could help to identify accumulation zones which
presents more efficient areas for plastic pollution cleanup.
Microplastics represent the tail-end of a larger
recycling problems around the world.By waiting until the plastic has reached
the micro particle size, society fails to take advantage of the residual value of
the plastic material after a product has been discarded both in economic and
environmental terms.However, well-sorted recycling is one of the easiest
ways to increase the amount of plastic. That end up being recycled each year
and thus represents another missed opportunity to reduce microplastic
formation by closing the loop of recycling earlier on in the process.
12.Conclusion-

This paper complied the comprehensive information about importance of

study on microplastic pollution in this regard the following topics were
discussed what is microplastics, its type its characterstics, its effect
(toxilogical and ecological) and tis emerging solutions.
From literature it can be concluded that mircoplastics are very small pieces
of plastic that pollute the environment. They enter natural ecosystems from a
variety of sources including cosmetics clothing and industrial processes.
Microplastics degrade slowly, often over hundreds if not thousands of years.
This increase the probability and incorporated into, and accumulated in, the
bodies and tissues of many organisms.
In this literature we discuss about the emerging solutions for microplastic
pollutions by solvent extraction and hydrothermal processes and some other
precautions to avoid this microplastics pollutions. Microplastics have a
 Page 33 of 37

complex toxicological effect on the world around them and microplastics

also exhibit complex effects on their ecological environment which are
discuss in this literature.

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