Microplastics (MPs) and Nanoplastics (NPs) spread are ubiquitous in nature and are considered a serious nuisance of the environment including aquatic bodies. Global production of plastic is exceedingly high, following an exponential graph pattern and is highly correlated with factors like increasing population size, industrialization, lifestyle change and individual necessity. Plastics being micron in size, light weight, durable and cheaper have infiltrated into human day-to-day activities in various forms like carrier material, food industry, cosmetics, personal care products and pharmaceutics. MPs and NPs are either direct consequences of human production or are naturally degraded products from bigger plastics. In both forms, they are major threats to the ecosystem and urgently require core interventions through advanced technologies for pollution abatement. Due to their micron dimension, they are ingested unknowingly by aquatic fauna and infiltrate into human systems through food chain or direct contact, disrupting ecosystem balance and bodily functions. Physical, chemical and biological approaches are applied to filter, adsorb, decompose and degrade such micron and nano-sized plastics. Advanced technologies have high removal efficiency of MP and NPs but with high cost, maintenance and environmental impacts. Thus, synergistic strategies are proposed for quick abatement of such polymer waste. This chapter focuses on the different mitigation ways and processes to remove MPs and NPs.

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Understanding Behavior, Fate of Microplastics and Nanoplastics

  • Dibyarupa Pal,
  • Pranabi Maji,
  • Ritam Paul,
  • Dola Mukherjee

摘要

Microplastics (MPs) and Nanoplastics (NPs) spread are ubiquitous in nature and are considered a serious nuisance of the environment including aquatic bodies. Global production of plastic is exceedingly high, following an exponential graph pattern and is highly correlated with factors like increasing population size, industrialization, lifestyle change and individual necessity. Plastics being micron in size, light weight, durable and cheaper have infiltrated into human day-to-day activities in various forms like carrier material, food industry, cosmetics, personal care products and pharmaceutics. MPs and NPs are either direct consequences of human production or are naturally degraded products from bigger plastics. In both forms, they are major threats to the ecosystem and urgently require core interventions through advanced technologies for pollution abatement. Due to their micron dimension, they are ingested unknowingly by aquatic fauna and infiltrate into human systems through food chain or direct contact, disrupting ecosystem balance and bodily functions. Physical, chemical and biological approaches are applied to filter, adsorb, decompose and degrade such micron and nano-sized plastics. Advanced technologies have high removal efficiency of MP and NPs but with high cost, maintenance and environmental impacts. Thus, synergistic strategies are proposed for quick abatement of such polymer waste. This chapter focuses on the different mitigation ways and processes to remove MPs and NPs.