Microplastics in our oceans and marine health
If the 20th century was the revolution era of plastic industry for manufacturing too many plastic based products starting from bucket to car, then the 21st century is the time to face its consequences. Improper management, lack of information about its negative effect and irresponsible use as well a...
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Institut Veolia Environnement
2019-03-01
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Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/5257 |
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doaj-6c1e10161ca34169bd5a4874f43805942020-11-24T21:50:37ZengInstitut Veolia EnvironnementField Actions Science Reports1867-139X1867-85212019-03-015461Microplastics in our oceans and marine healthSubhankar ChatterjeeShivika SharmaIf the 20th century was the revolution era of plastic industry for manufacturing too many plastic based products starting from bucket to car, then the 21st century is the time to face its consequences. Improper management, lack of information about its negative effect and irresponsible use as well as dumping of plastic products turns this planet into “plastic planet”. Besides emerging as solid waste, these plastic materials also appeared as a great threat for human and animal health. It not only polluted the roads, forests, mountains but also polluted our oceans. Ignorant human populations always throw the plastic waste into water bodies and most probably the “out of sight out of mind” thought leads them to do so. This is why the problem of microplastics in the marine ecosystem is an issue of great concern nowadays.Here we discuss the different sources of microplastics in the oceans and their harmful impacts on the marine organisms. The microscopic size of these plastic fragments gets them easily available for ingestion by an array of marine habitants, causing adverse effects on their health. The potential of microplastics to absorb various harmful hydrophobic pollutants from the surrounding environment indirectly transfers these contaminants in the food chain. Thus to tackle this serious issue of microplastic pollution in the marine ecosystem, various policies and rules must be formulated. To avoid future threat, it is important to stop producing it further and replace the plastic with alternative eco‑friendly materials.http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/5257microplasticsmicrobeadsmarine biotamarine health |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Subhankar Chatterjee Shivika Sharma |
spellingShingle |
Subhankar Chatterjee Shivika Sharma Microplastics in our oceans and marine health Field Actions Science Reports microplastics microbeads marine biota marine health |
author_facet |
Subhankar Chatterjee Shivika Sharma |
author_sort |
Subhankar Chatterjee |
title |
Microplastics in our oceans and marine health |
title_short |
Microplastics in our oceans and marine health |
title_full |
Microplastics in our oceans and marine health |
title_fullStr |
Microplastics in our oceans and marine health |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microplastics in our oceans and marine health |
title_sort |
microplastics in our oceans and marine health |
publisher |
Institut Veolia Environnement |
series |
Field Actions Science Reports |
issn |
1867-139X 1867-8521 |
publishDate |
2019-03-01 |
description |
If the 20th century was the revolution era of plastic industry for manufacturing too many plastic based products starting from bucket to car, then the 21st century is the time to face its consequences. Improper management, lack of information about its negative effect and irresponsible use as well as dumping of plastic products turns this planet into “plastic planet”. Besides emerging as solid waste, these plastic materials also appeared as a great threat for human and animal health. It not only polluted the roads, forests, mountains but also polluted our oceans. Ignorant human populations always throw the plastic waste into water bodies and most probably the “out of sight out of mind” thought leads them to do so. This is why the problem of microplastics in the marine ecosystem is an issue of great concern nowadays.Here we discuss the different sources of microplastics in the oceans and their harmful impacts on the marine organisms. The microscopic size of these plastic fragments gets them easily available for ingestion by an array of marine habitants, causing adverse effects on their health. The potential of microplastics to absorb various harmful hydrophobic pollutants from the surrounding environment indirectly transfers these contaminants in the food chain. Thus to tackle this serious issue of microplastic pollution in the marine ecosystem, various policies and rules must be formulated. To avoid future threat, it is important to stop producing it further and replace the plastic with alternative eco‑friendly materials. |
topic |
microplastics microbeads marine biota marine health |
url |
http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/5257 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT subhankarchatterjee microplasticsinouroceansandmarinehealth AT shivikasharma microplasticsinouroceansandmarinehealth |
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1725882657415364608 |