Study of the Potential Impact of Microplastics and Additives on Human Health

Introduction

Contagion by mass plastics and plastic waste is presently a severe environmental issue in the land, air, and marine ecosystems (Mato et al., 2001) (Gregory, 2009) (Dunlap et al., 1991) (Thompson et al., 2009) (Rochman et al., 2013). Particularly, small-scale plastic waste for example micro and nano-plastics has become the most important supplier to the contamination of marine ecosystems. Researchers are investigating the effect of micro and nano-plastics on marine organisms and ecosystems globally. Plastics are widely used in our standard of living. Though, an important quantity of plastic waste is discharged into the environment openly or passing through inappropriate recycling or reusing. Degradation of plastic waste produces micro or nano-plastics which are named micro and nano-plastics or micro and nano-plastics (Lee et al., 2013) (Cole et al., 2015) (Kaposi et al., 2014) (Desforges et al., 2015). The range of Nanoplastics (NPS) diameter varies from 1 to 100 or 1000 nm (Koelmans et al., 2015) (Bergami et al., 2016), while the particles size of micro-plastics (MPs) diameter is less than 5 mm (Betts et al., 2008) (Barnes et al., 2009). In the present chapter, we initially summarize the environmental infectivity of micro and nano-plastics and then discuss their impacts on health derived from existing micro and nano-plastics studies. As plastics come in contact with marine water, the persistence and degradation rate of plastics differ by polymer, density, shape, and the purpose of it (Eriksen et al., 2014). These features also oversee wherein the water column plastics may be noticed. For instance, more floating plastics are expected to be passed by sea currents and wind across the marine environment (Eriksen et al., 2014). Moreover, while plastics are exposed to sunlight and wave action, they will degrade into MP (micro-plastics – the plastic particles <5 mm in size). The degree of plastic degradation relies on a few aspects including the type of polymer, environmental circumstances like pH, temperature, weathering, and irradiation (Akbay et al., 2016). Plastic particles pollute the aquatic environment and the food chain, as well as foods intended for human feeding (Smith et al., 2018). Our study signifies that micro and nano-plastics can be noticed in both land and marine ecosystems globally and be ingested and accrued by animals along the food chain. Data has suggested the injurious health impacts of micro and nano-plastics on marine animals. Latest studies found microplastics in human stool samples, suggesting that humans are exposed to microplastics throughout the food and drinking water chain (Rillig et al., 2012) (Cedervall et al., 2012) (Mattsson et al., 2014). Though, the impact of micro and nano-plastics on human health is barely investigated. Over and above the micro and nano-plastics themselves, these small plastic particles can discharge plastic additives or adsorb other environmental chemicals, a lot of which have been noticed to display endocrine disturbing and other toxic effects (Klein et al., 2015) (Cole et al., 2013). So far, there is a significant lack of knowledge on the main additives of concern applied in the plastic industry, their fate once micro-plastics dispose into the environment, and their resultant effects on human health when related to micro and nano-plastics. This chapter highlights the most dangerous and toxic chemical materials that are confined in all plastic goods to define the properties and effects of these harmful chemicals on human health, as long as a full summary of studies that have scrutinized their abundance in micro and nano-plastics.