Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

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Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoenv

Review

Microplastics in waters and soils: Occurrence, analytical methods and

ecotoxicological effects
Mengjie Wu a, b, Chunping Yang a, b, c, *, Cheng Du a, **, Hongyu Liu b
a
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Processes and Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of
Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, Guangdong, 525000, China
b
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry
of Education, Changsha, Hunan, 410082, China
c
Hunan Provincial Environmental Protection Engineering Center for Organic Pollution Control of Urban Water and Wastewater, Changsha, Hunan, 410001, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the environment and more abundant in the marine environment. Conse­
Microplastics quently, increasing focus has been put on MPs in oceans and seas, while little importance has been attached to
Analysis their presence in freshwaters and soils. Therefore, this paper aimed to provide a comprehensive review of the
Freshwater
occurrence, analysis and ecotoxicology of MPs. The abundance and distribution of MPs in several typical
Soil
Ecotoxicological impacts
freshwater systems of China were summarized. It suggested that the surface water of Poyang Lake contained the
highest concentration of 34 items/L MPs among all the 8 freshwater systems, and the content of MPs in sediments
were higher than that of the surface water. Net-based zooplankton sampling methods are the most frequently
utilized sampling methods for MPs, and density separation, elutriation and digestion are three major pretreat­
ment methods. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and pyrolysis-gas chromatography
coupled to mass spectrometry are often used to identify the polymer types of MPs. Besides, MPs might damage
the digestive tract of various organisms and negatively inhibit their growth, feeding and reproduction. The ways
of human exposure to MPs are by ingestion, inhalation and dermal exposure, digestive and respiratory system
might be adversely influenced. However, potential health risks of MPs to humans are remained insufficiently
researched. Overall, by showing the presence of MPs in freshwaters and soils as well as possible ecotoxicological
effects on the environment and humans, this paper provided a framework for future research in this field.

1. Introduction environment.
Microplastics (MPs) that are plastics less than 5 mm in length are
The increasing production of plastics in recent years has led to severe even more harmful than larger plastic items, and microplastic pollution
plastic pollution in the environment. Surveys show that the annual (MP) has become an emerging environmental issue in the last two de­
plastic production in 2017 has exceeded 348 million tons (PlasticsEu­ cades (Laskar and Kumar, 2019; Wright et al., 2013a).Studies have
rope, 2018), and it is estimated that the global annual production of shown that 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic waste entered the oceans
plastics may be up to 33 billion tones by the year of 2050 (Cincinelli and seas of 192 countries in 2010 and this number would increase by
et al., 2019). Besides, the current outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has 22% by 2025 (Jahnke et al., 2017; Jambeck et al., 2015; Kühn et al.,
resulted in a dramatic increase in personal protective equipment (e.g. 2018; Thompson et al., 2004; Zarfl et al., 2011); however, MPs have also
gloves and masks) in which plastics and rubbers are two of the major been detected in freshwater systems as well as terrestrial environment.
components. It is reported that the accumulated medical waste in China Investigations of MPs in freshwaters and soils are far from adequate, as
from 20 January to 31 March in 2020 was about 207 kilotons (Klemes knowledge on MPs in freshwater and terrestrial environment is insuffi­
et al., 2020). This will lead to a severer plastic pollution in the cient (Rillig, 2012).

* Corresponding author. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Processes and Control, School of Environmental Science and Engi­
neering, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, Guangdong, 525000, China.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Yang), [email protected] (C. Du).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110910
Received 29 March 2020; Received in revised form 15 June 2020; Accepted 16 June 2020
Available online 30 June 2020
0147-6513/© 2020 Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

Widely-recognized problems facing organisms are entanglement, abundance of MPs in freshwaters.

suffocation and ingestion that are caused by MPs (Lo and Chan, 2018; According to a couple of studies (Di and Wang, 2018; Eerkes-Me­
Wu et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2015, 2018), and many studies have shown drano et al., 2015; Kukulka et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2017b), factors such
that MPs might pose threat to marine zooplanktons, fish, mussels and as human activity, climatic and hydrological conditions could have a
algae (Besseling et al., 2015; Desforges et al., 2015; Galloway et al., direct effect on the abundance and distribution of MPs in freshwater
2017; Lusher et al., 2015; Qin, 2012). Apart from MPs itself, manifold environment. Di and Wang (2018) suggested that the concentration and
plastic additives are another hidden danger. For example, nonylphenol distribution of MPs in freshwater systems were mainly influenced by
as an endocrine disrupting chemical is frequently added in polyvinyl­ human, agricultural, fisheries and industrial activities. For example, the
chloride (PVC) and high-density polyethylene (PE) to achieve high study of Yin et al. (2020) suggested that the abundance of microplastics
thermostability of plastics (Lam et al., 2018). Moreover, due to the small in the urban area sediment of Dongting Lake is lower than that of the
sizes and difficulty in degradation under natural condition, chances are rural area and the reason behind this phenomenon was that more
that MPs can be ingested or respired by a wide range of organisms and environmental protection measures were taken by urban areas than
therefore will cause harm to them (Wright et al., 2013b). Worse still, rural areas.
MPs have a high affinity for other pollutants. For example, MPs may Table 1 summarized the abundance of MPs in surface water and
adsorb heavy metals and hydrophobic organic chemicals on their sur­ sediment of several typical freshwater systems in China. As shown in
face and act as a vector for transporting these pollutants in the envi­ Table 1, among those major freshwater systems in China, Pearl Lake in
ronment (Eerkes-Medrano et al., 2015; Fries et al., 2013; Koelmans Zhanjiang which is one of the developed industrial cities in Guangdong
et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2014, 2019; Lin et al., 2019; Mizukawa et al., province was detected with the highest MPs concentration of 7924
2013; Tang et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2005; Zhou et al., 2018). items/m3. MPs were also found in lakes of rural areas such as Tibet,
Despite that information on the detection, identification and quan­ though the concentration of which was lower than those dense popu­
tification of MPs can be found in a number of papers (Claessens et al., lated areas. However, how MPs were moved to rural areas remained
2011; Lebreton et al., 2017; Martin et al., 2018; Reddy et al., 2006; ambiguous. Thus, more studies should be conducted to investigate the
Xiong et al., 2019; Zobkov and Esiukova, 2018), comprehensive studies transportation and distribution of MPs in freshwater environment from a
on MPs which involve in their occurrence, distribution, sampling, pre­ broad point of view.
treatment, characterization in freshwaters and sediments, as well as In addition, it was noticeable that fiber was the most dominant
ecological influences on aquatic and soil organisms and humans are still polymer component in all listed references as presented in Table 1.
needed. Nowadays, synthetic textile fibers are widely applied, Napper and
Therefore, the review aimed to: (1) present the occurrence and Thompson (2016) pointed out that domestic sewage derived from
abundance of MP in some typical freshwater systems in China; (2) washing machines comprised high concentrations of fibers, which might
summarize frequently used sampling, pretreatment and characterization be an important source of microfiber. Besides, fisheries activities could
methods for MPs in waters and sediments; (3) elucidate ecological im­ produce plenty of ageing fishing gears including fishing nets, thus it
pacts of MPs on aquatic organisms, soil biota and human health; (4) should be another source of microfiber (Su et al., 2016; Yuan et al.,
point out knowledge gaps in current studies of MPs and make corre­ 2019). From Table 1, it could also be seen that PE, PP (polypropylene)
sponding recommendations for further research. and PS (polystyrene) were the most commonly detected plastic types, as
the three kinds of polymers are frequently used in fishing tools, pack­
2. Methodology aging and decorations (Wang et al., 2017a). Concerning the particle size
of MPs detected in these freshwater systems, most of them were less than
A literature review was conducted on database of Web of Science and 1 mm. It was also reported that small-sized MPs were found more
ScienceDirect for peer-reviewed publication from 2010 to February abundant in many investigations (Eriksen et al., 2013). However, the
2020. A combination of keywords was applied as the criteria such as MPs concentrations in lakes of Tibet had larger particle size than that of
“microplastics” OR “microplastic” AND “freshwater” OR “water”, other areas. This was probably owing to a fast dissipation of small plastic
“microplastics” OR “microplastic” AND “soil”, “microplastics” OR items by high ultraviolet radiation intensity and big temperature dif­
“microplastic” AND “effects”, and these keywords were retrieved in any ference in Tibet (Zhang et al., 2016).
topic, title or text. A total of 2126 papers were identified as candidate Because sediments were the final destination of high-density MPs,
publications, and they were classified into several subtopics, namely, the concentration of MPs in sediments were higher than that of the
occurrence and distribution in major freshwater systems of China, surface water as seen in Table 1. Throughout the literature referred to, it
sampling and pretreatment, identification, and ecotoxicology. could be found that different units were used to describe the concen­
tration of MPs, which made it inconvenient to compare the abundance of
3. Abundance, sampling and analysis of MPs in waters and MPs among different locations. For example, beside common unit of
sediments “items/m3” and “items/L00 , less used unit such as “g/L” and “fibers/50
mL” were also seen in some researches (Baztan et al., 2014; Browne
3.1. Abundance and distribution of MPs in some typical freshwater et al., 2011). Therefore, using unified units to measure the abundance of
systems of China MPs would help the comparison and analysis of data.

Vast numbers of MPs are accumulated in oceans every year; how­ 3.2. Sampling from waters and sediments
ever, they have also been widely detected in freshwater systems, which
has sparked high-profile campaigns recently (Xu et al., 2020). It was To date, various methods have been employed to sample and detect
reported that the annual plastics production in China was about 102.3 MPs in waters; however, standardized methods have not been proposed
million tons in 2017, which accounted for 29.4% of the whole plastics (Besley et al., 2017; Hanvey et al., 2017; Miller et al., 2017). One of the
production all over the world (PlasticsEurope, 2018). Moreover, commonly used tools for sampling MPs from waters is net-based
mismanagement of waste plastics is a common phenomenon in China. zooplankton sampling methods (Lattin et al., 2004). In order to make
For instance, the mismanagement rate of plastic wastes of China has the samples more representative, large volumes of water should be
reached 27.7% in 2010, which made China on the top among the listed collected. Nets with different mesh sizes are used to estimate the con­
20 countries ranked by percentage of total mismanaged plastic wastes centrations of MPs in open water bodies. Three kinds of zooplankton
(Jambeck et al., 2015). Therefore, some freshwater systems of China nets including manta trawl, neuston and bongo net are wildly used.
were chosen as the typical example to analyze the occurrence and Manta trawl net and neuston net are suitable for sampling MPs that

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M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

Table 1
Abundance of MPs in major freshwater systems in China (PE: polyethylene, PP: polypropylene, PS: polystyrene, PVC: polyvinyl chloride, PET: polyethylene tere­
phthalate; PA: polyamide).
Location Sampling site Abundance Particle size (mm) Dominant shape Dominant polymer type References

Dongting Lake, Hunan surface water 900-2800 items/m3 <0.33 fiber PE, PP Wang et al. (2018)
East Dongting Lake, Hunan sediment 180-693 items/kg <0.5 fiber PET, PA Yin et al. (2020)
Hong Lake, surface water 1250-4650 items/m3 <0.33 fiber PE, PP Wang et al. (2018)
Hubei
Pearl Lake, Guangdong surface water 379-7924 items/m3 0.02–2 fiber PE, PP Lin et al. (2018)
sediment 80-9597 items/kg 0.02–1
Taihu Lake, surface water 3.4–25.8 items/L 0.1–1 fiber cellophane, PE Su et al. (2016)
Jiangsu sediment 11.0–234.6 items/kg 0.1–1
Poyang Lake, Jiangxi surface water 5-34 items/L <0.5 fiber PP, PE Yuan et al. (2019)
sediment 54-506 items/kg <0.5
Lakes in Tibet surface water 8-563 items/m3 1–5 fiber PE, PP Zhang et al. (2016)
Wei River, surface water 3.67–10.7 items/L <0.5 fiber PE, PVC Ding et al. (2019)
Shaanxi sediment 360-1320 items/kg <0.5
Three Gorges Reservior, Chongqing surface water 1597-12611 items/m3 <0.5 fiber PS, PP Di and Wang (2018)
sediment 25-300 items/kg <0.5

float on the surface of the water bodies (Cincinelli et al., 2017; Collignon not even. Therefore, when sampling MPs from sediments, the selecting
et al., 2012; Mauro et al., 2017). Neuston net can be used under strong of tide line, sampling depth and sampling volumes matters (Bergmann
wind and wave condition while manta net is suitable for calm water et al., 2017). In general, the main sampling areas are in the high tide line
(Frias et al., 2014; Lima et al., 2014). Common sizes of neuston and where more MPs may be accumulated (Claessens et al., 2011). The
manta trawl nets range from 50 μm to 3000 μm, and the mesh size sampling depths in sediments are the top 10 cm, and a sampling area of
around 300 μm is the most frequently used one (Hidalgo-Ruz et al., 25 cm2 is often chosen (Dekiff et al., 2014; Turner and Holmes, 2015).
2012). Advantages of both nets are that large volumes of water can be
sampled in a rather short time (Ruiz-Orejo �n et al., 2016), but this may
3.3. Pretreatment of MPs samples
underestimate the actual concentrations of MPs in seawater, for MPs
with particle sizes smaller than 50 μm that are more toxicologically
Before characterizations being carried out, isolation and extraction
significant will be readily escaped (Doyle et al., 2011). Because
processes are needed because organic matters (OMs), algae and other
small-mesh-size nets are easily blocked, nets whose mesh size are less
impurities are mixed with MPs samples (Zhao et al., 2017). The sepa­
than 300 μm are rarely studied.
ration of MPs samples involves in two major categories: physical
Bongo net is usually used for collecting water-column samples, and it
methods such as density separation, filtration and sieving, and
can sample on sea surface as well as at mid-ocean depths. Bongo net is a
biochemical methods including acidic/alkaline digestion, oxidization
reliable single unit tow platform for sampling in shallow water (Wang
and enzymatic degradation (Qiu et al., 2016).
et al., 2017a). One of the unique features of bongo net is its opening and
The density of MPs varies depending on their polymer types and
closing mechanism that allows discrete known-depth sampling (Mauro
manufacturing processes, and the specific density values usually range
et al., 2017). The most widely used mesh sizes of bongo net are also
from 0.8 to 1.4 g/cm3 (Hidalgo-Ruz et al., 2012). Density separation is
about 300 μm (Co �zar et al., 2014). For instance, Mauro et al. (2017)
based on the differences in the density of MPs. As the typical density of
deployed a bongo net with a diameter of 60 cm fitted with 335 μm mesh
sediments is about 2.7 g/cm3 which is heavier than most MPs, the lighter
size in an oblique tow from a depth of 15 m to collect MPs samples from
items can be separated from the heavier ones by mixing with saturated
Northern Gulf of Mexico; in the experiments of Lattin et al. (2004),
salt solutions and shaking for a certain period of time (Shim et al., 2016).
paired 61 cm diameter bongo nets with a length of 3 m and the mesh size
After that, less dense MPs will float on the surface of the brine solutions
of 333 μm were used to sample MPs in the southern California shore.
while denser sediments will sink at the bottom. Different brine solutions
Detailed information about neuston, manta and bongo net is presented
are applied to separating different MPs, and the density of brine solu­
in Table 2.
tions that are used for density separation often should be higher than
As sediments in coastal beaches or lakefront are more convenient to
1.4 g/cm3 (Zhang et al., 2018). Saturated sodium chloride (NaCl, density
be sampled, samples are usually taken from these places when studying
of 1.2 g/cm3) solution is one of the most commonly used flotation agents
MPs in sediments. Commonly used tools for collecting MPs on beaches
owing to its cheap price, high availability and environmental benignity
are forceps, sieves, grab samplers, box corers and spade corers (Tsang
(Nuelle et al., 2014). However, saturated NaCl solutions are not suitable
et al., 2017; Vianello et al., 2013). Because of the properties of MPs and
for separating MPs whose density is heavier than 1.2 g/cm3 such as PVC
various environmental factors, the distribution of MPs in sediments is
and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and the recovery rates of which

Table 2
A comparison of neuston, manta trawl and bongo net.
Instrument Mesh Tow Location Sample Average Advantages Disadvantages References
size length concentration
(μm) (km) (�SD)

Neuston 200 0.93 Faafu Atoll, surface 0.32 � 0.15 large sample volumes, expensive, underestimating Saliu et al.,
net Maldives water particles/m3 easy operation, short plastic concentrations, causing 2018
sampling time potential pollution
Manta 333 1.94 Mediterranean surface 43000 particles/ efficient in sampling the expensive, only suitable for calm Eriksen et al.
trawl Sea water km2 sea surface microlayer water (2013);
Karlsson et al.
(2019)
Bongo net 335 – Northern Gulf of surface 10.7 � 4.4 suitable for sea surface cannot capture small-sized Mauro et al.
Mexico water particles/m3 and mid-ocean depth particles (2017)

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M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

are less than 90% (Quinn et al., 2016). In addition, sediment samples efficiency, studies using HCl to extract MPs can also be found (Cole et al.,
need to be washed for three times when using NaCl as separation solu­ 2014; Desforges et al., 2014; Karami et al., 2016). Many types of plastics
tions. Other frequently used brine solutions are zinc chloride (ZnCl2), such as nylon and PET can be easily degraded by acid at high acid
zinc bromide (ZnBr2), and sodium iodide (NaI) (Hidalgo-Ruz et al., concentration and high processing temperature, and acidic digestion
2012; Nuelle et al., 2014). Quinn et al. (2016) showed that NaI and may also underestimate the effects of MPs on the environment (Qiu
ZnBr2 were effective to separate MPs with particle sizes of 200–400 μm, et al., 2016). Thus, acidic digestion should be used with caution. The
and both of them had good recovery rates (>95%), and it only required a effects of acid on the integrity of MPs have also been reported. For
single wash of sediments. MPs that can be separated by NaI are similar to example, Prata et al. (2019a) summarized that when using HNO3 as acid
environmental samples, while ZnBr2 solution is more suitable for sepa­ digestion reagent, it may cause loss of some types of polymers such as PS
rating samples of single type (Rocha-Santos and Duarte, 2015). More­ and PET. Moreover, as heating is often required to assist the digestion
over, ZnBr2 is harmful to the environment and may lead to a secondary process, polymers that have low resistance to acid may be more easily
pollution while using NaI is environmentally safe (Prata et al., 2019a). degraded at high temperature.
Therefore, NaI is a recommended brine solution for the separation of Alkaline digestion which serves as an alternative to acidic digestion
MPs from sediments. However, NaI should not be used with cellulose has also been widely used in the separation of MPs. Among those
filters, as it can react with them. Sodium polytungstate (Na6O39W12) available literature, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydrox­
solution is also used for density separation, but the recovery rate test of ide (KOH) are two commonly used alkaline solutions (Maes et al., 2017).
which is scarce and its price is relatively high. More specific information Cole et al. (2014) found that 10 mol/L of NaOH solution was the optimal
about the density values of different polymers and commonly used brine alkaline concentration among the tested ones. As for KOH, a concen­
solutions are provided in Table 3. Although shaking time and settling tration of 10% is often used when extracting MPs (Dehaut et al., 2016;
time of density separation is often about 30 s to 2 h, 2 min to 6 h, Foekema et al., 2013). Alkaline digestion has high digestion efficiency of
respectively, it actually requires less time in both process (Hidalgo-Ruz OMs and good recovery rate of MPs; however, it may damage the
et al., 2012). As shown in Table 3, it took 3–10 min for mixing MPs structure of plastics and causing discoloration to PE, PVC and nylon
samples and brine solutions and 5–15 min for separation of MPs in most (Cole et al., 2014).
study. In addition, besides salt solution separation, hydrocyclonic sep­ Enzymatic digestion is a promising digestion method for the removal
aration technology is also applied in MPs separation (Yuan et al., 2015). of OMs since it is less hazardous to both the environment and plastic
Elutriation is another separation method for extracting MPs samples structures (Courtene-Jones et al., 2017). Proteinase K, tripsin, collage­
by injecting some fluid such as water at the bottom of a column so that nase and papain are used for digesting OMs; a sequential use of enzymes
the buoyant MPs can be isolated from the settling OMs and sediments (protease, cellulase, chitinase) has achieved high removal efficiency of
(Kedzierski et al., 2017). Filtration and sieving are also employed to OMs (Lo €der et al., 2015). Enzymatic digestion usually has no effect on
separate MPs from water and sediment samples that are obtained from the integrity of MPs and obtains high recovery rates (Cole et al., 2014).
the density separation process (Prata et al., 2019a). The plastic particles However, despite the eco-friendly property of enzymatic digestion, the
will be filtered from the supernatant by a filter which is usually assisted utilization of enzymes in the separation of MPs is limited by the high
by a vacuum (Ng and Obbard, 2006). In order to sort out larger particles prices, long digestion time and small application scales (Crichton et al.,
before the filtration step, water samples can firstly pass through a sieve 2017). But as the industrial enzymes including industrial proteases, li­
whose mesh size ranges from 0.038 to 0.475 mm (Andrady, 2011). pases and Corolase 7089 are relatively affordable, they can be used to
Another category for processing MPs samples with the purpose of efficiently digest soft tissues and have good prospect in application
removing OMs is digestion. There are four major types of digestion (Catarino et al., 2017).
methods namely acidic, alkaline, enzymatic and oxidative digestion. For Oxidative digestion may digest OMs more efficiently than acidic/
acidic digestion, nitric acid (HNO3), hydrofluoric acid (HF) and hydro­ alkaline digestion. For example, Nuelle et al. (2014) showed that 35% of
chloric acid (HCl) are most frequently used. For example, Davidson and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was the ideal solution to digest OMs and it
Dudas (2016) used 69–71% of HNO3 to separate MPs from clam tissues; achieved higher digestion efficiency than 37% of HCl and 20, 30, 40 and
Naidoo et al. (2017) found that 55% of HNO3 could fasten the digestion 50% of NaOH. Different concentrations of H2O2 are often employed as
process when heating; Dubaish and Liebezeit (2013) utilized HF to oxidant to remove OMs. Zhao et al. (2017) used 15% of H2O2 to digest
digest OMs. Although HCl is reported to have relatively low digestion labile background organic matter in marine snow samples; Shim et al.

Table 3
Information about five common types of polymers and possible separation salt solutions (PE: polyethylene, PP: polypropylene, PS: polystyrene, PVC: polyvinyl
chloride, PET: polyethylene terephthalate).
Polymer Chemical Polymer density Commonly used saturated salt Shaking time Settling Recovery References
type structure (g/cm3) solution for density separation time rate

PE 0.92-0.97 NaCl (1.2 g/cm) 3 min 10 min > 85.0% Quinn et al.
(2016)

PP 0.90-0.91 ZnCl2 (1.5 g/cm) 10 min 15 min > 95.0% Rodrigues et al.
(2020)

PS 1.04-1.10 ZnCl2 (1.5 g/cm) 5 min stirring þ 5 min rest þ 3 overnight 96.3% Vermeiren et al.
short stirring bursts (2020)

PVC 1.16-1.58 ZnCl2 (1.5 g/cm) 5 min stirring þ 5 min rest þ 3 overnight 82.8% Vermeiren et al.
short stirring bursts (2020)

PET 1.37-1.45 ZnBr2 (1.7 g/cm3) 3 min 10 min > 95.0% Quinn et al.
(2016)

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M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

(2016) found that 30% of H2O2 had higher digestion efficiency than

Basic information of frequently-used characterization instruments of MPs (ATR-FTIR: attenuated total reflectance-FTIR; μ-FTIR: FTIR microspectroscopy; SRS: stimulated Raman scattering; μ-Raman: micro-Raman

et al. (2016); Lenz et al. (2015); Thushari et al.

Cho et al. (2019); Claessens et al. (2011); Dekiff
other concentrations; Nuelle et al. (2014) also reported that incubation

Elert et al. (2017); Hintersteiner et al. (2015).

Cauwenberghe and Janssen (2014); Karami
using 35% of H2O2 at room temperature for 7 days could only remove

on et al.

Dümichen et al. (2014); Dümichen et al.

25% of biogenic material. Therefore, the efficiency of oxidative diges­
tion by H2O2 varies with its concentration and is related to the incu­

Politikos et al. (2017); Ruiz-Orej�

bation temperature. A combined use of H2O2 oxidization and enzymatic

et al. (2014); Li et al. (2015).

digestion has been shown in the study of Karlsson et al. (2017).

spectroscopy; Pyr-GC-MS: pyrolysis-gas chromatography þ mass spectrometry; TED-GC-MS: thermo-extraction and desorption þ GC-MS; HPLC-UV: high performance liquid chromatography þ UV).
Nevertheless, degradation and color change of MPs and the generation
of foam after being treated by H2O2 seem unavoidable according to Avio

Nuelle et al. (2014).

Fries et al. (2013);
et al. (2015b). Fenton’s reagent is an advanced oxidant as well as a
potential alternative to H2O2. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmo­

References
spheric Administration Marine Debris Program has made a recommen­

(2016);

(2017).

(2017).
dation that 30% of H2O2 is used in the presence of an iron (Fe(II))
catalyst for extracting MPs from water and sediment samples (Li et al.,
2009; Masura et al., 2015; He et al., 2018). When comparing with H2O2,

high recovery rate for certain polymers; only assessing small amount of samples per
Able to analyze very small samples with high spatial resolution, possible to analyze
the Fenton digestion can effectively destroy organic components and

opaque and dark samples, fast measurement; easily being interfered, requiring pre-
inorganic compounds that cannot be easily digested by H2O2 (Tagg

Non-destructive to samples, reliable, fast; samples <20 μm cannot be detected,

Samples can be analyzed with organic plastic additives, sensitive and reliable;
et al., 2017). Besides, it takes shorter time to finish the whole reaction
and makes lower demand on reaction temperature, but the pH of the
Fenton’s reagent must be adjusted (to 3.0–5.0) to optimize the reaction

Low cost, easy operation; time-consuming, inaccurate observation.

(Hermosilla et al., 2012).

Be able to analyze large sample amount, fast and reliable;

3.4. Identification and characterization

The diverse components, shapes, sizes and sources of MPs make the
characterization of MPs an important but arduous work. In addition, the
characterization of MPs is particularly vital as it allows obtaining more
information about the sources and chemical composition of them. A
comparison among different characterization methods is presented in

selection of samples, expensive.

Table 4, where the requirement for samples as well as advantages and
disadvantages of each method was shown. Direct observation of MPs by Advantages/Limitations
visual inspection is adopted in most previous studies (Lares et al., 2018;

destructive to samples.
Wagner et al., 2016). Microscopes including ordinary optical micro­
scope, stereoscope, fluorescent microscope and scanning electron mi­
croscope can be used to record the classification and abundance of large
MPs with distinctive colors or morphologies (Politikos et al., 2017; expensive.

Vermeiren et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2017c). However, visual inspection

run.
is a subjective method for the identification of MPs because different
observation results may be obtained by different observers, and a

purity of decomposition products

identical samples under different

aqueous and hydrocarbon-based

thin/thick fibers/films, powder;

considerable amount of time is needed to conduct this work (Prata et al.,

Requirement for MPs samples

no limitation to the size and

2019a). Furthermore, it is rather difficult to distinct those MPs from
no requirement for sample

other organic or inorganic matters whose particle sizes are similar to

pyrolysis temperature

MPs (Fries et al., 2013). Thus, spectroscopic approaches such as Fourier

distinctive colors or

irregularly shaped
thick and opaque;
regularly shaped

transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and

morphologies

pyrolysis-gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

thickness;

(Pyr-GC-MS) serve as more accurate methods to identify the polymer

types of MPs. Owing to the attributes of cost, efficiency and reliability,
these methods are widely used and highly recommended by many re­
searches (Cauwenberghe and Janssen, 2014; Cho et al., 2019; Dümichen
20–100 μL

et al., 2014, 2017; Li et al., 2015; Ruiz-Orejo �n et al., 2016; Thushari

amount

100 mg
Sample

0.5 mg

et al., 2017).
1 mg

1 μg

The polymer types of MPs can be identified by comparing the FTIR

–

spectra with known spectra. FTIR can identify MPs with a minimum
Measured size

particle size of 20 μm while Raman spectroscopy allows the character­

down to 20
>500 μm

>500 μm
1–20 μm

ization of MPs whose particle size is smaller than 20 μm (Dekiff et al.,

1–5 mm

>1 μm
range

2014). Multiple FTIR techniques have been applied to analyzing MPs.

μm

For instance, FTIR microspectroscopy (μ-FTIR) can detect smaller MPs

–

(20–300 μm) and provide high-resolution map (Harrison et al., 2012;

μ-Raman

Lo€der et al., 2015; Rocha-Santos and Duarte, 2015); attenuated total

μ-FTIR
ATR-
FTIR

SRS

reflectance-FTIR (ATR-FTIR) is capable of identifying thick or opaque

Ordinary microscope

MPs (Nor and Obbard, 2014; Shim et al., 2017; Prata et al., 2019a).
Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is suitable to characterize MPs on
Spectroscopy

low Raman background filter membrane when no pretreatment pro­

TED-GC-MS
Pyr-GC-MS
Instrument

HPLC-UV

cesses is conducted (Zada et al., 2018), but the cost of SRS is relatively
Raman
Table 4

high. As Raman spectroscopy (including micro-Raman spectroscopy

FTIR

(μ-Raman)) can identify extremely small-sized MPs, it is always used

5
M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

together with FTIR spectroscopy (Ghosal et al., 2018; Karami et al., their actual effects on organisms and human health. It is noticeable that
2016). However, the accuracy of Raman spectroscopy would be affected increasing attention has been paid to the ecotoxicology of MPs, and
by colored matters, additives and other pollutants that are attached to escalating studies have investigated possible adverse effects of MPs on
the MPs (Lenz et al., 2015). different organisms in recent years. Toxicological experiments usually
Pyr-GC-MS has also been applied to analyzing the chemical compo­ used known polymer types of MPs to study the according impacts.
sition and structural characteristics of higher molecular weight poly­ Therefore, it is necessary to study the ecotoxicological effects of MPs
mers by detecting their thermal degradation products (Nuelle et al., after polymer types and physic-chemical properties of MPs were
2014). Fries et al. (2013) used sequential Pyr-GC-MS to simultaneously analyzed.
identify polymer types of MPs and analyze the content of organic plastic Nowadays, research focus of the impact of MPs on aquatic organisms
additives. This method could provide a more complete overview of the is on marine organisms. It was reported that plankton, bivalves, fish and
sample and could more accurately evaluate the actual chemical property mammals could be affected by the presence of MPs (Besseling et al.,
of the sample (Tianniam et al., 2010). Nevertheless, wrong results may 2015; Cauwenberghe and Janssen, 2014; Desforges et al., 2015; Foe­
be obtained by this method for different polymers may produce similar kema et al., 2013). Evidence has shown that MPs exist in manifold va­
thermal degradation products (Nuelle et al., 2014). Besides, Pyr-GC-MS riety of organisms, which suggests the transport of MPs along food chain
is destructive to samples and cannot provide any information about the and food web (Besseling et al., 2017). Besides, as ingested MPs mainly
sizes, shapes and concentrations of MPs (Fabbri et al., 2000). Another accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract, it could be deduced that one of
deficiency of this method is that it can only analyze a very small number the major risks that MPs might cause to organisms is physical and
of simple and homogenous samples (0.5 mg) per run (Dümichen et al., chemical damage to their digestive process (Davidson and Dudas, 2016;
2017). Comparing with Pyr-GC-MS, thermo-extraction and desorption Wright et al., 2013b).
coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (TED-GC-MS) has Negative effects of MPs on different aquatic organisms such as
been used to measure relatively large numbers of sample masses (100 growth inhibition and low reproduction rate were found in some studies.
mg), and it is able to analyze complex and heterogeneous samples Effects of MPs on three classifications including plankton, invertebrate
(Dümichen et al., 2014). Apart from that, pretreatment of standard MPs and vertebrate were summarized in Table 5. From Table 5, it could be
particles is not required when employing TED-GC-MS to characterize seen that PS is the most frequently used material to investigate the
MPs (Elert et al., 2017). toxicity of MPs on plankton. Another characteristic of the effects of MPs
Liquid chromatography is a less frequently used characterization on plankton is that small-sized MPs are more easily to exert detrimental
method of MPs, and it is usually applied with the assist of UV detection. influence. One of the possible reasons might be that extremely small-
Elert et al. (2017) used size exclusion chromatography analyze PS and sized MPs could act as the substitute of nutrients that plankton
PET, and they found that changes in the molecular mass could be needed, resulting in a sustained loss of energy inputs, and consequently
observed. Based on the different solubility of MPs, polymers can be leading to death of organisms (Botterell et al., 2019). Impacts of MPs on
dissolved by appropriate eluents. The advantage of this method is that phytoplankton were seen on microalgae. Some studies have suggested
larger numbers of samples can be analyzed and thus it can improve the that the growth rate, chlorophyll content and photosynthesis activity of
representativeness of the characterization, but it is also destructive to microalgae were negatively affected by the presence of MPs (Prata et al.,
samples and only shows the chemical composition of the samples. 2019a; Xu et al., 2020). Moreover, according to the investigation of
Different molecular weight distribution can be measured by high per­ Prata et al. (2019b), the disturbing effects of MPs could decrease
formance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with size exclusion available nutrients that microalgae needed by functioning as substrates,
systems. As shown in the studies of Hintersteiner et al. (2015), HPLC-UV which revealed a potential assimilation metabolism of MPs by
and HPLC-Orbitrap-MS have high recoveries of selected polymers, microalgae.
although this method cannot determine the particle size of the samples As surface waters contain relatively high abundance of MPs than
and can only analyze certain types of polymers such as PS and PE. deep water, zooplankton which predominately feeds in this area is more
Therefore, more investigations are required to verify this method for easily to encounter and take in them (Co �zar et al., 2014). Known effects
MPs identification. of MPs on zooplankton include but not limited to inhibition of growth
Several less frequently used methods for the characterization of MPs and feeding, reproduction and life span (Botterell et al., 2019). For
have been reported in some studies. For instance, Ceccarini et al. (2018) example, Cole et al. (2014) demonstrated that MPs could influence the
used gel permeation chromatography to determine the molecular weight feeding of copepod, and the ingestion rates of copepod Centropages
and molecular weight distribution of the polymeric fractions; Turner typicus were testified to have a significant dose-response relationship
(2017) applied a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to analyzing with MPs concentration and total algal ingestion rates. Lee et al. (2013)
the elemental compositions of polymers; Shim et al. (2016) has reported showed that the fecundity of copepod Tigriopus japonicas was decreased
a simple staining method by using Nile Red to stain highly hydrophobic by exposing to different concentrations of PS microbead. Lo and Chan
polymers, and which could differentiate fragmented polypropylene (2018) found that gastropod Crepidula onyx could ingest PS microbead,
particles from sand particles. MPs have complicated chemical charac­ which led to slow growth.
terizations and are potential carriers for other contaminants such as Ecotoxicologic experiments that investigate the effects of MPs on
heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. Moreover, MPs may also invertebrate often utilize Mytilus galloprovincialis as a bioindicator, by
undergo complex natural processes and dramatic morphological change which the quality of marine environments can be evaluated and moni­
in the environment (Fu et al., 2020). Therefore, it is urgent to develop tored (Capillo et al., 2018). As invertebrate usually have no specific
new analytical technologies or combine existed methods to obtain more enzymes to digest synthetic polymers, and thus once MPs are ingested by
reliable characterization data of MPs. these organisms, they will not be digested or absorbed (Andrady, 2011).
However, the ingestion of MPs might cause a series of problems to
4. Ecotoxicological effects of MPs on the environment creatures. Some investigations showed that the main adverse effect of
MPs is cellular damage resulting from oxidative stress (Avio et al.,
4.1. Effects of MPs on aquatic organisms 2015a; Pagano et al., 2016; Sureda et al., 2018). These studies demon­
strated that MPs could reduce the energy input and further damage the
The aforementioned section showed the abundance of MPs in several immune functions, and continuous accumulation of MPs could also exert
typical freshwater systems in China, which proved that MPs had wide chronic effects on the life span of invertebrates.
distribution in the environment. As a result, MPs may pose potential The ecotoxicological effects of MPs on vertebrate are represented by
threat to the environment even humans; however, little is known about the influences that MPs could have on fishes, for fishes are typical

6
M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

Table 5
Ecotoxicological effects of MPs on aquatic organisms (PE: polyethylene; PS: polystyrene).
Organism Species MPs type MPs size Exposure Exposure Ecotoxicological effects References
(μm) concentration time

plankton Scenedesmus PS 0.07 1000 mg/L 72 h 2.5% growth inhibition; Besseling et al. (2014)
obliquus 50% decrease in chlorophyll content
Chlorella sp. PS 0.02 6.5 mg/L 65 h 33.3% increase reactive oxygen species Bhattacharya et al. (2010)
Chaetoceros PS 2 3.95 μg/L 30 d aggregate sinking rate was 18 times lower Long et al. (2017)
neogracile than the control group
Centropages typicus PS 20.6 0.1% v/v 24 h 25% decrease in herbivory Cole et al. (2013)
invertebrate Gammarus PS 1.6 12500 beads/L 28 d 22% decrease in assimilation efficiency Blarer and
fossarum Burkhardt-Holm (2016)
Mytilus PE <100 20 g/L 7d accumulated in digestive tissues: 3.6–6.5 Avio et al. (2015a)
galloprovincialis PS folds higher than the control
Corbicula fluminea unknown 5 0.13 mg/L 8d accumulated in gills damage: 2 folds higher Oliveira et al. (2018)
than the control
Eriocheir sinensis PS 5 40000 mg/L 7d accumulated in liver: 1.66 μg/mg of tissue Yu et al. (2018)
dry weight
vertebrate Danio rerio PS 1 0.750–0.047 mg/L 10 d 39% decrease in predatory performance Proki�c et al. (2019)
Pomatoschistus PE 1–5 1 mg/L 7d oxidative damage; Ferreira et al. (2016);
microps Oliveira et al. (2013)

vertebrates in aquatic environments. As shown in some studies, major their study showed that the effects of MPs would vary in terms of plant
impacts of MPs on fishes include intestinal damage, oxidative damage species. However, these mechanistic pathways should be tested in the
and reduction of predatory activity (Ferreira et al., 2016; Proki�c et al., near future.
2019). Because fishes are important food for humans, chances are that MPs could exert direct and indirect influence on soil animals. MPs
individual fitness and population fitness would be decreased when may adhere to the surface of some soil animals so that their movement
MPs-polluted fishes are consumed by human. Another nonnegligible fact will be hindered (Kim and An, 2019). If MPs are mistakenly ingested by
is that MPs could change the bioavailability and ways of adsorbing metal soil organism, reduce in carbon biomass ingestion and further energy
contaminants, which indicate that other pollutants such as heavy metals depletion would happen (Cole et al., 2013). Earthworms are the most
could co-exist with MPs, and might cause certain co-effect to aquatic commonly researched targets when studying the toxic effects of MPs on
organisms (Guzzetti et al., 2018). soil animals. Wang et al. (2019a) found that MPs at low concentrations
Mammals such as whales were also reported to have MPs ingestion (<20% (w/w)) had no significant impacts on growth and death rates of
and bioaccumulation. Fossi et al. (2016) showed that organochlorine earthworms (Eisenia fetida); whereas the growth of Oligochaeta lum­
compounds were found in fin whales suggesting that MPs might have bricidae was significantly inhibited when the concentrations of MPs were
potential effects on them. Nevertheless, the metabolism mechanisms higher than 28% (Huerta Lwanga et al., 2016). In addition to earth­
and effect mechanisms of MPs on aquatic organisms are still remained to worms, other small soil invertebrates including springtails, nematodes
be explored. and snails could also ingest MPs. For instance, MPs could decrease the
gut microbial community, reproduction and avoidance behaviors of
4.2. Effects of MPs on soil biota springtails (Kim and An, 2019; Ju et al., 2019); MPs could disrupt energy
metabolism, lower down the locomotor behavior and decrease the body
The investigation of Ng et al. (2018) has showed that 79% of global length of nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) (Kim et al., 2019; Lei et al.,
plastic wastes is accumulated in terrestrial environment. Nevertheless, 2018); MPs inhibited food intake and excretion of snails (Achatina fulica)
compared with the aquatic environments, the studies of MPs in soils are and affected oxidative stress (Song et al., 2019). The indirect effects of
relatively insufficient. MPs can change the structure and function of soils MPs mainly refer to their adsorption and combination of other pollut­
and can also affect microbial diversity (Rillig, 2012). Whether soils are ants such as heavy metals and organic contaminants, which will ag­
health or not determines food quality as well as food safety, which will gravates soil pollution and amplify the risks posed to soil organisms and
ultimately threaten human health (Murugan et al., 2014). On the other humans (Hüffer et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2017a). Results from Hodson
hand, complex terrestrial environment is also able to impact the eco­ et al. (2017) suggested that the bioavailability of zinc increased by
toxicology of MPs, and interaction between MPs and soils may lead to adsorbed onto MPs, and earthworms ingesting zinc-adsorbed MPs
unpredictable effects on the environmental behavior of other contami­ accumulated more zinc in their guts. On the contrary, high concentra­
nants, which could result in more complicated ecotoxicological impact tion of MPs in soils might reduce the accumulation of polycyclic aro­
on soil (Guo et al., 2020). matic hydrocarbons and polychlorobiphenyls as reported by Wang et al.
The effects of of MPs on terrestrial plants are scarcely reported, and (2019b). Therefore, the adsorption and desorption mechanisms of MPs
only limited plants are investigated. The study of Jassby et al. (2019) to other environmental pollutants need to be further studied.
showed that MPs might be taken in by agricultural plants such as wheat Microorganisms as the primary decomposers are one of the good
and then further entered into food chain. The experiments of Qi et al. indicators of the soil health condition, but current studies of the effects
(2018) demonstrated that the presence of MPs had negative impacts on of MPs on soil microorganisms are limited. Soil properties are closely
wheat growth tissue elemental composition at both vegetative and related to soil microbial activity. It was held that the transport of MPs in
reproductive stages. Furthermore, leaf and root traits together with total soils might change soil microbial community (Li et al., 2020). Changes
biomass of Allium fistulosum were reported to be affected by three kinds in soil aggregation by MPs could affect microbial evolution, and MPs
of MPs, namely, microfiber, microbead and micro-fragment (de Souza could provide a novel ecological habitat for soil microorganisms (Rillig
Machado et al., 2019). This study found that all three kinds of MPs et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2019b). On the other hand, MPs could also
would significantly change the biomass, tissue elemental composition change soil porosity and soil moisture, which would affect the relative
(e.g. water content and leaf nitrogen content), root traits (e.g. root distribution of anaerobic and aerobic microorganisms in soils (Rubol
length, diameter, density) and root symbioses (de Souza Machado et al., et al., 2013). Changes in soil pores may result in loss of microhabitat and
2019). Moreover, several potential positive and negative mechanisms extinction of indigenous microorganisms (Veresoglou et al., 2015).
that MPs might work on plants were proposed by Rillig et al. (2019), and Bacteria, fungi and soil enzymes are three parameters to assess the

7
M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

impacts of MPs on soil microbiota. For example, some bacteria (Vibrio­ confirmed evidences were not founded (Mastrangelo et al., 2002).
naceaeor and Pseudoalteromonadaceae) were detected in large amounts Studies of MPs adverse effects on human health are rather limited.
on the surface of microplastic debris, while they were seldom found in Nonetheless, as the accumulation of MPs along tropic chain, the po­
natural soil surroundings (Tender et al., 2015). Bla €sing and Amelung tential health risks that MPs may cause to humans should not be ignored.
(2018) reported that fungus Zalerion maritimum could biodegrade PE Moreover, measurement of human exposure to MPs should be more
and promote their growth. However, MPs were also found accumulated precisely conducted by using diagnostic tools including MPs identifica­
in fungi such as yeasts and filamentous fungi (Chae and An, 2018). As for tion and toxicity determination. Further studies focusing on human
soil enzymes, both positive and negative effects of MPs were showed. Liu exposure to MPs are urgently needed to fully understand the risks of MPs
et al. (2017) demonstrated that enzymatic activity was enhanced by the to humans.
addition of MPs, benefiting the input of C, N and P into soils. Whereas
adding small polyacrylic and PE particles would have negative effects on 5. Conclusions
the enzymatic activity of fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, as shown in
the study of de Souza Machado et al. (2018). To sum up, how the This work presented a comprehensive review on the status quo of
presence of MPs in soil affected microorganisms still remained un­ abundance, distribution, sampling and analyses of MPs in both waters
known, and more efforts should be made to address issues in this field. and soils. Moreover, potential ecological risks that MPs may pose to the
environments were also elucidated. Four key conclusions were made as
4.3. Effects of MPs on human health follows:

MPs are ubiquitous in the environment, which makes it unavoidable (1) Freshwater environments in cities with dense population and
for humans to be exposed. Nevertheless, currently there are inadequate large agricultural, fishery and industrial scales contained higher
studies on health risks that MPs may cause to human. Similar to other MPs concentrations, but MPs were also detected in rural fresh­
pollutants, humans contact MPs mainly via three main pathways, water systems. MPs with particle size less than 1 mm were most
namely ingestion, inhalation and dermal exposure. Correspondingly, the abundant and microfiber was a common polymer shape in surface
effects of MPs on human health are embodied in these aspects, but waters and sediments of several typical freshwater systems in
dermal contact was rarely reported to have significant influence on China. Besides, among all the detected MPs samples, polymer
human health., as only particle with sizes <100 nm could transverse types of PE and PP were the most common two.
dermal barrier (Revel et al., 2018). Overall, MPs exposure to humans (2) Zooplankton nets were the major tools for sampling MPs from
may result in particle toxicity, with oxidative stress, inflammatory le­ waters, and forceps, sieves, grab samplers, box corers and spade
sions and increased uptake or translocation, and as the immune system corers were often used to collect MPs from sediments. However,
cannot remove MPs, it may cause chronic inflammation and increase deficiencies including limited sampling volumes and non-
risk of neoplasia (Prata et al., 2020). uniform sampling methods have hindered quantification of MPs
Ingestion is regarded as the major way that humans expose to MPs in the environment.
(Galloway et al., 2017). As MPs were detected in some food such as fish (3) Pretreatment methods including density separation, filtration,
and table salt, the consumption of these stuffs might lead to possible acidic/alkaline digestion, oxidization and enzymatic digestion
ingestion of MPs by humans (Barboza et al., 2018; Karami et al., 2017). could efficiently remove impurities from MPs samples. Advanced
MPs could enter into the gastrointestinal system once MPs-polluted characterization technologies such as FTIR, Raman and Pyr-GC-
foodstuff are taken up by human, specialized M-cells in the intestine MS were frequently employed to analyze the chemical composi­
might absorb small microplastic particles, and consequently covering tion and other properties of MPs.
intestine lymphoid tissues, causing inflammatory response and changing (4) MPs have been reported to have ecological impacts on aquatic
gut microbe composition and metabolism (Ensign et al., 2012; Salim organisms, soil biota and human health. Inhibition in growth and
et al., 2013). Powell et al. (2007) suggested there was a possibility that decrease in assimilation efficiency were seen in both aquatic and
insoluble MPs might penetrate intestinal mucus to get solubility terrestrial organisms. Digestive and respiratory damages to
increased. Impacts including gene expression, inhibited cell viability, humans might be caused by the ingestion and inhalation of MPs.
induced pro-inflammatory responses and morphological changes were Nevertheless, metabolic mechanisms of MPs in organisms and
recorded in the research of Forte et al. (2016), when MPs were inter­ humans were generally lacking.
nalized by human gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Although food and
drinking water are widely contaminated by MPs making MPs ingestion Although the studies of MPs have been springing up in the last
unavoidable by humans, how MPs negatively affect human health is decade, research gaps still existed and should be filled in the future.
little known for relative studies are limited. Suggestions were proposed on the grounds of the current knowledge of
Because MPs can release into air from various sources such as syn­ MPs:
thetic textiles and car tires, humans might also inhale MPs in the envi­
ronment. Dris et al. (2017) showed that MPs concentrations in outdoor (1) Current studies provided limited perspectives and information
air ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 particles/m3. Moreover, the study of Prata about MPs in freshwaters and soils due to that the research of MPs
(2018) estimated that average MPs concentration inhaled by individuals is first focused on marine environment. The study of MPs
was 26–130 MPs/d. Respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea and inter­ including their occurrence, fate and toxicity in freshwater and
stitial inflammatory responses might be induced when considerable terrestrial environment are still insufficient. In addition, fresh­
amount of MPs were inhaled by susceptible individuals, especially those water as the source of drinking water and soil as the matrix of
who exposed to microplastic environments (industrial workers) for a cereals and vegetables, both of them are closely related to human
long time (Prata, 2018). A couple of studies showed that interstitial lung health. Thus, more studies should be conducted to better under­
disease occurred in synthetic textile, flock, vinyl chloride and PVC in­ stand how MPs distribute and influence freshwater and soil
dustries (Atis et al., 2005; Pimentel et al., 1975; Xu et al., 2004). Stud­ health.
nicka et al. (1995) reported that vinyl chloride and PVC industries (2) Different sampling and analytical methods will lead to different
workers who exposed for 10 years had diseases like pneumoconiosis, results of MPs concentration and chemical properties. It is known
narrowing of bronchial segments, foreign body granulomas, and fibrotic that MPs can act as carriers of other contaminants including
changes of the alveolar wall. In addition, cancer risk may be increased heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. Furthermore,
when chronically exposing to synthetic fiber dust, though more MPs may undergo complicated environmental processes such as

8
M. Wu et al. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 202 (2020) 110910

solar radiation, mechanical abrasion and biodegradation, which Botterell, Z.L.R., Beaumont, N., Dorrington, T., Steinke, M., Thompson, R.C., Lindeque, P.
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Capillo, G., Silvestro, S., Sanfilippo, M., Fiorino, E., Giangrosso, G., Ferrantelli, V.,
technologies are needed to analyze MPs in complex environ­ Vazzana, I., Faggio, C., 2018. Assessment of electrolytes and metals profile of the
mental matrix. faro lake (capo peloro lagoon, sicily, Italy) and its impact on Mytilus galloprovincialis.
(3) The detrimental effects of MPs on soil biota and humans are Chem. Biodivers. 15, 1800044–1800053.
Catarino, A.I., Thompson, R., Sanderson, W., Henry, T.B., 2017. Development and
inadequately researched compared with aquatic organisms, so optimization of a standard method for extraction of microplastics in mussels by
that future investigations should concentration on the two as­ enzyme digestion of soft tissues. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 36, 947–951.
pects. Besides, the mechanism that MPs interact with different Cauwenberghe, L.V., Janssen, C.R., 2014. Microplastics in bivalves cultured for human
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Declaration of competing interest Cincinelli, A., Martellini, T., Guerranti, C., Scopetani, C., Chelazzi, D., Giarrizzo, T.,
2019. A potpourri of microplastics in the sea surface and water column of the
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial Mediterranean Sea. Trac. Trends Anal. Chem. 110, 321–326.
Cincinelli, A., Scopetani, C., Chelazzi, D., Lombardini, E., Martellini, T., Katsoyiannis, A.,
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence Fossi, M.C., Corsolini, S., 2017. Microplastic in the surface waters of the Ross Sea
the work reported in this paper. (Antarctica): occurrence, distribution and characterization by FTIR. Chemosphere
175, 391–400.
Claessens, M., Meester, S.D., Landuyt, L.V., Clerck, K.D., Janssen, C.R., 2011. Occurrence
Acknowledgements and distribution of microplastics in marine sediments along the Belgian coast. Mar.
Pollut. Bull. 62, 2199–2204.
Cole, M., Lindeque, P., Fileman, E., Halsband, C., Goodhead, R., Moger, J., Galloway, T.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
S., 2013. Microplastic ingestion by zooplankton. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47,
of China (Grant No.: 51978178, 51478172 and 51521006), the 6646–6655.
Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province of China Cole, M., Webb, H., Lindeque, P.K., Fileman, E.S., Halsband, C., Galloway, T.S., 2014.
(Contract No.: 2019A1515012044), Maoming Municipal Bureau of Isolation of microplastics in biota-rich seawater samples and marine organisms. Sci.
Rep. 4, 4528–4535.
Science and Technology of Guangdong Province of China (Contract No.: Collignon, A., Hecq, J.H., Glagani, F., Voisin, P., Collard, F., Goffart, A., 2012. Neustonic
2018S0011), the International S&T Cooperation Program of China microplastic and zooplankton in the north western mediterranean sea. Mar. Pollut.
(Contract No.: 2015DFG92750) Bull. 64, 861–864.
Courtene-Jones, W., Quinn, B., Murphy, F., Gary, S.F., Narayanaswamy, B.E., 2017.
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