Identification of Micro- and Submicron (Nano) Plastics in Water Sources and the Impact of COVID-19 on Plastic Pollution
Abstract
One of the most significant environmental issues that our society may deal with this century could be plastics.The world's water bodies, as well as land and air, are becoming more and more contaminated by plastic due to the ongoing and expanding manufacturing of these synthetic materials, as well as the lack of an effective strategy for managing plastic waste.The fact that plastics break down into smaller particles (micro and nanoplastics) by action of environmental physical and chemical reactions, and do not degrade biologically in a reasonable time, is a cause of concern as plastics are believed to cause harm in animals, plants and humans.To identify the types of plastics prevalent in aquatic habitats, a number of procedures have been developed, from sampling to identification.After a water body has been sampled using nets, pumps, or other tools, depending on the type of sample taken, it is usually necessary to treat the samples for separation and purification.The next stage is to employ analytical techniques to identify the synthetic contaminants.The most common approaches are microscopy, spectroscopy, and thermal analysis.This thesis gives an overview of where in the environment microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) can be found and summarizes the most important technologies applied to analyse the importance of plastics as a contaminant in water bodies.The development of standardised analytical procedures is still necessary as most of them are not suitable for the…
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