Micro and Nanoplastics in Aquatic Environment

Over the last one and a half centuries, developments in polymers using natural and synthetic materials have produced polymers that are strong, lightweight, and flexible. With the evolution of advanced processing to create and manipulate, synthetic polymers have become an essential part of our lives and the diversity of polymers and the versatility of their properties have transformed our everyday life. With ~78% of plastic waste being returned to landfills; a large fraction of such plastics is introduced into the aquatic environment. Presently, there is limited information on human and non-human models of the impact of consuming micro/nano plastics (MNPs). Furthermore, microplastics are present in food supply chain, wherein particles of sizes <20 ?m can penetrate organs while microplastics of sizes from <0.1-10 ?m can penetrate organs, cell membranes, blood-brain barrier, placenta and can cause cytotoxic effects. Since MNPs normally float towards the air-water interphase, they attract viruses and present safety and security concerns. Such concerns and mitigation of waterborne microplastics will be described using recent models. The use of metamaterials to detect and disintegrate organic materials and microplastics by photocatalysis has been reported. From a policy standpoint, it is critical to refine international standards, including product labeling, and appropriate use, reuse, recycle and upcycle methodologies. This book provides an overview of the concerns associated with micronanoplastics, monitoring and management of these plastics in the environment to appropriately assess risks and mitigation strategies. Recent methods to identify, collect and mitigate micro/nano plastics from the aquatic environment are discussed. Chapters cover the toxicokinetics of MNPs and will present the fate and transport of such particles, including recent results on the fate and transport of MNPs in the human body.