Vol. 10, Issue 8 (2021)

Author(s):
SS Rakesh, V Davamani, R Murugaragavan, PT Ramesh and SR Shrirangasami

Abstract:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines microplastics are the particles smaller than 5 mm. Plastic ingredients are present in different products of huge fractions even exceeds 90% in some cases. Microplastics are ingested through filter feeding and later egested in faecal pellets, typically within a matter of hours. Microplastics tends to accumulate on the external surface of dead zooplankton as it found to be trapped between the external appendages of live copepods. The uptake of microplastic particles by humans can occur through the consumption of terrestrial and aquatic food products, drinking water and inhalation. Organisms that are eaten whole present a greater risk of exposure compared with those having had the digestive tract removed. For example, the popular European seafood items, Mytilusedulis, contained on average 0.36 ± 0.07 MP particles g⁻¹, while Crassostreagigas contained 0.47 ± 0.16 g⁻¹ (wet weight soft tissue) at the point of human consumption. Very fine particles crosses the cell membranes, the blood-brain barrier and the placenta, with documented effects including oxidative stress, cell damage, inflammation and impairment of energy allocation similar to that reported for marine organisms. The management of the microplastics is one of the tedious process as it was very tiny and cannot be detected easily. There are studies which helps in the Bio degradation of the microplastics. Some of the species of microorganisms involved in the degradation of polyethylene are Staphylococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Bacillus sp., isolated from soil from plastics contaminated sites in Mumbai. Aspergillus niger, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes have been isolated from soils degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS).