Rezania Shahabaldin, Miri Saba, Cho Jinwoo, Hur Jin, Kamyab Hesam, Darajeh Negisa, Mohammadi Ali Akbar, Molani Farzad, Taghavijeloudar Mohsen
Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, South Korea.
Department of Civil Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University, North York, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
J Contam Hydrol. 2025 Feb;269:104496. doi: 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2025.104496. Epub 2025 Jan 3.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, plastic usage spiked, and microplastic (MP) generation has increased dramatically. It is documented that MP can transfer from the source to the ocean environment where they accumulate as the destination. Therefore, it is essential to understand their transferring pathways and effective environmental factors to determine the distribution of MPs in the marine environment. This article reviews the environmental factors that affect MP distribution in the oceans including abiotic such as ocean currents and wind direction, physical/chemical and biological reactions of MPs, natural sinking, particle size and settling velocity, and biotic including biofouling, and incorporation in fecal material. It was found that velocity and physical shearing are the most important parameters for MP accumulation in the deep ocean. Besides, this review proposes different research-based, national-level, and global-level strategies for the mitigation of MPs after the pandemic. Based on the findings, the level of MP pollution in the oceans is directly correlated to coastal areas with high populations, particularly in African and Asian countries. Future studies should focus on establishing predictive models based on the movement and distribution of MPs to mitigate the levels of pollution.
随着2020年新冠疫情的爆发，塑料使用量激增，微塑料（MP）的产生也大幅增加。据记载，微塑料能够从源头转移至海洋环境，并在那里不断累积。因此，了解它们的转移途径以及影响其在海洋环境中分布的有效环境因素至关重要。本文综述了影响海洋中微塑料分布的环境因素，包括非生物因素，如洋流和风向、微塑料的物理/化学反应、自然沉降、粒径和沉降速度，以及生物因素，如生物污损和粪便物质中的包含情况。研究发现，速度和物理剪切力是微塑料在深海中累积的最重要参数。此外，本综述还提出了疫情后基于不同研究、国家层面和全球层面的微塑料减排策略。基于这些研究结果，海洋中微塑料的污染程度与人口密集的沿海地区直接相关，特别是在非洲和亚洲国家。未来的研究应专注于基于微塑料的移动和分布建立预测模型，以降低污染水平。
