Abstract

Microplastics are miniature physical contaminants of the environment, with their most significant impact on the hydrosphere the food chain, and human health. Microplastics are well-known pollutants in aquatic and marine ecosystems that have been known to cause deleterious effects on the human body’s functioning and immunity. The microplastics exhibit the property of bio-magnification in the food web. These microplastics cause harm in the physical, chemical, and biological aspects as they can sorb the hydrophobic chemicals giving them a passage to the human alimentary tract and harbor microbial pathogens as biofilms. They are ubiquitous and have been observed to endanger the health of infants and adults and also animals alike by entering into commercial food products like seafood, dairy, and meat products. Microplastics are associated with hormonal imbalance, immunological malfunctioning, and oxidative stress in human and animal health. The diagnostic techniques for confirming the presence and estimating the quantity of these have been developed and are being extensively used. In this present date and era, microplastics have also been reported to be present in the blood and brain tissue, and it’s nearly quantified that each one of us may be ingesting 5 grams of plastic a week, which is roughly equivalent to that of a credit card (World Economic Forum, 2024). The statistics are harrowing, by 2050 our ocean could contain more plastic than fish by weight (World Economic Forum, 2023). As waste production is projected to triple by 2060, we can’t even estimate how many more credit cards we’ll be eating soon. Though the complete wipeout of plastics (especially microplastics) is improbable certain steps could be taken to prevent their production and also thereby decrease the overall plastic-based pollution, ‘Reduce, Reuse & Recycle’ is often used about the ‘circular economy of plastics’ when the actual goal should be to ‘Reduce’ the plastics altogether, usage of natural polymers, biodegradable material is encouraged, cooking at home should be preferred over takeout’s. The public should be made aware of the Green Inflation and modern concepts of sustainability. Although advanced research through premier institutes for instance Food and Drug Administration FDA), and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is going on still there is dire need to explore these microplastics in detail so that the proper regulatory measures can be framed.

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