Occurrence and risks of microplastics in the ecosystems of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
; 30(24): 64800-64826, 2023 May.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2299462
ABSTRACT
The ubiquitous nature of microplastics (MPs) in nature and the risks they pose on the environment and human health have led to an increased research interest in the topic. Despite being an area of high plastic production and consumption, studies on MPs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have been limited. However, the region witnessed a research surge in 2021 attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this review, a total of 97 studies were analyzed based on their environmental compartments (marine, freshwater, air, and terrestrial) and matrices (sediments, water columns, biota, soil, etc.). Then, the MP concentrations and polymer types were utilized to conduct a risk assessment to provide a critical analysis of the data. The highest MP concentrations recorded in the marine water column and sediments were in the Mediterranean Sea in Tunisia with 400 items/m3 and 7960 items/kg of sediments, respectively. The number of MPs in biota ranged between 0 and 7525 per individual across all the aquatic compartments. For the air compartment, a school classroom had 56,000 items/g of dust in Iran due to the confined space. Very high risks in the sediment samples (Eri > 1500) were recorded in the Caspian Sea and Arab/Persian Gulf due to their closed or semi-closed nature that promotes sedimentation. The risk factors obtained are sensitive to the reference concentration which calls for the development of more reliable risk assessment approaches. Finally, more studies are needed in understudied MENA environmental compartments such as groundwater, deserts, and estuaries.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Water Pollutants, Chemical
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
/
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
Journal subject:
Environmental Health
/
Toxicology
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S11356-023-27029-7
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