A comprehensive review of microplastics sources, fate, and distribution

Nowadays, the world encounters a severe problem with plastic pollution. Global productionof plastic reached up to ۳۰۰ million tons per year, and approximately ۶۳۰۰ million tons ofplastic waste was generated from ۱۹۵۰ to ۲۰۱۵. Microplastics (MPs) (plastic particlessmaller than ۵ mm) are a significant environmental concern. They are persistent pollutantsand widely distributed in all ecosystems ranging from the atmosphere to soil, fromgroundwater to ocean. Additionally, other pollutions tend to accumulate on the surface ofMPs, and then MPs may be ingested by diverse marine fauna and finally end up in humanfood chains. Due to this scientific fact, a comprehensive assessment of these emergingpollutants is highly needed. This study purports to present helpful information related toMPs, including sources, distribution, fate, and try to fill a void of state-of-art of sustainablesolutions to deal with this dangerous environmental contaminant by elucidating the findingof more than ۷۰ articles mainly in the past ten years. The study guides a coupled humanenvironmentsystem (CHES) perspective that may be useful for government policymakersand researchers.