Research Question: Microplastics

Abstract:
A research on microplastics is the need of the time due to it’s wide ranging, and complicated
effects on the ecosystem; many studies can be found about the severity of microplastics in the
marine life but a little research is done on terrestrial ecosystem, however it is evident that the
degraded plastic effects the soil, water, and the environment as well as the food chains are
being contaminated with these particles. Microplastics are abundant, environmentally
persistent, and it poses a significant threat to the health due to it’s presence at every stage in
the food chain, and to the environment due to it’s widespread presence in the aquatic and the
terrestrial ecosystem. The aim of this research is to identify the sources, the distribution,
properties, detection, effects, regulations, and strategies to cope up with the microplastics that
are an invisible threat and a globally recognized issue. The objective behind carrying out this
research is not only to identify the adverse effects of the microplastics on the organisms as well
as the flora and the fauna, but also to raise awareness on this complex issue and thus to
encourage further research. Microplastics have severe impacts like soil erosion, disruption in
the food webs, habitat contamination, interferes with the ecosystem services and the biological
impacts are release of the chemicals in the body through ingestion, oxidative stress, exposure to
toxic chemicals, behavioral changes, infertility, stunted growth. However, there are ways
through which the microplastics can be eliminated like through filtration techniques, magnetic
extraction, electrocoagulation, and through implementation of the policies.

.Introduction:

Plastics have became an integral are an integral part of day to day life, are cost effective, are
lighter, revolutionary yet concerning, however, though their benefits are undeniable but if not
recycled properly they end up in the environment and degrade into smaller pieces called
Microplastics(MPs). The word “microplastics” came up in 1970s when scientists named Edward
Carpenter and K.L. Smith noticed plastic particles on the Sargasso Sea; this term comprises of
two Greek words micro from “mikros” meaning small and plastic from “plastikos” meaning
ability to be shaped or molded. The term became scientifically known in 2004 when Professor
Richard Thompson and his board members produced a study on Marine Pollution. Priorly, terms
like “plastic particles”, “plastic fragments”, and “plastic pellets” were used to describe this.1
1
Microplastics: Definition & Significance | Glossary
Contextually, it refers to less than 5mm non-biodegradable particles of plastic containing atoms
of carbon, hydrogen, and impurities bonded in a polymer, found in the environment as
approximately 42000 tonnes of microplastics end up in the environment.2 Microplastics are
categorized into two types-primary that are plastic particles designed to be very small for them
to carry out their intended function”, e.g. microbeads that are intentionally added in the
personal cares like toothpaste, exfoliants, sunscreen, and face washes, plastic pellets, tire wear
particles, and synthetic fibers e.g nylon, polyester, and acrylic these enter the environment
directly through spills that contaminate water treatment plants, washing off, abrasion, and
secondary microplastics formed due to breakage from larger plastics by weathering, UV
exposure, wave energy, and wind abrasion.3 Microplastics are diversified and they exist in
various shapes (like spheres, fragments, and fibers) and sizes; they are composed up of mixtures
of various chemicals like residual monomers, additives, and hydrophobic environmental
pollutants, as well as polymers.4

Distribution & Sources:

According to Anastas, “They’re being found almost everywhere we’re looking”. Microplastics are
widely spread out due to their small size, durability, mobility, and long durable life. Most
Microplastics are to be found on the surface water that is less than 50 cm deep. From the air, to
the lakes, to the soil, to the Antarctica’s snow, to the placentas, to the air, to the blood, and to
the plastic bags. Some of the major sources of the primary microplastics in the environment are
paints, adhesives, coatings, detergents, fabrics, plastic- containing products like fertilizers,
pesticides, biosolids, and wastewater, while the secondary microplastics comprises of plastic
bags, plastic bottles, spilled plastics, takeaway containers, artificial turfs, electronics, urban dust,
and the plastic mulch used in the agriculture.

Approximately, 2.7 million tonnes of microplastics were added into the environment in the 2020
and this figure is expected to be double by 2040. There are various circumstances through
which the microplastics seep into the environment as with time the wasted out plastic products
can break into microplastics, when polyamide fabrics or the primary plastics are washed off as it
is known that the Primary Microplastics shed 2000 microfiber plastic per wash, through usage
of materials laced with them. And once in the environment, then they make their own way by
contaminating the food webs, as well as the soil, water, and the air.5 Many agricultural sources
such as plastic mulch films, crop covers, crop housing, fertilizers covered with non
2
Microplastics - ECHA
3
Yale Experts Explain Microplastics | Yale Sustainability
4
(PDF) Microplastics and human health Knowledge gaps should be addressed to ascertain the health risks of
microplastics
5
Everything you should know about microplastics
biodegradable polymers, silage films, and sacks contribute primarily but biosolids, wastewater
irrigation, the organic manure are primary sources as this results in microplastics coming from
animal feaces and feeds, as well as from tools, equipment, and packaging materials.6
Accumulation of the microplastics alongside the roads is another alarming situation and the
sources to this are various and the foremost amongst them are the tires which release particles
on the road upon the damaging of the tire treads due to friction, approximately 1327000,
133000, and 1120000 t/a tire wear particle (TWP) mass was emitted in the EU, Germany, and
the USA; these tire road wear particles (TRWPs) may settle in the soil however they contaminate
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem through either surface run off during rainy seasons this is
evident as 42% of the marine microplastics comprised of TRWPs, or via wind; groundwater is
also often contaminated by these thus disrupting both the aquatic and the terrestrial
ecosystems. Substances like thermoplastic elastomers, and paints used in strengthening the
road surfacing with lack of waste management lead to the plastic pollution. Particles from the
road signs also contribute to it. It is to be considered that the concentration of the roadside
microplastics depend upon factors like the road conditions and network, population density,
climate, driving habits and distance, and the type of tire.7

Microplastics are an “invisible threat” because they have been found indoors and in the cars too
thus we are exposed to these every time- during transportation, work hours, and in homes too.
Car cabins are a major emitters of the microplastics (MPs) as they’re small and composed up of
plastic based materials in dashboards, seat coverings, door handles, steering wheels, carpet and
their liners. Due to the limited exchange of air the microplastics in the car gather in the air and
concentrate their, about 2,238 microplastics particles per cubic meter of the microplastics were
found in the car while only 528 particles were found in homes, and thus this increases the
chances of their inhalation.8 Studies show that humans might be inhaling around 68,000
microplastics in their homes and cars, the concentration of the microplastics indoors is 8 times
higher than their concentrations outside, and the deposited microplastic dust is about 30 times
higher inside.9 City dust, industrial treatments, and coating are also the sources of the
microplastics.

Chemical Properties & Interactions:

Now the question arises that why are the microplastics a source of threat? Let’s dive further while
addressing this question. The microplastics are physical pollutants comprising of long chains of polymers,

6
Agricultural fertilisers contribute substantially to microplastic concentrations in UK soils | Communications Earth
& Environment
7
Microplastics in road dust and surrounding environment: Sources, fate and analytical approaches - ScienceDirect
8
Airborne microplastics are polluting homes and cars, new study finds | CNN
9
Thousands Of Microplastics Floating In Your Home And Car Are Slowly Damaging Your Lungs: Studyc
it’s finished product can either be homogeneous or may contain different types of polymers blended
together. Inorganic or Organic additives are added to these polymers to alter their properties like color,
flexibility, UV resistance, and flame resistance, these are present in percentages according to the weight
levels and they exist in fragments formed from the parent’s products. When these additives degrade
nano plastics (smaller than 1 micrometer ) are released with the other products, and these released off
particles are linked to the Oceanic Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC).10 They are made up of BPA
(bisphenol A) used in baby bottles, and the chemicals known as the “forever chemicals” due to their
strong Carbon-Fluorine bonding and thus tend to be persistent, non-biodegradable, and resistant to
heat, water, and chemicals, these include phthalates found in PFAS and the cosmetic, perfluoroalkyl and
polyfluoroalkyl found in non-stick cutlery and dental floss. These can generate hormonal imbalance that
in return can lead to disruption in the metabolism, growth, and the reproduction system due to
infertility. Upon heating plastic, these particles stimulates the releasing of BPA. 11 The Microplastics can
absorb both organic and inorganic contaminants-like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxin
chemicals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), toxic metals, hydrophilic organic compounds
(ciprofloxacin), and pharmaceuticals- and this property tend to be harmful as the contaminants are
released upon ingestion.12

Detection & Analytical Methods:

Microplastics is a newly arisen issue that requires advanced methods-ike visual analysis, laser diffraction
particle, dynamic light scattering, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform
infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, mass spectrometry, aptamer, through vitro selection, and flow
cytometry-for its analysis and detection. For detection as well as the sampling and pre-treatment of
microplastics techniques like filtration, sieving, density separation, and floatation are used as these are
cost effective and they separate the minute particles based on their size and density thus helping to
extract microplastics from complex substances like water or soil; however, here strict quality control like
blank control and contamination prevention is necessary due to the small sizes of the particles, and it is
labor intensive thus might sometimes miss out the nano plastics.13

The optical and the microscopy techniques in the analytical method includes: Stereo and fluoroesence
microscopy with Nile Red staining are used for visual detection and counting usually the particles that
are less than 100 nanometers. Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM) allows visualization of surface
morphology. The Atomic Force Microscopy(AFM) provides about nanometer size imaging and chemical
mapping for the particles till 20nm. The spectroscopy like the FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared) and the
Raman Spectroscopy identify the type of the polymer through the vibration of the molecules; the
Surface enhanced Raman Spectroscopy uses metallic nanostructures and detects particles till 2 nm with
high sensitivity, however, the FT-IR, Raman Spectroscopy, SERS, and AFM-IR requires expensive
equipment and a complex preparation. In the Pyrolysis-Gas chromatography- mass spectrometry the

10
A Global Perspective on Microplastics - Hale - 2020 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans - Wiley Online
Library
11
I’m a Microplastics Researcher. Here’s How To Limit Their Dangers | UC San Francisco
12
Interaction of chemical contaminants with microplastics: Principles and perspectives - ScienceDirect
13
[Link]
plastic particles are decomposed and the remaining broken down particles are analyzed, this method
gives polymer identification regardless of the particle size. The Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and laser
diffractions are the other methods used to identify the size distributions especially for the nano plastics
that are submerged in the liquid, similar techniques like Mie scattering detects and measures particles of
approximately 25nm of size rapidly, mostly in less than 20 seconds.14

Effects on Human Health:

Plastic revolutionized every aspect of life and thus medicine too as infections have reduced due
to new and “safer” equipment like disposable syringes, surgical gloves, and IV bags but this
slowly turned into a threat as these are made out of plastic that shatters into microplastics, that
are ingested and therefore are to be found in human brains, as they have crossed the brain’s
protective shield- Blood-Brain barrier, and the concentration in the Brain has escalated by 50%
following 2016, lungs, blood, in between the fatty tissues, and the placentas as the microplastics
were found in 8 out of the 10 tested placentas with the size varying from 10 microns to
0.01mm.

Microplastics have made changes to the cellular changes and disturbs the hormones. Many
eatables and water are also a victim this is why the research states that humans are consuming
100,000 plastic per year and thus the tissues, organs like liver and kidneys, and systems like
reproductive and neurological systems are effected.15 The health effects of microplastics aren’t
unknown because researchers have proven that the microplastics cause Cancer, Parkinson’s,
and Dementia as the concentration of plastic was higher in the brains of deceased diagnosed
with dementia.16

Ecological Effects:
The secondary microplastics have adverse effects as studies have revealed that in early 2000s
the oceans contained about 4 million to 14 million tones of plastic and this led to the
disturbance in the ecosystem as above 114 species including birds and fishes contained
microplastics this leads to less food consumption, less energy, thus is fatal. A study was carried
out where 13 taxa zooplankton were exposed to the polystyrene beads, techniques such as the
fluoroesence microscopy, and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) were used to take
images of ingestion, excretion, and surface adherence, and then the algal ingestion rate were
compared with and without the microplastics. The findings and the interpretations were: the 13
zooplankton ingested the microbeads while the rate of ingestion depended upon species, stage

14
Nanoplastics: From Separations to Analysis—Challenges and Limitations
15
Microplastics | Definition, Properties, & Plastic Pollution | Britannica
16
Microplastics Are Everywhere. Here’s What Duke Research Is Doing About Health Concerns | Duke Today
in life, and the size of microbeads this poses a threat to the food web as the zpp[lanktons are
the primary consumers and their plastic ingestion means that less energy is transferred to other
trophic levels, egested through small, hard lumps of stool this increases the potential for
trophic transfer as these fecal pellets are not only the waste but play a prime role in the nutrient
cycling and the energy transfers as many filter feeding organisms rely on these as a mode of
nutrition, moreover, these microplastics also stick to the external structures and this external
particle load can disrupt the mobility and the feeding structures, and this also reduced the
feeding efficiency as exposure to 7.3 µm beads at concentrations above ~4,000 particles/mL
caused reduction in the ingestion rates this can indirectly effect the growth, reproduction, and
other activities.17

The Microplastics are the pollutant vectors as in marine settings these can absorb various types
of PBTs and transfer them to other organisms like fishes upon intake, it was also evident that the
fishes showed symptoms of liver damage and chemical bioaccumulation after ingesting the
polluted microplastics, the glycogen reserves were depleted as 74% were depleted in marine-
PE group and 46% in virgin and none in the controls, the fats vacuoles were highest found in the
marine-PE group but were found in all the plastic groups, the necrosis-uncontrolled death of
cells and tissues- was found in the marine-PE, pre tumor and tumor- the uncontrolled growth of
the cells found in the virgin.18 Microplastics absorb contaminants like PAHs (polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), and heavy metals and these cause endocrine
disruptions, genotoxicity, and oxidative stress once released into an organism’s body through
ingestion. 19

Microplastics also has an impact on the terrestrial ecosystem and the soil structure and the
physical properties as it affects the water retaining capacity of the soil, it disturbs the natural
clumping of the soil particles, it poses the threat of soil erosion due to the changes in the
texture, the microplastics also affects the organisms growth and reproduction, alter the gut’s
activities, and stimulates oxidative stress, these organisms include earthworms, nematodes,
springtails, and microbes, these play a part in maintaining. The microplastics also impact the
plant growth by hindering root penetration thus affecting the uptake of the nutrients, reduce
seed germination and biomass production, and limits the nutrients available. It also disturbs the
functioning of the soil microbial communities. 20

17
Microplastic Ingestion by Zooplankton | Environmental Science & Technology
18
Ecological effects of microplastics
19
Microplastic as a Vector for Chemicals in the Aquatic Environment: Critical Review and Model-Supported
Reinterpretation of Empirical Studies | Environmental Science & Technology
20
Microplastics in the Terrestrial Ecosystem: Implications for Lumbricus terrestris (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) |
Environmental Science & Technology
Legislations:
Many legislative frameworks aimed at mitigating the Microplastics’ adverse effects have been
implemented around the globe, these regulations represent an important step forward in combating the
microplastics; however, their effectiveness varies accordingly and there still is a long way to go.

USA established the Microbead-free Waters Act of 2025 federally through instructing the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) thus banning the manufacturing, packaging, distribution, and use of the
microbeads in the rinse off products. This act further prevent the state or the local governments from
crafting and enforcing their own laws on microbeads unless these laws have same requirements as this.
Moreover, this act isn’t established for the consumer’s safety as microbeads aren’t directly harmful to
the human health, but is to the marine life as they are washed off in drains that open into seas. The
timeline of this is that on 1st July 2017 the manufacturing of these products were banned and later on 1st
July 2018 the sale of these products were completely banned.

Other USA regulations regarding the microplastics are: California AB 888-Waste management that bans
sales or promotion of products that contain microbeads unless they contain microbeads less than 1ppm
by weight of the microbeads; California: SB 1263 act gives the authority to the Ocean Protection Council
to adopt statewide microplastics strategy, submission to the legislature, report it’s findings, recommend
any changes in the policy and findings till the end of 2025, the approach outlined for this is Chapter 2A
that provides solutions while the research is ongoing and then Chapter 2B that promotes further
research to figure out further solutions; other laws regarding prohibition of microbeads include Illinois
SB 2727 Cosmetic Product, Wisconsin SB 15, and Colorado HB 15-1144. The manufacturer of the
products that contain microbeads must have their products lab tested to ensure that they are in
accordance with the national regulations.21 The USA Food and Drug Administration (FD&C) and the USA
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have invested in research regarding the microplastics but no
regulations are proposed yet. The FDA’s approach to the polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to stop the
sale of grease-proofing substances containing various types of PFAS in a span of 3 years that began in
2021.22

Though UK is falling behind on the unified international efforts in handling the microplastics but there
are some initiatives that the UK has adopted. A policy initiated by the University of Portsmouth’s
encourages in taking a collective action and combating the microplastics from the source. Currently,
there is a microbead ban in the cosmetics.23 The amendment 202A urges for banning on the use of pfas
in the school uniform and the manufacturers have to print a digital passport listing the chemicals
included in the product, and the Amendment 202 B emphasizes that this should b done within 12
months.24 Moreover, jurisdictions have been passed in many countries, like UK, USA, and Canada,
banning the expanded polystyrene that is often used in the food containers. Along with USA, Canada and
21
Microplastic Regulations in the United States: An Overview
22
From Particles to Policy: Microplastics at the Crossroads of Regulation and Litigation – Well Done
23
UK falling behind on tackling microplastic pollution, scientists say | Plastics | The Guardian
24
‘Forever chemicals’ in school uniforms could be banned under proposed law | Pfas | The Guardian
UK have also banned the use of microbeads in the cosmetic industry. 25 The Euro 7 regulation was
introduced by the European Union and it provided proposals to handle microplastics from the tyres by
testing tyre abrasion through the methods being developed in the United Nations World Forum for
Harmonization of Vehicle Regulation, this will then be used in establishing a binding emissions limits for
the tyres sold in the EU market, the settled timeline is as follows limits will be agreed for passenger car
tyres till June 2026, for light commercial vehicles till March 2028, and for heavy commercial vehicles til
March 2030.26

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS,1982) that is viewed as the most recognized
and influential treaty in the marine. It obliges the states to protect the marine environment and prevent,
and control all types of marine pollution, and this also includes microplastics though they were not
mentioned when the treaty was written due to their Undiscovery. Ships are the main source of the
microplastics in the marine environment and the policy termed as MARPOL 73 and it’s 1978 Protocol, it
comprises of six annexes and Annex V is the one most relevant to the microplastics. Annex V provides a
detailed explanation of the techniques to manage garbage pollution from ships, covering 5 points: area
management, discharge standards, operational requirements, port reception facilities, and port state
inspections; it says that the discharge of the plastic products including the ropes, nets, and garbage bags
is prohibited thus helping to control the microplastics by combating their sources. The London
Convention proposed in 1972 Dumping at Sea Conference regulates sea dumping, promote control, and
implement solutions to prevent marine pollution, it divides the dumping material in three categories-
the blacklist, gray list, and the white list- using different annexes, and according to the Annex 1 the
durable plastic, like the microplastics, is in the blacklists, therefore not allowing their dumping in any
case. Basal Convention adopted in 1989 terms the plastic waste as hazardous waste, and it provides an in
depth analysis on the material, transportation, recovery, treatment, and the recycling of the plastics. 27

UN Environmental Assembly carried out various resolutions like UNEA-1/6 in 2014, UNEA-2/11 in 2016,
UNEA-3/7 in 2017,, and UNEA-4/6 in 2019. In UNEA-3 it was agreed globally, after reviewing the
assessment of international cooperation regarding the marine plastic produced in the UNEA-2, that no
single use plastic or the microplastics will enter the oceans. This resolution further urged that a group of
experts should be created for recommendations due to the fast paced accumulation of the plastic litter
and its adverse impacts on the nature, society, and finances. It encouraged the implementation of
strategies from the previous sessions, that include: clean up activities, recycling to avoid overly use of
plastics, established definitions and settled standards, developed action plans, introducing measures to
prevent marine litter from the sources within the sea, prioritize marine litter and microplastics
prevention during natural calamities, and to develop source to sea approaches to tackle the issue. On
the other hand, the UNEA-3 stressed on reducing and waste management techniques, zero carbon
emissions globally, laid out the roles and responsibilities of the plastic produces, retailers, consumers,
25
Uptake and Effects of Microplastics on Cells and Tissue of the Blue Mussel Mytilus edulis L. after an Experimental
Exposure | Environmental Science & Technology
26
Pew Applauds EU's First-of-Its-Kind Legislation to Tackle Microplastics Emissions From Tyres | The Pew Charitable
Trusts
27
International Law and Regulation of Marine Microplastics: Current Situation, Problems, and Development
and schemes; also urged for improved scientific data, monitoring, and global cooperation in tackling the
issue.28

The Global Plastic Treaty is a landmark initiative by the United Nations aimed at quashing the plastic
pollution from the globe as it addresses the entire lifecycle of plastic from production to the disposal.
The timeline for this event is as follows: in March 2022 the UNEA-5 adopted the resolution titled “End
Plastic Pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument”, then in November the first global
negotiation meeting (INC-1) took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in this meeting the agenda of
establishing policies to eliminate plastic was supported clearly by more than 145 countries; then the
second meeting (INC-2) took place in Paris, France and it was agreed that the global rules for plastic
should be settled and this should address their lifecycle, and a ‘zero draft’ should be published, later in
July the first draft or the ‘zero draft’ was published this became a focal point for further discussions, in
November the INC-3 took place in Nairobi, Kenya this was consumed by procedural delays as the
delegates used this in writing the additional texts for the zero draft; in April 2024 the INC-4 took place in
Ottawa, Canada and this meeting witnessed establishment of rules prohibiting he use of plastic products
but little was done about the usage and the consumption of the plastic, it was also agreed that an
updated zero draft will be issued through the mediation work by different countries between the INC-4
and the INC-5 to advance the progress, in November the INC-5 took place in Busan, South Korea. The
INC-5.2 is currently going as was expected from 4-1 August, 2025.29

Mitigation And Strategies:

In conclusion, let’s dive into the mitigation and the strategies to combat the microplastics in not only the
products but also in our day to day activities, this requires a duo of upstream prevention, downstream
capture, regulations, and a positive public indulgence. Managing resources and plastics sustainably,
preventing leakage in the environment, ensuring that the water quality is maintained, restrictions on the
microplastics as well as the microbeads, and the waste management techniques are the key features in
this. However, attention should also be given to emissions of plastic particles from the wear and tear of
certain products as it isn’t considered despite knowing that they contribute to the issue, the following
things can be done: firstly, take a sustainable approaches in the design, manufacturing of textiles, tyres,
and other products thus reduce the tendency of products contributing to the microplastics, secondly,
uptake oriented eco-friendly approaches like eco driving, laundering parameters, and use advanced
mitigation technologies like the microbead filters to reduce the releasing of the microplastics in the
environment, thirdly, improve the waste management practices by preventing leakage or through
modern technology like Membrane Bioreactors (MBrs) that combine biological treatment process with
the ultrafiltration thus allowing effective removal of organic waste and producing a high quality water
applicable for various uses,30 Electrocoagulation that purifies the water by using the electric currents to

28
UNEA3 – UNEA resolutions on marine litter
29
Global Plastics Treaty | Pages | WWF
30
What Is an MBR (Membrane Bioreactor) & How Does It Work? - Biology Insights
remove the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and the other pollutants in the water,31 and Magnetic
extractors, moreover, pipe approaches should be figured out as this improves wastewater, stormwater,
and surface run off management and captures the microplastics in them before the pipes open into the
water bodies. Considering the adversity of the situation the mitigations should be well planned out,
persistent, policy frameworks should also be applied, and they should be cost effective, therefore,
penetrative measures are preferred more.32

Minimizing the plastic packaging, encouraging the reuse and the recycling of the plastic products, and
limiting the production of plastic packaging helps to reduce the Microplastics pollution. Adding to it, the
product’s efficiency can be improved through reducing the plastics usage by using the alternatives e.g.
glass, brass, steel, paper, or non plastic material, the product’s design can be altered by reducing the
amount of the plastic used, extend the product’s life, allowing repair, re use, and recycling by constricting
the amount of additives and chemicals added to it. Plastic consumption can also be reduced by raising
awareness on the severity and the issues associated with the plastic, product planning, behavior
modifications through policies, evaluating the single use plastics and providing the substitutes, and
through development of recyclable technologies. Education and awareness can be raised on this on
several events like the Earth Day on 22nd April, and the UN Environment Day on 5th June through media
channels like BBC, CNN. Organized cleanups can be arranged, seminars and workshops can be held, apps,
trackers and sea cleaners can be established. Through following theses mitigation strategies we can help
remove the sources of microplastics.

31
What is Electrocoagulation - WaterTectonics
32
Policies to Reduce Microplastics Pollution in Water | OECD