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Microplastic contamination was found in fish and chicken bought on the market, in food stores and in chain supermarkets in the Middle East with the contamination ranging from 0.03 ± 0.04 to 1.19 ± 0.72 particles per gram of meat in chicken and from 0.014 ± 0.024 to 2.6 ± 2.8 particles per gram in fish. Only one fish was found to be free of microplastic. The source of the microplastic was established to be the polythene-based plastic cutting board the food was cut on. More microplastic contamination was found in food cut from the bone than in cut fillets when the fillets themselves were prepared on surfaces other than plastic. Washing the fish and chicken before food preparation decreased but did not completely remove the microplastic contamination. The fate of the microplastic in grilled fish was studied. The mechanical properties of typical plastic cutting boards commercially used in the markets were investigated in the form of tensile, hardness, and wear tests. Overall, the plastic cutting boards showed similar wear rates.

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Microplastics as plastic pieces of ≤5 mm in size, are found in most ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic. Many of the microplastics find their way into the environment through the wastewater. For this reason, a knowledge of the microplastic retainment performance of wastewater treatment plants of various design is important. In this regard, several wastewater treatment processes have been studied, including new methods that are still at the development stage. This manuscript reviews the literature on such wastewater treatment methods and their ability to retain microplastics.

Roadsides and soil have been sampled for microplastic content in 7 locations in the Al Ain area, Eastern Region, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The collection sites constituted residential areas and fall-out roads, but also one Wadi and the shoreline of a man-make lake. The concentration of micro-tire particles was found to be high on the roadsides of the residential areas. While a significant amount of tire macroparticles could be found on the roadsides of fall-out roads, these exhibited less micro-tire particles. Here, significant amounts of micro-tires could be found off-road, along the fallout roads, indicating, in absence of run-off water, Aeolic transport of the particles. The Wadi and the lakeshore sites were essentially free of micro-tires, but in all sites, microfibers were found. Collection of run-off water from roads during a rare rainstorm event showed transport of plastic microparticles both into the storm drains as well as to the adjacent soil. High surface temperatures and extreme aridity in the summer leads to the evaporation of small organic additives from the plastic materials leaving them dry and brittle. This leads to easy further mechanical fragmentation of the particles.