Microplastic Pollution in Inland Waters Focusing on Asia

Abstract

The presence of microplastics in marine environment is increasingly reported and has been recognized as an issue of emerging concern that might adversely affect wildlife and cause potential risk to the health of marine ecosystems. In addition, preliminary works demonstrated that microplastics are ubiquitously present in many inland waters with concentrations comparable or higher than those observed in marine environments. Asia is the most populous continent in the world, and most Asian countries are under rapid development while facing serious environmental problems. In this chapter, we review the available literature reporting on the occurrence of microplastics in inland waters in Asia. Limited works have provided basic information on the occurrence, distribution, and properties of microplastics in lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries in Asia. Comparison with data from other regions worldwide suggests that microplastic pollution in inland waters in Asia can be more serious. These preliminary results call for more research efforts to better characterize the sources, fate, effects, and risks of microplastics in inland waters. Extensive and in-depth studies are urgently needed to bridge the knowledge gaps to enable a more comprehensive risk assessment of microplastics in inland waters and to support the development of policy addressing this issue.

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

“…Reddy et al [59]) and may exclude those in the submicron size ranges. The environmental occurrence and sources of MPs in freshwater matrices in an African, Asian, and European context are further discussed in Dris et al [51], Wu et al [60], Khan et al [61], respectively.…”

Microplastics in sediment from Skudai and Tebrau river, Malaysia: a preliminary study

“…To date, only a few studies have reported the occurrence of microplastics in freshwater as compared to marine environment [1,2]. However, different patterns of these studies can be perceived, particularly in rivers, where the research scopes depend on the obtainability of the environmental or biological matrices in a particular location, its seasonality (temporally) and also spatial distributions.…”

Toward Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for Asia

“…Asia is one of the leading regions for plastics production, accounting for nearly half of the world's production (Wu et al 2017). Accordingly, the input of plastic wastes from East Asia into the adjacent ocean was estimated as the highest in the world (Jambeck et al 2015).…”