
The term white pollution describes the various types of large number of plastics products in the ecosystem worldwide. Because plastics material and its by-products are difficult to degrade, they remained constantly present in the soils, water bodies and in the atmosphere. Persistent plastic materials undergo fragmentation and dispersion through currents and wind, which also leads to their limited degradation. As a result, marine, soils and atmospheric environments worldwide contain an abundance of plastic particles. In contrast to the effects of ingestion or entanglement observed in larger organisms, the interaction between microorganisms and plastics is distinctly different. Plastics serve as habitats and swiftly attract dense biofilms composed microorganisms on their surfaces, known as the "Plastisphere" This Plastisphere represents a portion of the global ecosystem characterized by floating plastic debris and the associated microbes and other organisms. Plastisphere may deplete phosphorus, stripping it away from other organisms. Additionally, the plastisphere could act as a reservoir for the transmission of human diseases since fish and shellfish consume minute plastic fragments harboring Vibrio and cholera-like bacteria, leading to foodborne illnesses. Due to the long persistence of plastic, microbes within the plastisphere can be transported over significant distances, presenting a potential source of invasive species. If these microbes are transferred across various ecosystems within the ocean, air, and soil, they could impact native microbial populations and the larger organisms that depend on them. Additionally, the plastisphere has the potential to modify plastic debris, which can alter its impact on an ecosystem, making it either more or less harmful. As a society, we acknowledge that plastic marine debris poses a predicament. However, we lack solutions to even the most basic inquiries, such as the quantity and nature of plastic present in the ocean,
Page Count:
332
Publication Date:
2025-11-12
ISBN-10:
3031955463
ISBN-13:
9783031955464
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