Advancement and Challenges of Microplastic Pollution in the Aquatic Environment: a Review

As a new persistent environmental pollutant, microplastic pollution has attracted great interest recently. Microplastic particles are distributed widely throughout the world's freshwaters, oceans, and seas, including the water column and sediments reaching as far as the deep sea. However, the practical considerations and protocols for microplastic pollution have, to the best of our knowledge, not been reviewed properly with regard to assessing their distribution, biotoxicity, sampling, and identification in the aquatic environment. In this review, the implications of microplastic pollution, including its wide distribution, biotoxicity threats, sampling, and identification challenges in the , were discussed and evaluated. The challenges and perspective of the related research are also presented to identify knowledge gaps and to prioritize future research needs.