Plastics and microplastics: A threat to environment

Plastics are synthetic polymer compound mostly made from petrochemical sources, such compound has high molecular mass and plasticity and certain chemicals are added to increase the performance and efficiency of the products. Plastics size less than 5 mm are categorized as Microplastics and it is one of the greatest potential threat to marine environment for the whole world. There are two types of micro-plastics i.e. primary micro-plastics and secondary micro-plastics. Primary microplastics are the by-products of particulate emissions released from industrial production, the release of plastics dust from plastics products. Secondary microplastics are larger plastic particulate material. These micro-plastics eventually end up in water bodies travelling all the way from rivers to seas or oceans. Microplastic can also act as a pollutant transport medium for other toxic elements such as DDT and hexachlorobenzene and eventually end up within the body of a living organism who consume it. The Government Agencies and Non-government organization of different nations have adopted many policies and laws to curb the harmful effects of plastics and microplastics. A concrete and comprehensive plan should be adopted for zero tolerance against plastics waste and peoples participation is a must to achieve the full success. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.