Plastic and Microplastic in the Environment. Группа авторов

crustacean, mollusk, fishes, and birds, etc. Therefore, it is a matter of great concern toward food and nutrient safety and security, as human population is exposed to high concentration of these sea products.

      There is a vast knowledge gap of MP toxicity in the human body due to limited research. However, the main factors behind its toxicity are largely influenced by exposure route, chemical composition, adsorbed contaminants, and susceptibility of organisms. The research on human health is ethically restricted because of biosecurity measures in human‐sample handling. Therefore, we can conclude the information of exposure and possible toxicity by reviewing the possible impacts on other organisms. However, these plastics being smaller size, generally do not pass through the biological system.

To reduce this problem, the first major step taken should be to reduce the length of our food chain, which can reduce the huge consumption of plastic used in packaging and processing the raw foods. This means fresh vegetable and fruits should be directly taken from garden to the kitchen or to the table, which will reduce the environmental exposure as well as the additional wrapping of plastics for their future use. Instead of using mineral water or packaged drinking water which is filled in plastic bottles, metal or glass bottles should be used for this purpose, as this might reduce the additional MPs in them due to leaching from plastic packagings.

Acknowledgements

      The author would like to thank the editors of the book for the kind invitation to write this chapter. I would also like to place on record my thanks to the Department of Environmental Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, for giving me an opportunity to work in the lab of the Department.

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