Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea . Impacts on Marine Environment

n modern life and every day, plastic has become indispensable; in fact, it is enough to look around us to see how plastic is constantly present in our lives. From every?day objects (brushes, combs, toothbrushes, headbands, elastic bands, lunch boxes, clothes, etc.) up to the big industries, plastic has taken over so much so that we talk more and more about the era of plastic. In the 1950s, the boom of plastic as the "material of the future" brought about signifcant changes in the lifestyle of human beings. This material is well suited to the most varied uses, and this led to a large production of plastics. However, on the other hand, unfortunately, over time we have discovered that plastic is a material that is diffcult to dispose of and very refractory to biodegrade; in fact, our oceans and seas have begun to accumulate plastics. Therefore, nowadays, in our "modern life," plastics are ubiquitous! The huge number of plastics that is dumped into our oceans every year, and that recently has increased exponentially, is causing several problems; for example, in some places, the presence of plastic in the water makes it impossible to dive; or in other places, the beaches are so full of plastic litter that it is impossible to see the sand! Several plastic islands are foating in the middle of the ocean, all of which made us understand that plastic litter is causing signifcant harm to the aquatic envi?ronment. Although, as we said above, plastics are refractory to biodegradation, some plastics that reach the seawater are degraded by sunlight and become brittle and fracture, while others are thrown around by waves, ultimately breaking apart into countless tiny colorful pieces, termed microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs); this latter is still unknown in Mediterranean marine ecosystems. Some of these tiny pieces of plastic foat on the surface water, while others sink to the seabed or are carried along by currents, meandering and swirling as they go. Moreover, some industries create microplastics as tiny spheres for use in cosmetics and per?sonal care products. These microscopic plastics once arrived in the sea can mistake for food by marine fauna. Moreover, some toxic chemicals that are present in the sea can be absorbed by MPs and NPs and can concentrate to levels up to one million times higher than that of the surrounding water. If these contaminated MPs and NPs are subsequently consumed by an organism, the contaminants may leach off the v vi microplastics and deliver a dose of toxic chemicals into that organism. If this contaminated organism is then consumed by a predator, the toxic chemicals are also consumed. In the process of biomagnifcation, the toxic chemicals may potentially be transferred to successively higher levels in the food chain, with organisms at higher levels tending to accumulate a substantially greater concentration of toxic chemicals in their tissues. In addition, several authors reported that some kinds of MPs and the NPs can be absorbed by the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and can pass into other body districts, such as muscle, liver, blood, etc