TY - JOUR
T1 - Microplastics Pollution in Chile
T2 - Current Situation and Future Prospects
AU - Paredes-Osses, Esteban
AU - Pozo, Karla
AU - Opazo-Capurro, Andrés
AU - Bahamonde, Paulina
AU - Cabrera-Pardo, Jaime R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021 Paredes-Osses, Pozo, Opazo-Capurro, Bahamonde and Cabrera-Pardo.
PY - 2021/11/25
Y1 - 2021/11/25
N2 - Millions of tons of plastics enter wild habitats, especially the oceans, every year. Despite extensive efforts, this amount is predicted to increase over in the near future, leading to a catastrophic damage to the environment. Small plastic fragments, including microplastics, are currently widely distributed in different environments and contribute significantly to pollution of the oceans. This problem is particularly poignant in Chile, a country with more than 4,000 km of coastline along the Pacific Ocean home to diverse environments, industrial activities and unique biodiversity. In this review, we compile information regarding microplastics pollution in Chilean environments in terms of transport, distribution and bioaccumulation along the country, societal actions such as environmental policies and education to tackle the plastic problem, and the Trojan effect associated with it. Finally, we identify critical scientific gaps, such as the transport of harmful chemicals and microbial communities associated, and define potential future research directions.
AB - Millions of tons of plastics enter wild habitats, especially the oceans, every year. Despite extensive efforts, this amount is predicted to increase over in the near future, leading to a catastrophic damage to the environment. Small plastic fragments, including microplastics, are currently widely distributed in different environments and contribute significantly to pollution of the oceans. This problem is particularly poignant in Chile, a country with more than 4,000 km of coastline along the Pacific Ocean home to diverse environments, industrial activities and unique biodiversity. In this review, we compile information regarding microplastics pollution in Chilean environments in terms of transport, distribution and bioaccumulation along the country, societal actions such as environmental policies and education to tackle the plastic problem, and the Trojan effect associated with it. Finally, we identify critical scientific gaps, such as the transport of harmful chemicals and microbial communities associated, and define potential future research directions.
KW - Chile
KW - chemical pollution
KW - microbial communities
KW - microplastics
KW - trojan effect
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120872984&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fenvs.2021.796989
DO - 10.3389/fenvs.2021.796989
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85120872984
SN - 2296-665X
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Environmental Science
JF - Frontiers in Environmental Science
M1 - 796989
ER -