Algal degradation of microplastic from the environment: Mechanism, challenges, and future prospects

Abstract

In the last 150 years, plastic polymers with varying qualities have been produced to replace materials such as wood, glass, and metals in a variety of uses. However, the unique qualities that make plastic so appealing for everyday usage also pose a threat to the planet's long-term viability. Plastics are tough, inert, and, most critically, non-biodegradable. As a result, there has been an exponential rise in the production of plastic garbage, which has subsequently been identified as a global environmental hazard. Plastic garbage has harmed life on Earth, owing to its unwelcome accumulation in landfills, leaching into the soil, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and other factors. Their influence on aquatic habitats is even more destructive, as they induce entanglement, ingestion, and intestinal blockage in aquatic creatures. Microplastics were found in abundance in aquatic habitats, therefore researchers began to investigate how they affected ecosystem processes and food webs. Microalgae–microplastic interactions and their prospective effects on the destinies of both organisms are described in this study. Even while microplastics are capable of interacting with algae, it is not obvious if this interaction is influenced by the surface makeup of the algae or the presence of a “hard” substrate on which organisms might cling and grow, as the literature claims. The current state of knowledge about algae's roles in promoting microplastic breakdown is examined, with a focus on their methods of action and prospective removal strategies.