• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.442-451
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• 2021

Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic with a size less than 5 mm. Ocean pollution by microplastics is now a worldwide concern in relation to marine ecosystems and human health. The widespread contamination by microplastics means that they can be ingested by and accumulated in diverse species of wildlife, such as fish, mussels, oysters, clams, and scallops. Once ingested, the microplastics can be observed in the intestines, liver, and kidney, and even in the brain. Seafood is one of the major sources of protein intake in humans; therefore, seafood consumption could be pathway for human microplastics exposure. Accumulating evidence indicates that repeated oral exposure to microplastics induces pathologic and functional changes in the reproductive, cardiac, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and even nervous systems of rodents. Maternal exposure to microplastics during gestation and lactation alters metabolic homeostasis in the offspring. Given that seafood provides more than 20% of the total protein intake by over 310 million people worldwide, a reasonable assumption is that microplastics could be substantially accumulated in the human body and impair physiological function. In this review, we have summarized the current status of microplastics contamination in the ocean, their accumulation and toxicities in marine animals and rodents, their exposure to humans, and their potential impacts on human health.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.68-77
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• 2023

In this study, we investigated the quantitative distribution of microplastics in the surface seawater at 8 points near the Taean Peninsula using fluorescence staining. The study revealed a detection range of microplastics from 0 to 360.5 particles/l, with an average of 149.7 ± 46.0 particles/l. When classifying the microplastics by size, it was found that particles smaller than 50 ㎛ were dominant, although there were differences at Site 3. Moreover, it was not possible to identify clear correlations when comparing the number of microplastics based on collection area and particle size. Various physical and chemical factors, including plastic material, dynamic ocean conditions (such as currents, wind, waves, tides), geological characteristics (topography, slope), sediment materials including coastal organisms, human activities (fishing, development, tourism), and weather conditions (floods, rainfall), affect the behavior of microplastics. Therefore, future efforts should focus on standardizing quantitative analysis methods and conducting fundamental research on microplastic monitoring, including the analysis of environmental factors.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.223-236
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate pre-service elementary teachers' awareness on the sources of microplastics. The participants were 75 male and 91 female undergraduates. A 15-item survey questionnaire was developed based on prior researches regarding microplastics emission sources and were modified through expert review and preliminary research. The survey results show that over 80% of the respondents had heard of microplastics before through news, internet, TV, etc. However, they tended not to be aware that things such as lab coats, wet tissue, dust protective mask, or paper cup were made of microplastics-causing substances. For the questions on the expected situation of microplastics contamination, the frequency of their choices were relatively low in 'Tires of cars running are worn out' and 'The gum stuck to the floor becomes smaller.' These results show that many of them were not aware that synthetic fiber or synthetic rubber was one of the microplastics emission sources. Gender differences were found in the attitudes toward microplastics problems. Female students are more interested in the issues and are more willing to participate in the solution, and recognize the need for more education on microplastics. The implications and future directions for science education were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.625-639
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• 2019

Microplastics are one of the substances threatening the marine ecosystem. Here, we summarize the status of research on the effect of microplastics on marine life and suggest future research directions. Microplastics are synthetic polymeric compounds smaller than 5 mm and these materials released into the environment are not only physically small but do not decompose over time. Thus, they accumulate extensively on land, from the coast to the sea, and from the surface to the deep sea. Microplastic can be ingested and accumulated in marine life. Furthermore, the elution of chemicals added to plastic represents another risk. Microplastics accumulated in the ocean affect the growth, development, behavior, reproduction, and death of marine life. However, the properties of microplastics vary widely in size, material, shape, and other aspects and toxicity tests conducted on several properties of microplastics cannot represent the hazards of all other microplastics. It is necessary to evaluate the risks according to the types of microplastic, but due to their variety and the lack of uniformity in research results, it is difficult to compare and analyze the results of previous studies. Therefore, it is necessary to derive a standard test method to estimate the biological risk from different types of microplastics. In addition, while most of the previous studies were conducted mostly on spheres for the convenience of the experiments, they do not properly reflect the reality that fibers and fragments are the main forms of microplastics in the marine environment and in fish and shellfish. Furthermore, studies have been conducted on additives and POPs (persistent organic pollutants) in plastics, but little is known about their toxic effects on the body. The effects of microplastics on the marine ecosystems and humans could be identified in more detail if standard testing methods are developed, microplastics in the form of fibers and fragments rather than spheres are tested, and additives and POPs are analyzed. These investigations will allow us to identify the impact of microplastics on marine ecosystems and humans in more detail.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.344-353
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• 2021

Juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus (mean weight 66.7±7.1 g; mean length 19.2±0.9 cm) in a bio-floc environment were exposed to microplastic (PE: polyethylene, size 40-48 ㎛) at 0, 4, 20, 100, 500 and 2,500 mg L^-1 for 96 hours. No P. olivaceus deaths were observed following microplastic exposure. In the plasma components, calcium was significantly decreased whereas there was no significant change with magnesium following microplastic exposure. Glucose was significantly decreased with over 100mg L^-1 at 48 hours and 20mg L^-1 at 96 hours. Cholesterol was significantly decreased with over 20mg L^-1 after 48 hours, whereas there was no significant change in the total protein content. In enzymatic plasma components, the AST(Aspartate aminotransferase) was significant decreased by microplastic exposure. The results of this study indicate that acute exposure to microplastic induces blood physiological changes in P. olivaceus.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.508-515
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• 2020

This study examined the research trends of "Microplastic in food" with a scholar databaseusing the centrality analysis method. The data was based on research papers published from 2011 to 2020, sorted by "microplastic" and "food". The centrality analysis methodology(Degree centrality, Closeness centrality, Betweenness centrality) was applied, followed by a keyword-based frequency occurrence analysis. The results suggested that more than 30% of the total keywords were related to "marine" and "pollution". Therefore, research on the effects of microplastic pollution on the ecosystem had mainly been conducted. On the other hand, only 6% of the keywords were related to "toxicity" and "ingestion". Hence,the number of studies on microplastic exposure caused by bioaccumulation or food are still insufficient. These results can be used to provide directions for future research, as well as provide basic data for political decision-making on the environmental hazards of microplastic.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2022

The amount of the plastic waste has been increasing according to global demand for plastic. Microplastics are the most hazardous among all plastic pollutants due to their toxicity and unknown physicochemical properties. This study investigates the optimal methodology that can be applied to sewage samples for detecting microplastics before discussing reducing microplastics in MWTPs. In this study, the effect of different pretreatment methods while detecting microplastic analysis of MWTP influent samples was investigated; the samples were collected from the J sewage treatment plant. There are many pretreatment methods but two of them are widely used: Fenton digestion and hydrogen peroxide oxidation. Although there are many pretreatment methods that can be applied to investigate microplastics, the most widely used methods for sewage treatment plant samples are Fenton digestion and H₂O₂ oxidation. For each pretreatment method, there were factors that could cause an error in the measurement. To overcome this, in the case of the Fenton digestion pretreatment, it is recommended to proceed with the analysis by filtration instead of the density separation method. In the case of the H₂O₂ oxidation method, the process of washing with distilled water after the reaction is recommended. As a result of the analysis, the concentration of microplastics was measured to be 2.75ea/L for the sample using the H₂O₂ oxidation method and 3.2ea/L for the sample using the Fenton oxidation method, and most of them were present in the form of fibers. In addition, it is difficult to guarantee the reliability of measurement results from quantitative analysis performed via microscope with eyes. A calibration curve was created for prove the reliability. A total of three calibration curves were drawn, and as a result of analysis of the calibration curves, all R² values were more than 0.9. This ensures high reliability for quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis could determine the series of microplastics flowing into the MWTP, but could not confirm the chemical composition of each microplastic. This study can be used to confirm the chemical composition of microplastics introduced into MWTP in the future research.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 2023

Microplastic particles are ubiquitous in the environment and not standardized particles of size, shape, or type. Therefore, it is very limited to establish a risk assessment framework that accurately evaluated and manage the multi-dimension of marine environment including seawater and sediment based on toxic data. In the study, we review the characteristics and effects of marine environmental microplastic and suggest risk assessment framework (draft) based on the distribution and impact of marine environmental microplastics. Although, the characteristics of environmental microplastic are very widely but the most abundant toxic data are concentrated on unique shape and type, and there are also large gaps of test organism between laboratory-exposed organisms and resident species. Great limitations with respect to toxicity data quality also exist for traditional effect assessment methods, which in reliability of the resulting risk characterizations. However, considering the fact that the international community's movement on microplastics management is gradually strengthening and the pollution level of microplastics in marine environment is increasing, further research on environmental relevant risk assessment technique should be proposed based on the characteristics of microplastics in the marine environment.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-30
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• 2022

This study is to investigate consumers' acceptance and their willingness to pay for clothes made of materials with low microplastic emissions as an alternative to synthetic fibers made of plastics by applying the contingent valuation method. A nationwide web-based survey was conducted for 1,052 respondents proportional to region, age, and gender during February 2021. More than 75% of the sample expressed intentions to purchase microplastic emission-reducing clothing instead of synthetic fiber clothing, and more than 80% of them have stated their willingness to pay for additional prices. A variation of Heckman's sample selection model was adopted to estimate factors affecting respondents' intentions to pay for additional prices, in which the probit model of intentions to purchase the clothing with alternative materials was used as a sample selection equation. While respondents were sensitive to the amounts of price increases suggested in the CV scenario, they expressed high acceptance and preferences for eco-friendly materials regardless of the microplastic emission-reducing levels. Consumers in the circular economy were willing to pay for the range of 41,000 to 51,000 won for a pair of clothing made with microplastic emission-reducing materials. In addition, as the microplastic emission-reducing rate has increased from 50% to 80%, the willingness to pay estimates were also significantly increased, ranging from 41,000~50,500 to 42,000~51,700 won.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.360-367
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• 2020

In this study, the accumulation and distribution routes of microplastics in soil environment were examined, and their analytical methodologies were summarized. Density separation and removal process of inhibition materials were introduced for the separation of microplastics in soil and the basic principles and limitations of quantitative and qualitative analyses including pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry, µ-Raman spectrometry, fourier transform infrared spectrometry, and microscopes were investigated. Chemical extraction methods for the analysis of mediated hazardous substance (additives and sorbed matters) in microplastics were also discussed with focusing on in vitro bioaccessibility assay for the human oral exposure route. Based on the described methodologies for the analysis of microplastics in soil, it is expected that these methods enable to select appropriate analysis techniques in consideration of medium state, contamination level and sample quantity.