Entry of the Microplastics in Food Chain and Food Web

The increased reliance on plastic products in day-to-day life has resulted in massive buildup of plastic waste in every ecosystem. Microplastics include plastic materials with size ranging from 1 micron to 5 mm and being the persistent and globally pervasive pollutants, microplastics pose considerable risk to ecosystems, biota, and food webs. Microplastics have been reported from freshwater, land, sea, and biota and are unequally distributed showing the highest concentrations in bio-productive seas, coastal waters, and subtropical gyres. The characteristics of microplastics, i.e., detection capability, motility, and relative concentrations, feeding strategy of organisms, and geographical overlap affect the encounter rate of microplastics and biota. Trophic transfer, inhalation, ingestion, and entanglement are the main routes by which microplastics enter the food webs. Several invertebrates, bivalves, crabs, and small fish have been reported to ingest microplastics, which are then transferred across the food chain and food web. Microplastics are also considered the carriers of pathogens and toxic chemicals. Numerous research studies have reported that microplastics negatively affect living organisms, i.e., reproductive reduction, feeding disruption, disturbed metabolism, and intestinal damage. Microplastics are also known to translocate, bioaccumulate, and release toxic chemicals into the body. This chapter focuses on the sources, entry, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of microplastics in food chains and food webs in various ecosystems.