Table 1.
Sources, chemical composition, shape, size, and the location position of the main commonly used microplastics
| Source | Composition and structure | Location | Reference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical composition | Shape | Size | |||
| Shower gels | Polyethylene | Irregular shapes | 422 ± 185 μm | Beijing, China supermarkets | Lei et al. (2017) |
| Facial cleansers | Polyethylene | Spherical and irregular shapes | Higher than 0.5 mm | New Zealand supermarkets | Fendall and Sewell (2009) |
| Car tyres | Polypropylene/acrylic/nylon/rubber | Fragment/fibre | Higher than 500 μm | Queensland's Gold Coast | Ziajahromi et al. (2020) |
| Beverage products | Polyamide/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene/poly(ester-amide)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) | Fibres/fragments | 0.1–3 mm | Supermarket (Walmart) of Mexico City, Mexico | Zhou et al. (2021) |
| Facial scrubs | Polyethylene/polyvinyl chloride | Spherical/irregular/granular | 85 to 186 μm | Mainland China | Cheung and Fok (2017) |
| Textile industrial area | Polyester | Fibre | 0.1–1 mm | Shaoxing city, China | Deng et al. (2020a) |
| Cosmetic products | Polyethylene | Irregular/granular/spherical | 54–115 μm | United Arab Emirates | Habib et al. (2020) |
| Plastic mulch | Polyester, polypropylene | Fibre/fragment/foam/film | Higher than 500 μm | Qinghai-Tibet plateau, west of China | Feng et al. (2021) |
| Industrial sources | Polyethylene/nylon/polypropylene | Films/fragments/lines/granules/sheets/lines | 0.5–1.0 mm | Northwestern Pacific Ocean | Hou et al. (2021) |
| Mariculture activities | Polyester/polypropylene/polyethylene/polyamide (nylon)/polystyrene/polyoxymethylene/polyetherurethane/polybutylene terephthalate | Fragments/flakes/ fibre/foam | Less than 0.25 mm | Maowei Sea, China | Anderson et al. (2017) |
| Fishing and shipping activities | Ionomer surlyn/acrylic (acryl fibre)/polyetherimide/polyphenylene sulphide/ethylene vinyl alcohol/acrylonitrile/nylon/polyisoprene/polyvinyl chloride/ethylene–vinyl acetate/polyurethane | Fibre/pellet/fragment | 1489 ± 1017 μm | Port Blair Bay, Andaman Islands | He et al. (2022) |
| Anthropogenic activity | Polystyrene/polyethylene/polypropylene | Fibre/styrofoam/fragment/film/pellet | Less than 0.5 mm | Three Gorges Reservoir, China | Bui et al. (2020) |
| Personal care products/facial cleansers/sewage sludge | Polystyrene/polyester/amino thermoset plastic/polyallyl di glycol carbonate | Fragment/pellet/foam/film/line | 0.355–0.999 mm | The Laurentian Great Lakes of the USA | Huang et al. (2021a) |
| Urban sewage | Polyethylene/polystyrene/polypropylene | Fragment/lines/ foam/film | 1–4.75 mm | The Southern Caspian Sea Coasts | Ryan (2015) |
| Industrial areas | Polyester/nylon | Fibre/foam/ Fragment | 50 μm to 2000 μm | Ciwalengke River, Indonesia | Wang et al. (2020a) |
| Fishery activities and human domestic sewage/ building industry | Polyvinylchloride/polyethylene/polyamide | Fibres/pellets/films/fragments | less than 0.5 mm | Nanxun Reef in Nansha Islands, South China Sea | Zhang et al. (2021a) |
| Urbanisation | Polyethylene/polypropylene | Pellets/fragments/film/line/foam | 0.3–4.75 mm | Southwest coast of India | Cózar et al. (2015) |
| Industrial area | Polyethylene/polypropylene/nylon | Fibres/fragments | 0.1–5 mm | Northern shores of the United Arab Emirates | Sharma et al. (2021) |
| Industrial activities | Polyethylene/polyethylene terephthalate/polyester/poly(vinyl stearate)/polypropylene/cellulose | Fragment/fibre/pellet | 1001–2000 mm | The Karasu River Erzurum, Turkey | Brandon et al. (2020) |
| Tertiary industry | Polyethylene/polypropylene/polyacrylonitrile/polyethylene terephthalate | Fragment/fibre/film | 500 μm to 5 mm | Tourist city in China | Van Emmerik et al. (2018) |
| Sludge and wastewater treatment plants | Polyamide (i.e. nylon)/polyethylene/polypropylene | Fragment/fibre/film/granule | 0.003–0.05 mm | The Persian Gulf | Xiang et al. (2022) |
| Anthropogenic activity | polypropylene/polyethylene terephthalate/polyamide(nylon)/polystyrene/polyethylene | Fibre/film/pellet/granular | Less than 2 mm | Wuhan, China | Matsuguma et al., (2017); Hipfner et al. (2018); Caron et al. (2018) |
| Local inputs/ocean transport | Polypropylene/polyester/polyester/polyethylene | Fibre/flake/film/granule | 2.0–2.5 mm | Antarctic seawater | Schymanski et al. (2018) |
| Artificial ecosystems | Polyethylene/rayon/polypropylene | Fibre/flake/film/granule | Less than1 mm | Southwestern China | Čulin and Bielić, (2016) |
| Domestic, agriculture effluent, industry, upstream inflow, and airborne settlement | Polyethylene terephthalate/polyethylene/polypropylene/polystyrene/polycarbonate/polyvinyl chloride/cellulose propionate/polyamide/ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer | Pellets/fragments | 0.05–5 mm | Xiangjiang river, China | Alomar et al. (2016) |
| Plastic industries | polypropylene/polyester/nylon/polystyrene | Fibre/line/spherule/fragment/granule/film | Less than 0.5 mm | South Yellow Sea, China | Rochman (2018) |
| Commercial fish species | Polyethylene terephthalate/polyethylene/polypropylene/polyamide/phthalocyanine | Fibres/fragments | Higher than 215 μm | Seri Kembangan, Malaysia | Karbalaei et al. (2019) |
| Anthropogenic activities | Polyethylene terephthalate/cellulose acetate/ polyvinyl chloride/polypropylene/polyethylene | Fibres/spheres/fragments | Higher than or equal to 1 to less than10 μm, | Drinking water treatment plants, the Úhlava River (Czech Republic) | Naji et al. (2017) |
The size and shape differ greatly depending on the microplastic source and type.