Table 2.
Prevalence of microplastic in various sources, their compositional types, size, and concentration.
| Prevalence | Source | Polymer type | Size | Concentration | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air | ambient air (outside) | polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polypropylene | 0.004-3 mm | between <1 to >1000 MPs/m3 | (O’Brien et al., 2023) |
| ambient air (inside) | 0.004-0.398 mm | <1 MPs/m3 to 1583 ± 1181 MPs/m3 | (O’Brien et al., 2023) | ||
| rural farmland | polyester, nylon, polyolefin, PTFE, PE | <0.2-4.2 mm | 137 ± 57 MPs/m3 | (Kannan and Vimalkumar, 2021) | |
| Wetland | polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene | 0.005-1 mm | 97 ± 33 MPs/m3 | (Kannan and Vimalkumar, 2021) | |
| Mountain | 2 mm-50 mm | 70 ± 18 MPs/m3 | (Kannan and Vimalkumar, 2021) | ||
| Dust | Deposition concentrations (outdoor) | polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate | 2 mm-50 mm | 0.5 and 1357 MPs/m2/day | (O’Brien et al., 2023) |
| Deposition concentrations (indoor) | <2 mm | 475 to 19,600 MPs/m2/day | (O’Brien et al., 2023) | ||
| Road dust | polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene | 2 mm-50 mm | 477 MPs/g | (O’Brien et al., 2023) | |
| Snow | polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polypropylene | 2 mm-50 mm | between 0.1 and 30,000 MPs/L | (O’Brien et al., 2023) | |
| urban transit station | Cotton, polyester, nylon, polyolefin, PTFE, PE | 2 mm-50 mm | 287 ± 72 MPs/m3 | (Kannan and Vimalkumar, 2021) | |
| Water | Fresh water and drinking water | PE, PP, PS, PVC, PET | 0.1-5.0 mm | 1 × 10−2 to 108/m3 | (Neelavannan and Sen, 2023) |
| Wastewater | 10-5000 µm | 1,000 to 100,000 particles per liter | (Neelavannan and Sen, 2023) | ||
| Lake water | PP, PS, PE | 0.1-5.0 mm | 21 ± 13 particles/L | (Ajay et al., 2021) | |
| Groundwater | 0.1-5.0 mm | 3-23 items/L | (Kannan and Vimalkumar, 2021) | ||
| Bore and well water | PA, PE, PE | 0.1-5.0 mm | Mean 4.2 particles/L | (Selvam et al., 2021) | |
| Food and beverages | Table salt | PET, PP, PE | 100-5000 mm | 5400 particles per kilogram | (Kwon et al., 2020) |
| Fish | EVA, EPDM, PVF, PS, PTFE, PET, PP | 760-6,000 µ | 103 ± 41 to 183 ± 51 particles/fish | (Rubio-Armendáriz et al., 2022) | |
| Beer and soft drinks | PP, PE, polyacrylamide | Not specified | 8-117 particles/L | (Diaz-Basantes et al., 2020) | |
| Soft and energy drinks, beer, cold tea | PET, PA, polyester, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene | 25 µm | 6-28 particles/L | (Smith et al., 2018) | |
| Bottled mineral water | PP, PE, PET, PS, PA, polyester | >100 µm | 3.16 × 107-1.1 × 108 particles/L | (Zuccarello et al., 2019) | |
| Human | Human placenta | PP, PET | 5-10 µm | 12 fragments in 4 placentas | (Ragusa et al., 2021) |
| Lung tissue | PP, PE, PVC, cellulose acetate, polyamide, PS, PU | <5.5 µm | 70 particles per lung | (Amato-Lourenço et al., 2021) |