Schematic representation of sources, sinks, and pathways of microplastic transport in the environment: from manufacture to the ocean. Rectangle shapes represent major sources, oval shapes represent major sinks, if underlined it represents a major transport pathway, and black arrows show the fluxes between the different compartments. “*” signifies degradation of microplastics via fragmentation. “^” and “#” signifies adsorption and desorption of organic pollutants from microplastics, respectively. “?” represents an area where there is a significant knowledge gap. “?” are put after what is unknown, i.e., if sorption data is missing, the “?” will follow the “^” or “#”.
Modified from
Figure 1 of: Zhang, Hua. “Transport of Microplastics in Coastal Seas.” Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, vol. 199, 2017, pp. 74–86., doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2017.09.032.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771417307254
Figure 2 of: Horton, Alice A., et al. “Microplastics in Freshwater and Terrestrial Environments: Evaluating the Current Understanding to Identify the Knowledge Gaps and Future Research Priorities.” Science of The Total Environment, vol. 586, 2017, pp. 127–141., doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.190.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717302073
Modified from
Figure 1 of: Zhang, Hua. “Transport of Microplastics in Coastal Seas.” Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, vol. 199, 2017, pp. 74–86., doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2017.09.032.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771417307254
Figure 2 of: Horton, Alice A., et al. “Microplastics in Freshwater and Terrestrial Environments: Evaluating the Current Understanding to Identify the Knowledge Gaps and Future Research Priorities.” Science of The Total Environment, vol. 586, 2017, pp. 127–141., doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.190.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717302073