Publisher's Synopsis
The term white pollution describes the various types of large number of plastics products in the ecosystem worldwide. Because plastics material and its by-products are difficult to degrade, they remained constantly present in the soils, water bodies and in the atmosphere. Persistent plastic materials undergo fragmentation and dispersion through currents and wind, which also leads to their limited degradation. As a result, marine, soils and atmospheric environments worldwide contain an abundance of plastic particles. In contrast to the effects of ingestion or entanglement observed in larger organisms, the interaction between microorganisms and plastics is distinctly different. Plastics serve as habitats and swiftly attract dense biofilms composed microorganisms on their surfaces, known as the "Plastisphere" This Plastisphere represents a portion of the global ecosystem characterized by floating plastic debris and the associated microbes and other organisms.
Plastisphere may deplete phosphorus, stripping it away from other organisms. Additionally, the plastisphere could act as a reservoir for the transmission of human diseases since fish and shellfish consume minute plastic fragments harboring Vibrio and cholera-like bacteria, leading to foodborne illnesses. Due to the long persistence of plastic, microbes within the plastisphere can be transported over significant distances, presenting a potential source of invasive species. If these microbes are transferred across various ecosystems within the ocean, air, and soil, they could impact native microbial populations and the larger organisms that depend on them. Additionally, the plastisphere has the potential to modify plastic debris, which can alter its impact on an ecosystem, making it either more or less harmful. As a society, we acknowledge that plastic marine debris poses a predicament. However, we lack solutions to even the most basic inquiries, such as the quantity and nature of plastic present in the ocean, soils, air and their origin. The microorganisms that constitute the plastisphere may influence the destiny and repercussions of plastic within marine ecosystems. Microscopic and molecular sequence data demonstrate that the plastisphere is composed of primary producers, heterotrophs, symbionts, and predators. The interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria are crucial for facilitating the ecological cycles of the Earth and shaping the structure of food webs in the oceans. This interconnection between autotrophic organisms and other microorganisms is also evident within the plastisphere.
This book publication going by the available facts and global trends of plastics production, therefore addresses the new emerging occurrence, distribution and degradation of marine white plastisphere, plastisphere in soil plant uptake and the role in food security and the sources, prevalence and effects of the atmospheric plastisphere to humans and other organisms.
