**3.1 Personal care products**

*Emerging Contaminants*

cumulative effect in the food chain [16].

in order to fill the lacuna in this regard.

deterioration or fragmentation of larger plastics.

polystyrene, acrylic, polyester are used in industries [24].

**2. Types of microplastics**

**2.1 Primary microplastics**

**2.2 Secondary microplastics**

according to varying size and shape, specific density and composition. Prodigious plastic wastes are easily perceptible [14, 15]. Although microplastics are inconspicuous, their dissemination into the oceans has profound repercussions leading to

Microplastics may pose a risk to aquatic environments due to their documented ubiquity in marine ecosystems, long residence time, and propensity to be ingested by biota. As Microplastics from different sources ultimately reaches water bodies and from here microplastics disperse into surface water, underground water, and benthic sediment, etc. and their bioavailability gets affected [17]. After consumption or ingestion, microplastics can remain in the digestive tracts of aquatic organisms for periods of days to weeks before excretion. The more time of excretion likely allows the transfer of microplastics both up the food web and to new geographic locations. Exposure of individual aquatic organisms to microplastics may negatively impact feeding, growth, reproductive capabilities, or survival [18]. While studies and reviews on plastic pollution in the marine environment are increasingly common, to date, few studies have assessed the sources, fate and impact of microplastics in freshwater as well as marine environment. Thus, the present article has been made

Two primary or foremost types of microplastics are: primary and secondary microplastics. According to Sundt et al. [19] plastics that are instantaneously propagated into the environment compose primary microplastics. They are produced in relatively micro size. Secondary microplastics pioneered from the

Plastic ranging between size of 1 μm and 5 mm are considered primary microplastics. Microplastics are affixed to certain products due to their discrete functions. They are also operated as mordant in cosmetics and soap products and also act as conveyor of pigments. Plastic powder, granulates, pellets are some examples of primary microplastics [1, 20]. Primary microplastics are also used as exfoliates. They are the main protagonist of several day to day products like hand cleaners, toothpastes, face washes [20]. Primary microplastics are also used in dental polishes. If they are not discarded in the efficient way possible, they end up blemishing the environment. Primary microplastics also possess diverse industrial implementations like for gas and oil analysis they are required as drilling fluids, for cleaning metal surfaces to eliminate the paint, rinsing of engines etc. [21–23]. Microplastics like

Repudiated plastic bags or fishing nets, household items and discarded plastics

undergo weathering and photo degradation process and get transfigured into smaller plastic particles, thus constituting secondary microplastics. Abrasion of plastics is manifested by UV light at soil surface and by ocean waves. Secondary microplastics are also fabricated by washing machines [24, 25]. It also includes fragments of textile fiber originated from synthetic fibers, and released during the laundering process [26]. The root sources of secondary microplastics are discarded plastic debris from household items and industrial products. Secondary

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According to Leslie [29] plastic microbeads are utilized as additives in countless cosmetics and personal care products. They act as sorbent as well as exfoliators. Plastic microbeads are incorporated in several cosmetic products such as 350,000 plastic particles were observed in a facial scrub tube in USA [20]. A study from USA also evaluated the presence of 1700-6400 particles of plastic per g in toothpaste [1]. According to Strand [30] toothpaste contains 0.1-0.4% microbeads in accordance with weight, facial scrubs contain around 1.6-3.0%. Facial scrub possesses 0.9-4.2%, exfoliating scrub contains 10.6% and shower gel around 0.5-3.0%. One of the plastic types that are frequently perceived in microplastics is polyethylene (PE). In European country PE plastic microbeads were considered most dominating, with around 4073 tons usage.
