Research Information System
3RD WORLD CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE LIFE SCIENCES, İstanbul, Turkey, 19 October 2021, pp.39-56
Plastic debris smaller than 5 mm, which is forrned as a result of physical and chemical
decomposition
of plastic waste, is defined as microplastic. Microplastics can be found in aquatic environments as
primary and secondary sources. Primary microplastics occur as a result of conscious consumption of
products containing microplastics produced in industries. Secondary microplastics, on the other
hand, are forrned by the degradation of plastic wastes released into the aquatic environrnent or
the environment over time. It is known that additives that can be harrnful to living things such as
bisphenol A (BPA), heavy metals (such as lead, copper, cadrnium, ete.), phthalates are used in
plastics in order to increase the strength and produce products with the desired properties. In
addition, plastics are lipophilic and can adsorb and carry various pesticides and persistent
organic pollutants (POPs) on their surfaces. When the environments in which microplastics are
examined in recent years, the presence of microplastics in various marine habitats is mentioned.
These can be listed as water column, sea sediments, deep sea regions, polar region and sea ice.
When the coastal and gulf regions are evaluated, it has been revealed that the pollution status and
the characterization of microplastics are at lower levels. Microplastics pose a great danger to the
environment and health due to their properties such as containing additives, adsorbing toxic
pollutants, being swallowed by living things as food, not being completely removed in wastewater
treatment plants, being easily transported in the atmosphere and water resources, and being
difficult to disappear in nature. Pollutions occurring in aquatic ecosystems also affect the
sediment layer at the base of these structures. Although high density microplastics such as
polyvinylchloride, polyester and polyamide accumulate in the sediments, the turbulence caused by
the currents can cause these microplastics on the sea floor to be suspended and dispersed again
along the water column. Therefore, in addition to detecting microplastics, removing them from these
environrnents is an extremely important issue. When the studies are examined, it is seen that there
is no standard procedure for the detection of microplastics. In addition, most of the studies
discussed only focused on the detection methods of microplastics and there is no definitive method
for removal methods, especially for the sediment environment. Within the scope of this study, it is
aimed to investigate the microplastic removal methods in the sediment environment and to compare
the suitability of the methods.