Status of Microplastic Pollution in the Offshore of China and Its Biotoxicity and Control Suggestions

As a new type of pollutants, microplastics is harmful to the ecological environment and human health and thus has attracted great attention from scholars at home and abroad. The offshore waters is one of the main collection areas of microplastics and faces a huge threat of microplastic pollution. To understand the status of microplastic pollution in the offshore of China and the hazards posed by microplastics to marine ecosystems, the pollution status of microplastics in the offshore waters and sediments and the studies of microplastic biotoxicity in recent years are analyzed comprehensively. The results indicate that the microplastic pollution in the offshore waters and sediments of China is in a state of medium-to-low and moderate degrees, respectively. It is meanwhile found that the microplastics has toxic effects on multiple biological species in marine ecosystems, such as planktons, benthos and swimming organisms, being shown specifically by harm to the feeding, circulatory, immune and reproductive systems of marine life. According at the current pollution level and research status of microplastics, some prevention and control and research suggestions are put forward for reference.