4 , 202 1 No. 7 er Vol. p a P view Re Industries (JJECI) Chemical Engineering and of nal r Jordanian Jou 11 Microplastics in Wastewater and Environmental Aspects Mohammed Matouq * , Nina Jildeh Al-Balqa Applied University, Chemical Engineering Department, Amman, P.O. Box 4486, 11131, Jordan. Abstract Several research studies focused on understanding the source, distribution, fate, and impact of microplastics in the environment. This article presents the source of microplastics in the environment and the degradation process phenomena under environmental conditions. The changes in physicochemical properties of microplastics can be analysed by several techniques, such as Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), pyrolysis-gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy (PyrGC/MS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition to the impact of plastic concentrations in the environment and the consequence on wildlife population and human health and development and enhancement, the usage of biopolymers under environmental aspects. Paper type: Review paper Keywords: Polymeric material, health, environmental impact, risks, hazards. Citation: Matouq, M., and N., Jildeh“Microplastics in Wastewater and Environmental Aspec”, Jordanian Journal of Engineering and Chemical Industries, Vol. 7, No.1, pp: 11-22 (2024). Introduction The rapid increase of plastic produced since the 1940s and widely risen from 348 million tonnes in 2017 to 359 million tonnes in 2018, with a 3.0 % increase compared to 2017 (PlasticsEurope, 2019). Figure 1 presents the global plastic distribution in Asia (51%), NAFTA (18%), Europe (17%), Middle East and Africa (7%), Latin America (4%), and CIS (3%). Microplastics refer to polymers including thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, and water-soluble that are less than 5mm in diameter. Plastic materials will be transported and distributed between environmental compartments (Lambert and Wagner, 2018). Furthermore, the global increase in demand for consumer-use plastics leads to a high accumulation of plastics in the future marine environment. Usually, microplastics get into the ecosystem through facial cleaners, synthesis clothing, toothpaste, and scrubs (primary microplastics), as well as, large plastics can be broken into smaller fragments, pellets or fibres (secondary microplastics) and are also transported to the environment (Auta et al., 2017; da Costa et al., 2017). Over the past decades, several studies have been focusing on the effect of microplastics on the marine environment. The main potential toxicological effects are due to the presence of microplastics in marine environments. These impacts were due to either direct effects of microplastic exposure and/or indirect effects associated with chemicals and light for microplastic degradation. Microplastics are mostly found in the form of primary and secondary microplastics. Microplastics have been widely distributed in Asia (36%; 42.1% China of Asia), Europe (38%; 29.1% UK of Europe), North America (12%), South America (7%), Australia (4%), Africa (2%) and Antarctica (1%) presented in Figure 2 (Ajith et al., 2020; Bayo et al., 2020; Everaert et al., 2018; Figueiredo and Vianna, 2018; Lebreton et al., 2017). Studies have reported that microplastics are mainly composed of various polymeric materials like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon, and polyethene terephthalate (PET), which are likely to sink, whereas polyethene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) which are more likely to float (Auta et al., 2017; Avio et al., 2016; Carr et al., 2016). * Corresponding author: E-mail: matouq@bau.edu.jo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2497-2117 Received on February 14, 2024. Accepted on March 12, 2024. Jordanian Journal of Engineering and Chemical Industries (JJECI), Vol.7, No.1, 2023, pp: 11-22. Revised: March, 14, 2024. © The author