ABSTRACT
Plastic production is escalating tremendously throughout the globe, and the reason behind this is its durability and multipurpose utility. But there is a severe scarcity of its management. Tonnes of plastics are dumped into water bodies across the world. These plastics breakdown because of different reasons and results in the plastic debris of size <5 mm, termed as microplastics (MPs), which are hazardous to aquatic life. They are a potential source of toxins as they offer a large surface area to various chemicals present in the water body. When these MPs are ingested by fishes, it causes serious health issues, leading to mortality of the fishes. Therefore, we comprehensively reviewed the sources of MPs in freshwater systems and its various types and how they get accumulated inside the bodies of fishes. We found that fishes ingest these particles by mistaking them for food or accumulate these particles by consuming from lower trophic organisms. Some of the commonly studied MPs are PE, PS and PVC, examined from the bodies of fishes. MPs can cause various ecotoxicological effects on fishes like behavioral change, cytotoxicity, neurotoxicity effects and liver stress. Our review study finds that there is a paucity of information on the accumulation of MPs by freshwater fishes, and there are very few studies on its effects. Also, there is a debate whether or not this accumulation is subjected to the bio-magnification process which ultimately affects human life.
