ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of particulate plastics as a source and sink for heavy metal(loid)s in the environment. Particulate plastics in the terrestrial and aquatic environments are a group of synthetic polymer fragments or beads ranging in diameter from roughly 5 mm down to the nano-meter scale. The accumulated particulate plastics in soil can be transported to the aquatic environment through soil erosion, which is one of the main processes that allows the transport of particulate plastics from the terrestrial to the aquatic ecosystem. Heavy metal(loid)s are elements that have properties in between metals and non-metals. Particulate plastics impact the dynamics of metal(loid)s in terrestrial and aquatic environments through both acting as a source and sink for metal(loid)s. In environmental toxicology, the “source” can be defined where pollution is emitted to the environment, or where the pollution originates. Particulate plastics act as a “source” when they release a pollutant into the environment.
