Microplastic–Pharmaceuticals Interaction in Water Systems

Microplastics, MPs, in aquatic environments pose serious threats when associated with other pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals, PHs. This review is a continuation of an earlier paper on the role of MPs as containers and carriers of heavy metals, HMs, persistent organic pollutants, POPs, pharmaceuticals, PHs, and personal care products, PCPs, in marine environments and published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. The current effort aims to elucidate the most recent data on the interaction and association of MPs with PHs and the ecotoxicological implications on food webs. This review focuses on the nature of the interaction from different perspectives, such as the hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of the polymer and drug, the polymer surface, and the rate of weathering. The effects of environmental conditions, such as mechanical stress, photodegradation, pH, salinity, dissolved organic matter, and gastrointestinal features of marine biota, were reported. This review reports on experimental laboratory, mathematical, and field data on MPs’ carrier and accumulation role in PHs and their release and ecotoxicological effects on water bodies. From the survey of the data, it emerges that the nature of the interaction and the effects on biota are very complex and variable, and perhaps only a systematic mechanic approach of data collection with a statistical approach using big data and deep learning will contribute in the future to clarify.