This review critically analyses >200 papers collected by searching on Pubmed the word “nanoplastics”, a group of emerging contaminants which are receiving growing attention. The present review intends to provide an overview of current knowledge on nanoplastic pollution starting with the theory of polymer degradation, passing to laboratory confirmation of nanoplastic formation and ending with the possible occurrence in sea water samples. Most of the observations proposed focus the attention on polystyrene (PS) because the majority of research knowledge is based on this polymer. Moreover, we thoroughly describe what effects have been observed on different organisms tested in controlled conditions. Nanoplastics formation, fate and toxicity seem to be a very dynamic phenomenon. In light of this, we identify some aspects retained crucial when an ecotoxicological study with nanoplastics is performed and which elements of nanoplastics toxicity could be deeper covered.

这篇评论通过对在Pubmed上搜索“纳米塑料”一词进行严格分析，收集了200余篇论文，这是一组正在受到越来越多关注的新兴污染物。本综述旨在概述从聚合物降解理论开始的有关纳米塑料污染的最新知识，直至实验室对纳米塑料形成的确认，最后以可能在海水样品中发生为结尾。提出的大多数观察结果都将注意力集中在聚苯乙烯（PS）上，因为大多数研究知识都基于这种聚合物。此外，我们彻底描述了在受控条件下测试的不同生物体上观察到了什么影响。纳米塑料的形成，命运和毒性似乎是一个非常动态的现象。有鉴于此，