Microplastics, Volume 5, Issue 1

Microplastics impact coral reefs due to their presence in the water column. This is the case of Ingeniero Reef, which borders the Veracruz-Boca del Rio metropolitan area. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of microplastics in t...

Accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in aqueous environments poses a serious ecological problem nowadays. MP particles are able to adsorb pollutants of different kinds and to transport them to living organisms, leading to biotoxicity. Hence, investiga...

Plastic and microplastic (MP) pollution, along with alien species invasion, are of great concern for natural habitat preservation and human health, and are two important and concomitant likely causes for global biodiversity loss. In the present study...

Microplastics (MPs) are pervasive in marine ecosystems, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying their sublethal effects on zooplankton remain poorly understood. Here, we integrated transcriptomic screening with sequence homology analysis, structural...

The environmental persistence of post-consumer plastics remains a critical challenge due to their chemical stability, the presence of additives, and prior environmental weathering. This study evaluates the partial biodegradation and chemical transfor...

While various disturbances in organisms have been reported following long-term oral exposure to small plastic particles (microplastic particles, MPs), the effects of acute, short-term encounters remain underrepresented in scientific research. In this...

Background: Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly recognized as emerging contaminants in food products, including edible salt. Their presence raises concerns due to potential health impacts and the lack of regulatory frameworks in many countries, incl...

Microplastics (MPs) are a growing environmental concern due to their ubiquitous presence, especially in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where they are transferred and accumulated in sludge and can be reintroduced into the environment through slu...

Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as a growing environmental and food safety concern, with their presence widely reported in aquatic organisms and seafood. However, their occurrence in traditionally processed and fermented fish products remains unexpl...

Synthetic or plastic microfibers (MFs) are an emerging form of microplastic pollution in marine ecosystems, derived from textile degradation and weathering of fishing and aquaculture gear. Despite extensive evidence of MFs in marine organisms, the ef...

Plastic pollution is a global challenge. Despite plastics being complex chemical mixtures, hazard research has focused on particulate forms and the risks of plastic additives, especially for environmental organisms, remain poorly understood. This is...

In recent years, microplastics (MPs) pollution in agricultural soils has increased markedly, largely due to the improper management of plastic mulch films used to improve crop growing conditions. In this context, the present study evaluated the use o...

Tyre and road wear particles (TRWPs) represent one of the most significant yet under-recognised sources of global microplastic pollution, contributing up to 28% of total emissions. Generated from the complex interaction between vehicle tyres and road...

Microplastics (<5 mm) are an increasing concern for environmental and human health, continuously detected in ecosystems worldwide and a variety of human tissues. While health effects remain unclear, experimental studies on microplastic particles h...

Microplastic (MP) pollution represents a significant environmental threat, impacting aquatic ecosystems and human health. This review examines critical elements of MP risk assessment, including exposure pathways, properties (polymer type, size, and s...

Growing concern over the presence of microplastics in food has led to the development of numerous methods for their extraction and analysis. However, many of these methods are time-consuming and limited to specific food types. In this study, we prese...

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are increasingly contaminating atmospheric particulates, yet their influence on PM_2.5 chemistry and toxicity remains poorly understood. This study investigates how secondary MNPs derived from common products (water bott...

Microplastic contamination in aquatic systems in urban areas is a cause for concern due to its ability to move from one location to another. This review investigates microplastic levels across different aquatic environments and its potential transpor...

The environmental degradation of plastics results not only in their mechanical fragmentation into microplastics (MPs), but also in polymer main-chain scission processes, causing continuous leaching and/or volatilization of low-molecular-weight specie...

Plastics are highly persistent materials, and their environmental degradation can potentially exacerbate, rather than alleviate, pollution. The degradation of plastic materials releases toxic monomers and additives, such as bisphenol A (BPA), styrene...

The increasing presence of microplastics (MPs) in wastewater sludge raises concerns about their potential interference with anaerobic digestion (AD), a key process for energy recovery and sludge stabilization. This study investigated the impact of th...

Microplastics (MPs) are persistent environmental pollutants of growing concern, threatening aquatic ecosystems worldwide. This study examined the influence of different pollution sources on the abundance, types, and polymer composition of MPs in two...

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic production and disposal span the entire plastic life cycle, establishing a direct link between plastic pollution and climate change. This review demonstrates that micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) also fu...

This review synthesizes research on mechanisms of microplastic-induced mitochondrial damage, focusing on oxidative stress and inflammation to address the mechanistic pathways linking microplastic exposure to mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular tox...

The increasing production and accumulation of plastic waste, coupled with insufficient recycling practices, contribute to the growing presence of plastic in the environment. Nanoplastic particles are of particular concern, as they pose greater (healt...

Microplastics (MPs) have been detected in aquatic environments worldwide; however, freshwater systems remain underexplored. MPs’ presence has not been reported yet in the Río Bravo/Grande at the Mexico–United States border. In 2022...

Background: Nano- and microplastics (N/MPs) are widespread pollutants in aquatic ecosystems and may interfere with the physiology of diatoms. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Methods: Cultures of the diatom speci...

Synthetic plastics are polymers that are largely produced worldwide, impacting ecosystems and human health. Microplastics are produced from fragmentation and degradation of larger plastics, as a consequence of environmental factors. Low-density polye...

Micro- and nanoplastics represent ubiquitous environmental contaminants with emerging concerns regarding their impact on human health. The gastrointestinal tract is the primary site of contact, where micro- and nanoplastics may interact with the inte...

Saltmarshes have emerged as important sinks for microplastic (MP) pollution, yet little is known about the long-term accumulation and retention mechanisms of MPs in these environments. This study presents the first chronological record of MPs in Medi...

Micro- and nanoplastics are human made environmental contaminants that pose a growing concern for our health, particularly through airborne exposures. Although human autopsy studies confirm that micro- and nanoplastics are retained in lung tissue, ou...

Children are vulnerable to exposure to airborne microplastics (MPs) because of their developing lungs and prolonged time spent indoors. Therefore, this study employed a computational fluid–particle dynamics framework to simulate the posture-dep...

The convergence of global plastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance crises has intensified concerns about the role of microplastics (MPs) in disseminating antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in marine environments. This review synthesizes the mec...

The settling and rising of spherical microplastic particles with different Reynolds numbers, $Re$, were studied using a fully coupled large eddy simulation–discrete element method (LES-DEM) model, where the particles were treated using the immers...

The toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic life is well documented, yet limited information is available on their effects in humans; moreover, most in vitro nanotoxicology studies rely on cancer cells. This study examined the effects of prist...

Data on microplastic contamination in pristine caves are rare, thus limiting our understanding of its pervasiveness in intact underground ecosystems. Here, we quantified microplastics in sediments from two newly discovered, extremely remote caves (Ma...

Microplastics spread through the environment in various ways. Inland waters are an ideal medium for their dispersal, as they collect pollutants from various sources and transport them over long distances. From there, microplastics can enter the marin...

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are a new type of pollutant that are widely present in terrestrial ecosystems due to agricultural plastics, sludge use, deposition, and litter degradation. Plants can absorb them through the soil and atmosphere, with ad...

Development of novel methods for the separation, characterization, and analysis of microplastics is an urgent task. Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) has been proven to be an efficient method for the separation and preconcentration of microplastics...

Plastic has transitioned rapidly from a revolutionary material to a global environmental concern, primarily due to mismanagement. Synthetic polymers have quickly gained widespread use due to their versatility, durability, and affordability. However,...

Microplastic (MP) pollution poses an emerging environmental concern, yet current methods for isolation and quantification are often time-consuming, costly, and poorly adapted to real-world variability. In this study, a workflow for the preparation, f...

Plastic microbeads, widely incorporated into personal care and cleansing products, have emerged as a pervasive contaminant in freshwater systems, including in North America. Historical estimates indicate that North American consumers alone contribute...

Atmospheric deposition of microplastics (MPs) contributes to the contamination of both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Roads show high MP deposition, yet the factors influencing the deposition rate and characteristics (polymer types and sizes)...

The toxic effects of soil heavy metals and microplastics on plants have been extensively documented, with some researchers having conducted studies exploring the combination of these two factors. Preliminary findings indicate that their combined acti...

Microplastic (MP) contamination along coastlines is a globally recognized environmental concern. This paper investigates the seasonal and cross-shore distribution of large and small microplastics (LMPs and SMPs) at four sites along the Ferrara coast...

Nanoplastics (NPs) pose significant risks due to their small size and ability to penetrate biological tissues. However, the molecular pathways and cellular mechanisms affected by NP exposure in marine teleosts remain poorly understood, especially in...

The study investigates the presence of emerging contaminants in a river within a watershed located in the Brazilian semiarid region, specifically within the Caatinga biome, emphasizing the importance of environmental monitoring in areas that have his...

Plastic pollution is a major global challenge, especially nanoplastics (NPs) emerging as harmful pollutants due to their small size, reactivity, and persistence in ecosystems. Among them, cigarette butts composed of cellulose acetate (CA) are one of...

The global proliferation of plastics and their degradation into microplastics (<5 mm) have created a pervasive environmental crisis with severe ecological and human health consequences. Despite the exponential growth in microplastic research over...

Microplastics (MPs) are recognised as emerging vectors for hydrophobic organic contaminants in aquatic environments due to their relatively large surface area and the diversity of their polymer chemistries compositions. This study investigates the so...