Microplastics ≈ MicroplasticsMicroplastics
View article: An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling
An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling Open
Over the last 60 years plastics production has increased manifold, owing to their inexpensive, multipurpose, durable and lightweight nature. These characteristics have raised the demand for plastic materials that will continue to grow over…
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Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities Open
Plastic debris is an environmentally persistent and complex contaminant of increasing concern. Understanding the sources, abundance and composition of microplastics present in the environment is a huge challenge due to the fact that hundre…
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Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems Open
Microplastics (plastics <5 mm, including nanoplastics which are <0.1 μm) originate from the fragmentation of large plastic litter or from direct environmental emission. Their potential impacts in terrestrial ecosystems remain largely unexp…
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Microplastics Can Change Soil Properties and Affect Plant Performance Open
Microplastics can affect biophysical properties of the soil. However, little is known about the cascade of events in fundamental levels of terrestrial ecosystems, i.e., starting with the changes in soil abiotic properties and propagating a…
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Oyster reproduction is affected by exposure to polystyrene microplastics Open
Significance Plastics are a contaminant of emerging concern accumulating in marine ecosystems. Plastics tend to break down into small particles, called microplastics, which also enter the marine environment directly as fragments from a var…
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A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health Open
The distribution and abundance of microplastics into the world are so extensive that many scientists use them as key indicators of the recent and contemporary period defining a new historical epoch: The Plasticene. However, the implication…
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Microplastics in the aquatic and terrestrial environment: sources (with a specific focus on personal care products), fate and effects Open
Due to the widespread use and durability of synthetic polymers, plastic debris occurs in the environment worldwide. In the present work, information on sources and fate of microplastic particles in the aquatic and terrestrial environment, …
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Impacts of Microplastics on the Soil Biophysical Environment Open
Soils are essential components of terrestrial ecosystems that experience strong pollution pressure. Microplastic contamination of soils is being increasingly documented, with potential consequences for soil biodiversity and function. Notwi…
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Primary microplastics in the oceans: A global evaluation of sources Open
Plastic has penetrated everyday life: from clothing to coatings and from transport vehicles to cleaning products Plastic is cheap, durable, lightweight and malleable, resulting in a practically unlimited number of possible applications The…
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Marine microplastic debris: An emerging issue for food security, food safety and human health Open
Recent studies have demonstrated the negative impacts of microplastics on wildlife. Therefore, the presence of microplastics in marine species for human consumption and the high intake of seafood (fish and shellfish) in some countries caus…
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Microplastic as a Vector for Chemicals in the Aquatic Environment: Critical Review and Model-Supported Reinterpretation of Empirical Studies Open
The hypothesis that 'microplastic will transfer hazardous hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOC) to marine animals' has been central to the perceived hazard and risk of plastic in the marine environment. The hypothesis is often cited and has …
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Wear and Tear of Tyres: A Stealthy Source of Microplastics in the Environment Open
Wear and tear from tyres significantly contributes to the flow of (micro-)plastics into the environment. This paper compiles the fragmented knowledge on tyre wear and tear characteristics, amounts of particles emitted, pathways in the envi…
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Evidence of microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils from sewage sludge disposal Open
Microplastics are emerging as a steadily increasing environmental threat. Wastewater treatment plants efficiently remove microplastics from sewage, trapping the particles in the sludge and preventing their entrance into aquatic environment…
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White and wonderful? Microplastics prevail in snow from the Alps to the Arctic Open
We detect microplastics in European and Arctic snow, highlighting the importance of atmospheric transport as a pathway.
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Microplastics and human health Open
Knowledge gaps should be addressed to ascertain the health risks of microplastics
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Studies of the effects of microplastics on aquatic organisms: What do we know and where should we focus our efforts in the future? Open
The effects of microplastics (MP) on aquatic organisms are currently the subject of intense research. Here, we provide a critical perspective on published studies of MP ingestion by aquatic biota. We summarize the available research on MP …
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Occurrence, identification and removal of microplastic particles and fibers in conventional activated sludge process and advanced MBR technology Open
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are acting as routes of microplastics (MPs) to the environment, hence the urgent need to examine MPs in wastewaters and different types of sludge through sampling campaigns covering extended periods of t…
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Atmospheric microplastics: A review on current status and perspectives Open
Microplastics have recently been detected in the atmosphere of urban, suburban, and even remote areas far away from source regions of microplastics, suggesting the potential long-distance atmospheric transport for microplastics. There stil…
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A Global Perspective on Microplastics Open
Society has become increasingly reliant on plastics since commercial production began in about 1950. Their versatility, stability, light weight, and low production costs have fueled global demand. Most plastics are initially used and disca…
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A Procedure for Measuring Microplastics using Pressurized Fluid Extraction Open
A method based on pressurized fluid extraction (PFE) was developed for measuring microplastics in environmental samples. This method can address some limitations of the current microplastic methods and provide laboratories with a simple an…
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Atmospheric microplastic deposition in an urban environment and an evaluation of transport Open
Microplastics are a global environmental issue contaminating aquatic and terrestrial environments. They have been reported in atmospheric deposition, and indoor and outdoor air, raising concern for public health due to the potential for ex…
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Arctic sea ice is an important temporal sink and means of transport for microplastic Open
Microplastics (MP) are recognized as a growing environmental hazard and have been identified as far as the remote Polar Regions, with particularly high concentrations of microplastics in sea ice. Little is known regarding the horizontal va…
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Plastics in the Marine Environment Open
Plastics contamination in the marine environment was first reported nearly 50 years ago, less than two decades after the rise of commercial plastics production, when less than 50 million metric tons were produced per year. In 2014, global …
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Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water Open
Eleven globally sourced brands of bottled water, purchased in 19 locations in nine different countries, were tested for microplastic contamination using Nile Red tagging. Of the 259 total bottles processed, 93% showed some sign of micropla…
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A Review of Microplastics in Table Salt, Drinking Water, and Air: Direct Human Exposure Open
The ubiquity of microplastics in aquatic and terrestrial environments and related ecological impacts have gained global attention. Microplastics have been detected in table salt, drinking water, and air, posing inevitable human exposure ri…
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Sampling, isolating and identifying microplastics ingested by fish and invertebrates Open
Microplastic debris (<5 mm) is a prolific environmental pollutant, found worldwide in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. This review assesses the numerous different methods used to identify microplastics ingested by marine orga…
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Plastic pollution in the marine environment Open
Plastic pollution is recognized as a severe anthropogenic issue in the coastal and marine ecosystems across the world. Unprecedented and continuous accumulation of growing plastic contaminants into any respective aquatic ecosystem by the a…
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Impacts of Plastic Pollution on Ecosystem Services, Sustainable Development Goals, and Need to Focus on Circular Economy and Policy Interventions Open
Plastic pollution is ubiquitous in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Plastic waste exposed to the environment creates problems and is of significant concern for all life forms. Plastic production and accumulation in the natural environme…
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Bioavailability and effects of microplastics on marine zooplankton: A review Open
Microplastics are abundant and widespread in the marine environment. They are a contaminant of global environmental and economic concern. Due to their small size a wide range of marine species, including zooplankton can ingest them. Resear…
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Presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, with particular focus on seafood Open
Following a request from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the EFSA Panel for Contaminants in the Food Chain was asked to deliver a statement on the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, with particular …