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Properties and Related Effects of Microplastics in the Aquatic Environment: From the Organismic to Cellular Level
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This review covers the properties of microplastics in aquatic environments — including polymer chemistry, particle size, shape, and surface charge — and how these characteristics determine their biological effects from the cellular to organismal level in aquatic organisms.
Plastics have become an essential part of our everyday life. Over the past decades, increasing plastic production has resulted in a substantial rise in plastic waste, which entered the environment through littering and inadequate waste management. Although the effects of larger plastic items in the environment have been studied for quite a while, research has been focusing on microplastics (MPs) – plastic particles smaller than 1 mm, originating from the fragmentation of larger plastic items, abrasion, or direct release from industrial applications – only since the past two decades. MP particles are a very diverse suite of particles with varying physicochemical properties, which differ in size, shape, polymer type, density, unintentionally or intentionally added chemical compounds or residual monomer content, aging state, surface charge, surface roughness, environmental coating, and biofouling as well as other physicochemical parameters. Once released, this complexity increases even further due to interactions with biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Abiotic interactions are primarily related to exposure to physical or chemical factors that lead to aging such as UV-radiation. Interactions with biotic factors range from the formation of an, depending on the particle size, eco-corona or biofilm on the surfaces of an MP particle to uptake by various organisms, which potentially also modifies their physicochemical properties. On the other hand, MPs have been shown to affect organisms at different biological levels, from the base of the food web up to top predators. The reported effects of MPs range from highly toxic to negligible, making it challenging to draw general conclusions about the hazards of MPs. To enlighten the variable results in the ecotoxicity of MPs, this chapter explores the wide range of MP physicochemical properties and their potential influence on interactions with and effects on organisms and cells.
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This review summarizes what is known about the biological effects and implications of micro- and nanoplastics on aquatic organisms, covering a wide range of species from phytoplankton to fish. It highlights that while laboratory studies show harm at high concentrations, the effects at environmentally relevant levels are still poorly understood.
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This review applied polymer science principles to comprehensively examine the hazards of micro- and nanoplastics, covering their sources, fate in the environment, and biological effects across marine and terrestrial systems. The polymer-science framing helps explain how plastic particle properties such as size, shape, and surface chemistry govern environmental behavior.
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This review examines microplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems, covering chemical, biological, and ecological processes beyond simple physical contamination and identifying priority areas for future research directions.
Particle Size, Shape, and Polymer Composition as Determinants of Microplastic and Nanoplastic Toxicity in Freshwater Biota: A Mechanistic and Critical Synthesis
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This review summarizes existing freshwater research on microplastics and nanoplastics, finding that smaller particles, fibers, and certain polymers tend to cause stronger effects in lab studies, though results vary. It notes most lab effect levels are far higher than concentrations measured in real freshwater, and proposes a framework for predicting toxicity based on particle traits.
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