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Current State of Microplastic Pollution Research Data: Trends in Availability and Sources of Open Data
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This study assessed the effects of polyethylene microplastics on the behavior and development of larval amphibians, finding that tadpole growth and metamorphic timing were altered by chronic exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations. The study highlights freshwater amphibians as a vulnerable group warranting greater attention in microplastic ecotoxicology research.
The rapid growth in microplastic pollution research is influencing funding priorities, environmental policy, and public perceptions of risks to water quality and environmental and human health. Ensuring that environmental microplastics research data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) is essential to inform policy and mitigation strategies. We present a bibliographic analysis of data sharing practices in the environmental microplastics research community, highlighting the state of openness of microplastics data. A stratified (by year) random subset of 785 of 6,608 microplastics articles indexed in Web of Science indicates that, since 2006, less than a third (28.5%) contained a data sharing statement. These statements further show that most often, the data were provided in the articles’ supplementary material (38.8%) and only 13.8% via a data repository. Of the 279 microplastics datasets found in online data repositories, 20.4% presented only metadata with access to the data requiring additional approval. Although increasing, the rate of microplastic data sharing still lags behind that of publication of peer-reviewed articles on environmental microplastics. About a quarter of the repository data originated from North America (12.8%) and Europe (13.4%). Marine and estuarine environments are the most frequently sampled systems (26.2%); sediments (18.8%) and water (15.3%) are the predominant media. Of the available datasets accessible, 15.4% and 18.2% do not have adequate metadata to determine the sampling location and media type, respectively. We discuss five recommendations to strengthen data sharing practices in the environmental microplastic research community.
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Current State of Microplastic Pollution Research Data: Trends in Availability and Sources of Open Data
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers analyzed data sharing practices in the microplastics research community and found that less than a third of published articles included a data sharing statement. Of the datasets found in online repositories, most were provided as supplementary material rather than in dedicated data repositories, suggesting that the rate of open data sharing lags behind the rapid growth in microplastics publications.
Gaps and Pathways Towards Standardized, FAIR Microplastics Data Harmonization: A Systematic Review
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This systematic review examines why microplastic research data is so hard to compare across studies. It finds that a lack of standardized methods for collecting, analyzing, and reporting microplastic data is a major barrier, and proposes a framework for making research more consistent and useful for understanding health risks.
Where are Brazil's marine litter scientific data?
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This review examined data repositories for marine litter datasets from Brazil, finding only two datasets in generalist repositories that fail to meet FAIR data-sharing principles and identifying interoperability as the primary obstacle, while calling for purpose-built repositories and researcher behavioral shifts during the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
Scientometric analysis and scientific trends on microplastics research
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Researchers performed a scientometric analysis of microplastics research using 2,872 publications from the Web of Science database spanning 2004 to 2020. The bibliometric analysis mapped contributing countries, institutions, key authors, trending keywords, and future research directions in the field. The study found that microplastics research has grown rapidly, with increasing attention to environmental pollution across various ecosystems.
Experimental inconsistencies undermine accurate characterization of microplastics and identification of environmental drivers:a metadata analysis in Chinese aquatic environment
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Researchers analyzed microplastic data from over 2,400 sampling sites across Chinese waterways and found that inconsistent lab methods — such as different sampling devices and container sizes — dramatically skew results and obscure the real environmental drivers of microplastic contamination. They found that method variation reduced the measurable link between natural processes and microplastic characteristics by up to 70%, underscoring the urgent need for standardized protocols in microplastics research.
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