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Review on emerging marine pollutants: sources, risks, and governance of EDCs, PFAS, microplastics, and antibiotics
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This review pulls together over 100 studies to explain how four types of man-made pollutants, hormone-disrupting chemicals, "forever chemicals" (PFAS), microplastics, and antibiotics, are building up in our oceans and harming marine life. Since these same pollutants can travel up the food chain into the seafood we eat and the water we drink, understanding their sources and effects is a key step toward protecting both ocean health and our own. The researchers also review current cleanup and prevention strategies, offering guidance for stronger policies to curb this pollution going forward.
Emerging pollutants pose an escalating threat to the stability of marine ecosystem, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive understanding and evidence-based interventions. This paper examines several classes of emerging pollutants, taking four typical types as representatives: endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), microplastics and antibiotics, providing a detailed account of their sources in the marine environment, transmission pathways, and impacts on marine organisms and ecosystems. Mitigation strategies currently available for each pollutant class are also critically evaluated. This review systematically analyzes more than 100 studies published from 1993 to 2025, with the majority concentrated from 2010 to 2025, from a global perspective. Through a synthesis and critical analysis of relevant literature and research findings, this study aims to provide robust scientific evidence and evidence-based recommendations for marine environmental management and policy for marine environmental protection and the advancement of sustainable marine development.
More Papers Like This
Systematic review of emerging environmental contaminants: sources, environmental fate, and impacts
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This review pulls together existing research on "emerging contaminants" — things like forever chemicals (PFAS), leftover medications, microplastics, and hormone-disrupting substances that build up in our water, soil, and food chains. The takeaway: these pollutants don't break down easily, accumulate in living things over time, and have been linked to hormone disruption, cell damage, and antibiotic resistance, yet current safety testing and regulations haven't caught up to the scale of the problem. For consumers, this underscores why reducing exposure to plastics and unnecessary chemical products matters, and why stronger monitoring and regulation are
Impact of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) on the marine environment: Raising awareness, challenges, legislation, and mitigation approaches under the One Health concept
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This review examines how PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), often called 'forever chemicals,' are contaminating marine environments and interacting with other pollutants including microplastics. PFAS accumulate in marine food chains and can combine with microplastics to amplify toxic effects on ocean wildlife and ultimately human health through seafood consumption. The authors call for stronger regulations and cleanup strategies under a One Health approach that connects ocean, animal, and human well-being.
Emerging pollutants-a potential threat to the marine environment
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This review catalogs emerging marine pollutants — including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and industrial chemicals — and discusses their sources and potential ecological impacts. The diversity of these contaminants poses complex and poorly understood threats to ocean and human health.
The Fate and Effects of Emerging Pollutants in the Environment
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Everyday chemicals from medicines, personal care products, pesticides, and plastics—including microplastics and "forever chemicals" (PFAS)—are slipping through our wastewater systems and building up in water, soil, and even our food chain, largely unchecked by current regulations. This review of existing research shows these pollutants can disrupt hormones, help harmful bacteria become drug-resistant, and harm wildlife and ecosystems that humans ultimately depend on. The takeaway: better treatment technology and stronger environmental regulations are needed to keep these under-the-radar chemicals from continuing to accumulate in
Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Do They Matter to Aquatic Ecosystems?
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This review examines PFAS, the persistent 'forever chemicals' widely used in consumer products, and their growing threat to aquatic ecosystems. Evidence indicates that PFAS accumulate in aquatic organisms, disrupt hormones, and can alter how other pollutants behave in the environment. The research is relevant to microplastic concerns because PFAS are commonly found in plastic products and can leach from microplastics into water.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.