PFASs and microplastics in freshwater ecosystems: Community-level associations and implications for ecological risk assessment

Combined Toxicity of PFAS and Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: Synergistic, Additive, and Antagonistic Interactions

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Researchers reviewed the combined toxicity of PFAS and microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, finding that while synergistic interactions receive the most attention, additive and antagonistic outcomes are also common and depend on PFAS congener, polymer type, particle size, and species—warning against treating synergy as the default response and calling for standardized mixture-based exposure protocols to enable ecologically realistic risk assessment.

Research Gaps and Future Directions for Addressing Microplastics and PFAS: Impacts in Aquatic Environments

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This review identifies critical knowledge gaps in understanding how microplastics and PFAS (forever chemicals) interact and cause harm in aquatic environments after more than seven decades of production. Addressing these gaps is urgent because both contaminants persist indefinitely, accumulate in living organisms, and are now detectable in virtually every aquatic environment on Earth.

Assessment of Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Ecosystems and Its Ecotoxicological Impacts

Assessment of Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Ecosystems and Its Ecotoxicological Impacts

Microplastics as Vectors of PFAS: Adsorption Mechanisms, Environmental Fate, and Toxicological Implications

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This review examined how microplastics act as vectors for PFAS—so-called forever chemicals—by adsorbing and transporting these compounds through aquatic and terrestrial environments to increase combined toxic burden. The co-exposure risk is particularly concerning for human health because both microplastics and PFAS are persistent, and their interaction may amplify systemic toxicity beyond what either pollutant causes alone.