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Aquatic Reptiles as Model Organisms to Evaluate Environmental Pollution and Biomonitoring
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Researchers reviewed the use of aquatic reptiles as sentinel species for monitoring environmental contamination, including microplastics, heavy metals, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Because reptiles occupy multiple levels of the food chain and absorb pollutants from water and prey, they can reveal the broader scope of ecosystem contamination.
The increasing contamination of aquatic ecosystems by heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), endocrine-disruptor chemicals (EDCs), and microplastics presents a significant challenge for biodiversity conservation and environmental management. In light of...
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Monitoring of Emerging Environmental Contaminants Using Bio-Indicators
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This review evaluates how living organisms—from algae and invertebrates to fish and plants—serve as bio-indicators for detecting emerging contaminants including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals in the environment. Biological monitoring complements chemical analysis by capturing the cumulative, real-world exposure that organisms experience, providing a more ecologically meaningful picture of pollution impacts on ecosystems and the food chain.
Ecotoxicological and Risk Assessment Perspectives of Micro(nano)plastic Pollution in Aquatic Organisms with Emphasis in Amphibians
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This ecotoxicological review synthesized evidence on microplastic and nanoplastic uptake, accumulation, and adverse effects in freshwater vertebrates and invertebrates, with particular focus on amphibians, documenting disruptions to reproduction, development, and immune function at environmentally relevant concentrations. Amphibians serve as sensitive ecological sentinels whose population declines from microplastic exposure signal broader ecosystem dysfunction that can propagate through food webs to affect the fish, birds, and mammals — including humans — that depend on healthy freshwater systems.
Effects of Emerging Contaminants on Wildlife
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This review documents how newly introduced contaminants such as microplastics, pesticides, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals harm wildlife across multiple species and ecosystems. Even low concentrations of these pollutants can disrupt animal reproduction, development, and survival, signaling broader ecological risks that extend up the food chain to humans.
Ecotoxicity of Emerging Contaminants in Aquatic Birds: What We Know?
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Researchers examine how aquatic birds are disproportionately exposed to emerging contaminants including microplastics, reviewing ecotoxicological evidence of physiological and reproductive harm in avian species and highlighting their potential role as sentinel indicators of ecosystem-wide pollution.
Microplastic Contamination in Aquatic Organisms: An Ecotoxicological Perspective
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"This ecotoxicological review examined how microplastics accumulate in aquatic organisms across multiple trophic levels, documenting impacts on physiology, reproduction, and behavior, as well as the transport of associated chemical contaminants through food webs. Because humans sit at the top of aquatic food chains, the bioaccumulation dynamics described here translate directly into dietary microplastic exposure, making ecotoxicological endpoints in fish and shellfish key indicators of human health risk."
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.