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Microplastic Toxicity in Aquatic Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems: a Review
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics move through aquatic food webs, finding evidence that these particles accumulate across trophic levels, but noted that most toxicity studies are conducted in labs rather than real ecosystems, leaving major gaps in understanding the true ecological and human health risks.
Microplastics are pervasive pollutants and have been found in all environmental compartments globally, including aquatic ecosystems. Ingestion and trophic transfer of microplastics through aquatic species have been widely reported. Although a plethora of studies have reported that microplastics can be transferred through higher trophic level food webs with the potential for accumulation and toxicity, most microplastic aquatic toxicity studies have been conducted in laboratory studies. This means that studies within entire ecosystems or at environmentally relevant concentrations are lacking, representing a critical knowledge gap for ecotoxicological impact of microplastics on aquatic species and higher trophic level consumers (including humans). Thus, an understanding of aquatic ecosystem toxicity is still relatively unknown. To address this knowledge gap, this study provides a non-exhaustive summary of microplastic transport pathways, ecotoxicology, food web transfer, and examples of toxic pollutants sorbed onto microplastics in aquatic food webs. This study will guide future research priorities to address microplastic toxicity through aquatic food webs.
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Ecotoxicological Consequences of Microplastics in Aquatic Life
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics — tiny plastic particles under 5mm — harm aquatic ecosystems, documenting that fish, invertebrates, and other marine life can ingest them, leading to physical damage, toxic chemical exposure, and disruptions to feeding and reproduction.
Distribution and Impact of Microplastics in the Aquatic Systems: A Review of Ecotoxicological Effects on Biota
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics are distributed across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments and the toxic effects they have on a wide range of organisms. Fish, invertebrates, and other animals that ingest microplastics experience physical harm, chemical toxicity, and reproductive disruption — effects that may ultimately reach humans through the food chain.
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."
The Ecotoxicological Effects of Microplastics on Trophic Levels of Aquatic Ecosystems
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Microplastics accumulate toxic pollutants on their surfaces and are ingested by organisms across aquatic trophic levels, from zooplankton to fish, enabling biomagnification of co-contaminants through food webs. This ecotoxicological chain means that human consumption of seafood carries compounded chemical exposure risks from microplastic-associated pollutants.
Toxicity of Microplastics on the Flora and Fauna of the Freshwater Ecosystem: An Overview
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Researchers reviewed the toxicity of microplastics ranging from 1 micrometer to 5 mm on flora and fauna in freshwater ecosystems, summarizing evidence of physical harm, chemical stress, and bioaccumulation across aquatic organisms from algae and invertebrates to fish.
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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.