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Recent advances on the transport of microplastics/nanoplastics in abiotic and biotic compartments
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This review synthesizes recent findings on how microplastics and nanoplastics are transported through environmental compartments including water, soil, atmosphere, and biological systems, highlighting key factors that govern their fate and distribution.
Plastics enter the environment and break up into microplastics (MPs) and even nanoplastics (NPs) by biotic and abiotic weathering. These small particles are widely distributed in the environmental media and extremely mobile and reactive, easily suspending in the air, infiltrating into the soil, and interacting with biota. Current research on MPs/NPs is either in the abiotic or biotic compartments, with little attention paid to the fact that the biosphere as a whole. To better understand the complex and continuous movement of plastics from biological to planetary scales, this review firstly discusses the transport processes and drivers of microplastics in the macroscopic compartment. We then summarize insightfully the uptake pathways of MPs/NPs by different species in the ecological compartment and analyze the internalization mechanisms of NPs in the organism. Finally, we highlight the bioaccumulation potential, biomagnification effects and trophic transfer of MPs/NPs in the food chain. This work is expected to provide a meaningful theoretical body of knowledge for understanding the biogeochemical cycles of plastics.
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This review systematically examined how microplastics and nanoplastics travel between environmental compartments—air, water, soil, and biota—and ultimately reach humans. The authors identified critical transport nodes where intervention could reduce human exposure, emphasizing the need for integrated cross-compartment monitoring and policy responses.
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This global review synthesizes knowledge on the emission, environmental fate, and transformation of microplastics across biotic and abiotic compartments, identifying key research gaps and future priorities for understanding the full plastic pollution lifecycle.
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This systematic review advances a process-based framework for understanding how micro- and nanoplastics move between terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments. The findings reveal that cross-media transport pathways are poorly integrated in existing research, meaning the full scope of human exposure to microplastics across environmental compartments is likely underestimated.
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.