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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Marine & Wildlife
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A review: Research progress on microplastic pollutants in aquatic environments
The Science of The Total Environment2020
421 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 60
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
This review summarizes current research on microplastic pollution in aquatic environments, including sources, detection methods, and ecological effects. The study highlights that microplastics can carry heavy metals and organic pollutants, forming complex contaminant combinations that accumulate through the food chain with potentially unpredictable consequences for both aquatic life and human health.
The ubiquitous problems of microplastics in waters are receiving global attention as microplastics can harm aquatic organisms, and finally can accumulate in the human body through biological chain amplification. In addition, microplastics act as a carrier capable of carrying heavy metals, organics, which form complex pollutants. These new combinations of pollutants, once ingested by aquatic organisms, are amplified through the food chain and can have unpredictable ramifications for aquatic organisms and human beings. Therefore, human beings are not only the source of plastic pollution, but also the sink of microplastic pollution. Therefore, this study reviews the source and distribution of microplastics, and their combined ability with heavy metals, antibiotics, and persistent organic pollutants in aquatic environments. Furthermore, it describes the interaction between aquatic organisms and microplastics. Finally, some suggestions are put forward to promote the sustainable application of microplastics. This work provides theoretical guidance for combining microplastics with other pollutants in water, and the accumulation of microplastics in food chain.