Papers

Comparative Analysis of Bio-Based and Traditional Plastics: Life Cycle Assessment, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Health Impact Evaluation

This systematic review compares bio-based plastics with traditional petroleum-based plastics across environmental impact, cost, and health effects. The findings suggest that while bio-based alternatives may reduce some environmental harms, they are not without trade-offs, and understanding these differences is important for making healthier choices about the products we use.

Interactions Between Microplastic and Heavy Metals in the Aquatic Environment: Implications for Toxicity and Mitigation Strategies

Microplastics in ecosystems: Critical review of occurrence, distribution, toxicity, fate, transport, and advances in experimental and computational studies in surface and subsurface water

This review provides a broad overview of microplastic contamination across freshwater, marine, and land environments, finding concentrations ranging from negligible to hundreds of thousands of particles per kilogram of sediment. The most common types are polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, and PET, spread by wastewater discharge, stormwater runoff, and poor waste management. The wide variability in contamination levels makes it difficult to assess overall risk to ecosystems and human health.

Emerging micropollutants in aquatic ecosystems and nanotechnology-based removal alternatives: A review

This review examines emerging micropollutants in water systems, including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and heavy metals, and how nanotechnology-based approaches can help remove them. These contaminants threaten drinking water safety and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The paper evaluates various nanomaterial-based filtration and degradation methods as promising solutions for cleaning up contaminated water.

Microplastics as contaminants in Indian environment: a review

This review surveys the current state of microplastic contamination across India, covering freshwater, marine, soil, and atmospheric environments. Researchers found that microplastics are widespread throughout the country, with particularly high concentrations near urban centers and coastal areas. The study calls for standardized monitoring methods and comprehensive policies to address India's growing microplastic pollution challenge.

Ecotoxicological effects of emerging pollutants (nanomaterials and microplastics) on fish biology

This review compiles current knowledge on how emerging pollutants including nanomaterials and microplastics affect fish biology, covering impacts on physiology, behavior, and molecular function. Researchers highlight that advanced methods like genomics and micro-CT imaging are revealing new details about how these pollutants damage fish at the cellular and tissue level. The study underscores the growing threat these contaminants pose to aquatic ecosystems and the fish species within them.

A Research Road Map for Responsible Use of Agricultural Nitrogen

This review examines the challenges of balancing agricultural nitrogen use for food security with the environmental consequences of excess reactive nitrogen. Researchers found that the massive use of industrial nitrogen fertilizer has doubled the nitrogen moving through the global cycle, with dramatic environmental consequences, and they propose a research road map for more responsible agricultural nitrogen management.

Microplastic pollution in aquatic environments with special emphasis on riverine systems: Current understanding and way forward

This review examines microplastic pollution in freshwater riverine systems, which serve as a critical link between terrestrial and marine environments. Researchers found that rivers are significantly contaminated with microplastics of varying sizes and morphologies, and that these particles can exhibit variable toxicity to aquatic organisms, highlighting the need for more research on freshwater microplastic impacts.

Plastic Waste-Derived Carbon Dots: Insights of Recycling Valuable Materials Towards Environmental Sustainability

Researchers review how waste plastics, including single-use items that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, can be converted into carbon dots — tiny light-emitting nanoparticles under 10 nanometers — with useful applications in sensing, imaging, and catalysis. This recycling approach offers an environmentally sustainable way to transform a persistent pollution problem into valuable high-tech materials.

The abundance and analytical characterization of microplastics in the surface water of <scp>Haryana</scp>, <scp>India</scp>

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination in surface water bodies across the rapidly industrializing Rohtak district in Haryana, India. They found an average of 23 microplastic particles per liter, predominantly fibers made of polyethylene and polypropylene. While current pollution levels were classified as low risk, the study warns that without mitigation measures, ongoing industrial and urban development will likely worsen water quality.

Green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles using Momordica charantia: Kinetics of removal of heavy metal and microplastic pollutants

Advances in microplastic mitigation: current progress and future directions

This review synthesizes recent advances in biotechnology-based approaches to microplastic remediation, including microbial degradation, engineered enzyme systems, and AI-driven monitoring. Researchers found that while promising enzymes and engineered biofilm systems have been demonstrated in the lab, translating these solutions to diverse polymer types and real-world field applications remains a major challenge. The study proposes a unified roadmap for scaling sustainable biotechnology solutions to address the global microplastic crisis.

Assessing microplastics in aquatic ecosystem: Sources, effects, and nature-based solution. A review

Exploiting the potential of terrestrial and freshwater organisms for biomonitoring of microplastics: Challenges and prospects

Microplastics pollution in the Asian water tower: Source, environmental distribution and proposed mitigation strategy

This review examines how microplastics have reached the remote Asian Water Tower region, which includes high-altitude glaciers and the headwaters of major rivers. Researchers found that polyethylene and polyurethane fibers are the most common microplastics in the area, and evidence indicates they may be enhancing greenhouse gas emissions and disrupting soil microbial communities, with broader implications for climate change.

MicroDetect-Net (MDN): Leveraging Deep Learning to Detect Microplastics in Clam Blood, a Step Towards Human Blood Analysis

Exposure to microplastics impairs fish's major behaviors. A novel threat to aquatic ecosystem

This review synthesises evidence on how microplastic exposure alters key behaviours in fish including feeding, reproduction, predator avoidance, and social interaction. It identifies neurological disruption, chemical co-toxicity, and gut effects as primary mechanisms, and highlights exposure to realistic environmental concentrations as an ongoing knowledge gap.

Microplastic and nanoparticles contaminated feed impairs common carp (Cyprinus carpio) growth performance and metabolic regulation

Microplastics—a major threat to marine environment and applicability of biomarkers

Urban drainage channels as a pathway for microplastics in riverine systems: A case study of Delhi, India

Researchers measured microplastics in Delhi's Najafgarh drain, secondary drains, and the Yamuna River, finding concentrations of 100-6,700 particles per cubic meter in secondary drains with clear seasonal variation. Urban drainage channels were identified as a major pathway for microplastics from terrestrial sources into the Yamuna River system.

Investigations on the co-occurrence of microplastics and other pollutants in the River Yamuna, Delhi

Researchers found increasing microplastic concentrations along the Yamuna River in Delhi, with levels rising from 500 MP/m3 upstream to 3,900 MP/m3 downstream near major drain outfalls, alongside elevated heavy metal and fecal coliform contamination.

Detrimental Effects of Industrial Wastewater on the Environment and Health

This review examines how industrial wastewater discharged into the environment harms ecosystems and human health. Untreated wastewater from industries carries heavy metals, synthetic chemicals, and plastics that contaminate drinking water sources and accumulate in food chains. The authors argue that stronger enforcement of wastewater treatment standards is urgently needed.

Impact and Solution of Marine Plastic Pollution: A Review

This review examines the sources, distribution, and ecological impacts of marine plastic pollution, classifying accumulated ocean plastics into five size categories from mega- to nano-scale. The paper discusses how microplastics enter food webs through ingestion by marine animals and surveys proposed mitigation strategies to address this critical anthropogenic threat.

Trends and Scope of Utilization of Biochar in Wastewater Treatment