Papers

Increasing microplastics pollution: An emerging vector for potentially pathogenic bacteria in the environment

Researchers collected microplastics from a river basin in Turkey and found that disease-causing bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli, and Staphylococcus, readily form colonies on plastic particle surfaces. This means microplastics floating in water can act as tiny rafts carrying harmful bacteria, potentially increasing infection risks when contaminated water is used for drinking or recreation.

Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries

Scientists updated the planetary boundaries framework and found that six of nine critical Earth system limits have been crossed, including chemical pollution and climate change. This matters for human health because these boundary violations -- driven partly by plastic and chemical pollution -- signal that the planet's ability to support safe living conditions is being seriously compromised.

Nano- and microplastics: a comprehensive review on their exposure routes, translocation, and fate in humans

This comprehensive review traces the journey of nano- and microplastics through the human body, covering how they enter through breathing, eating, drinking, and skin contact. Once inside, the smallest particles can cross the gut and lung barriers, enter the bloodstream, and accumulate in organs including the liver, kidneys, and placenta. The review highlights significant knowledge gaps about long-term health effects but notes that the evidence for internal accumulation in humans is growing.

Tracing and trapping micro- and nanoplastics: Untapped mitigation potential of aquatic plants?

Researchers used fluorescently labeled polystyrene particles to trace microplastic and nanoplastic uptake in three aquatic plant species, finding that nanoplastics concentrated primarily in roots via apoplastic transport with bioconcentration factors up to 306, suggesting floating plants like water hyacinth may be useful for removing plastic from contaminated water.

Exposure protocol for ecotoxicity testing of microplastics and nanoplastics

This paper presents a standardized testing protocol for evaluating the environmental toxicity of microplastics and nanoplastics. Current studies often use uniform lab-made plastic particles that do not represent the irregular shapes and mixed compositions found in nature. The new protocol addresses this gap by providing methods for creating more realistic test particles and adapting existing guidelines for both soil and water organisms.

Challenges in studying microplastics in human brain

Gross Negligence: Impacts of Microplastics and Plastic Leachates on Phytoplankton Community and Ecosystem Dynamics

This review examines how microplastics and chemical leachates from plastic debris affect phytoplankton, the microscopic organisms that form the base of aquatic food webs and produce much of Earth's oxygen. Researchers found that these pollutants can alter phytoplankton growth, photosynthesis, and community composition, with cascading effects on ecosystem health. The study warns that disruption of phytoplankton communities could have far-reaching consequences for ocean productivity and global carbon cycles.

Uptake and translocation of nanoplastics in mono and dicot vegetables

Scientists exposed four different vegetable crops to fluorescent nanoplastics and tracked where the particles ended up in the plants. Nanoplastics were absorbed through the roots and transported to the stems and leaves of all plants tested, including tomatoes, radishes, and leafy greens. This confirms that food crops can take up nanoplastics from contaminated soil and deliver them to the parts of the plant that people eat.

Advancing river monitoring using image-based techniques: challenges and opportunities

This review examines advances in using cameras, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence to monitor rivers, covering applications from flood tracking to water quality assessment. While not focused on microplastics directly, these image-based monitoring tools could be adapted to detect and track visible plastic pollution in waterways. Improved river monitoring technology is an important step toward understanding and reducing the sources of microplastic contamination in freshwater systems.

Co-occurrence of microplastics and heavy metals in a freshwater lake system in Indian Himalaya: Distribution and influencing factors

Researchers found widespread microplastic contamination in both the water and sediments of Manasbal Lake in the Indian Himalayas, with concentrations up to 4,020 particles per kilogram of sediment. Domestic sewage was identified as the primary source, and the microplastics were found alongside elevated levels of heavy metals like lead. This co-contamination is concerning because microplastics can absorb and transport heavy metals, potentially increasing toxic exposure for communities that depend on the lake.

Decoding the molecular concerto: Toxicotranscriptomic evaluation of microplastic and nanoplastic impacts on aquatic organisms

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect gene activity in aquatic organisms including fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. The studies show that these tiny particles disrupt genes involved in immune defense, stress response, reproduction, and metabolism. Understanding these molecular-level changes is important because they reveal how microplastics could cause long-term health problems in animals that enter the human food chain.

Plastic debris in lakes and reservoirs

Researchers conducted the first standardized cross-national survey of plastic debris in 38 lakes and reservoirs, finding plastic in every water body sampled and showing that densely populated urban lakes and large reservoirs with long water-retention times accumulate plastic at concentrations rivaling the most polluted ocean garbage patches.

Microplastic pollution increases gene exchange in aquatic ecosystems

Researchers found that microplastics in aquatic environments serve as surfaces where bacteria form biofilms and exchange genes at higher rates than free-living bacteria. The study demonstrated increased transfer of antibiotic resistance genes among a wide range of bacterial species growing on microplastic particles. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution could accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance in waterways, posing a potential hazard to both ecosystems and human health.

Differentiation strategies for planktonic bacteria and eukaryotes in response to aggravated algal blooms in urban lakes

Researchers studied how planktonic bacteria and eukaryotes respond differently to worsening algal blooms in urban lakes. The study found that these two groups employ distinct differentiation strategies in response to bloom intensification, and that environmental constraints on plankton communities show different patterns over time, offering insights for managing water quality in urban ecosystems.

Urbanization promotes specific bacteria in freshwater microbiomes including potential pathogens

Researchers used full-length 16S rRNA sequencing to compare freshwater microbial communities across urban and rural lakes in Germany, finding that urbanization consistently promoted specific bacterial genera including potential pathogens such as Escherichia/Shigella and Rickettsia, driven by warming, eutrophication, and wastewater inputs.

Effects of microplastics and drought on soil ecosystem functions and multifunctionality

Researchers tested how microplastic fibers and drought conditions interact to affect soil ecosystem functions in grassland plant communities. The study found that the combination of microplastics and drought negatively impacted nutrient cycling enzymes, soil respiration, and overall ecosystem multifunctionality, suggesting that microplastics may worsen the well-known damaging effects of drought on soil systems.

Microplastics, microfibres and nanoplastics cause variable sub-lethal responses in mussels (Mytilus spp.)

Researchers compared the toxic effects of microplastics, microfibres, and nanoplastics on mussels over 24-hour and 7-day exposures. They found that nanoplastics triggered a heightened immune response, while all plastic types caused initial oxidative stress that returned to normal levels after a week. The study highlights that particle size is a key factor in determining the type and severity of biological responses to plastic pollution in marine organisms.

The Eukaryotic Life on Microplastics in Brackish Ecosystems

Researchers investigated the eukaryotic organisms that colonize microplastic surfaces in brackish waters of the Baltic Sea region using genetic sequencing. They found more than 500 different taxa on microplastic surfaces, but the communities were distinct from those on natural wood surfaces or in surrounding water, with lower overall diversity. Notably, the potentially harmful dinoflagellate Pfiesteria was enriched on microplastic surfaces, suggesting that plastic debris could serve as a vehicle for spreading harmful organisms in aquatic ecosystems.

Polymer-specific transfer and retention of microplastics at the river–sediment–groundwater interface

Researchers investigated how different polymer types of microplastics move through the sediment-water interface at bank filtration sites in northeastern Germany. They found that microplastic transport and retention varied significantly depending on the polymer type, with some plastics penetrating more readily into groundwater than others. The study provides evidence that river bank filtration does not fully prevent microplastic contamination of groundwater resources.

Tire wear particles in aquatic environments: From biota to ecosystem impacts

This review synthesizes current knowledge on tire wear particles as a major source of traffic-related microplastic pollution in aquatic environments. The study found that tire wear particles and their chemical leachates, including heavy metals like zinc and organic compounds like 6-PPD, induce oxidative stress and DNA damage in aquatic organisms while disrupting biodiversity and destabilizing food web dynamics at the ecosystem level.

Polymer-specific transfer and retention of microplastics at the river–sediment–groundwater interface

Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles move from rivers into underground water that could become drinking water. They found that different types of plastics behave differently - some float and stay in rivers, while heavier plastics like those from bottles and pipes sink into riverbeds and can travel into groundwater supplies. This research is important because it helps us understand how microplastics might contaminate the underground water sources we rely on for drinking water.

Transport and retention of micro-polystyrene in coarse riverbed sediments: effects of flow velocity, particle and sediment sizes

Researchers conducted column experiments to investigate how polystyrene microplastic fragments are transported and retained in coarse riverbed sediments under different flow conditions. They found that most particles were captured in the upper 15-20 centimeters of sediment, but smaller fragments between 100-500 micrometers could penetrate to depths of at least 50 centimeters. The study suggests that riverbeds can act as both temporary sinks and long-term retention sites for microplastics, slowing their transport from streams to oceans.

Towards an Integrative, Eco-Evolutionary Understanding of Ecological Novelty: Studying and Communicating Interlinked Effects of Global Change

This conceptual paper proposed an umbrella framework of 'ecological novelty' to describe and study the full range of eco-evolutionary consequences of global change for organisms and ecosystems. The authors argue this framework enables researchers to integrate site-based and organism-centered perspectives and improve communication about novel environmental conditions.

Human impact on symbioses between aquatic organisms and microbes

This review examined how human-driven stressors — including pollution, climate change, and habitat modification — disrupt beneficial microbial symbioses in aquatic organisms, arguing that disrupted host-microbe relationships represent an underappreciated pathway through which environmental degradation harms aquatic ecosystems.