Papers

Dynamics of leaching of POPs and additives from plastic in a Procellariiform gastric model: Diet- and polymer-dependent effects and implications for long-term exposure

Using a lab model of a seabird's stomach, researchers studied how chemicals leach from ingested plastic over time. The study found that 100% of pollutants absorbed onto plastic surfaces leached out within about 100 hours, while only 2-5% of built-in additives released in that time, meaning birds could face prolonged chemical exposure the longer plastic stays in their gut.

Evaluation of Commercial Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Membranes for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Surface Water in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Researchers evaluated commercial reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes for removing heavy metal ions from surface water near Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The reverse osmosis membrane achieved over 98% rejection of metals including chromium, lead, cadmium, and arsenic from both synthetic and real water samples. While focused on metal removal, the study demonstrates membrane filtration technologies that are also relevant to removing microplastic particles from contaminated water sources.

Pro-environmental behavior regarding single-use plastics reduction in urban–rural communities of Thailand: Implication for public policy

Researchers surveyed urban and rural residents in Thailand to understand what drives people to reduce single-use plastic use, finding that moral values better explained behavior in city residents while practical reasoning was more influential in rural communities. The findings suggest that plastic reduction policies should be tailored to community context, emphasizing ethics in cities and rational incentives in rural areas.

Microplastics fouling and interaction with polymeric membranes: A review

This review examined microplastic fouling of polymeric membranes used in water treatment, analyzing how MPs affect membrane permeability and rejection performance, and discussing strategies — including surface modification and pre-treatment — to mitigate fouling.

Modelling accumulation of marine plastics in the coastal zone; what are the dominant physical processes?

Developing Strategies to Help Bee Colony Resilience in Changing Environments

This review identified strategies for improving bee colony resilience under multiple stressors including climate change, pathogen pressure, and pesticide exposure, with a focus on the links between nutrition, gut microbiota, and immune and stress response systems. The authors highlight dietary diversity and microbiome support as practical levers for maintaining colony health.

Multi-Scale Modeling of Plastic Waste Gasification: Opportunities and Challenges

Researchers quantified microplastic deposition in remote mountain lakes across the Tibetan Plateau, finding particles at all sites despite their distance from urban centers. Atmospheric transport from South and East Asian industrial regions was proposed as the primary input pathway.

On-chip very low strain rate rheology of amorphous olivine films

Researchers used a specialized chip-based testing method to measure how a glassy form of olivine — a mineral found deep in Earth's mantle — deforms under extremely slow stress, reaching strain rates as low as one trillionth per second. The results help scientists understand how Earth's deep rock layers flow over geological time, relevant to modeling large-scale tectonic processes.

Think Beyond Particle Cytotoxicity: When Self-Cellular Components Released After Immunogenic Cell Death Explain Chronic Disease Development

This review covers methods for detecting and quantifying nanoplastics in environmental samples, highlighting the significant analytical challenges posed by their small size. Techniques including pyrolysis-GC/MS and single-particle ICP-MS are discussed as promising approaches.

Editorial: Five grand challenges in toxicology

This editorial identifies five grand challenges facing toxicology, including how to assess risks from mixtures of chemicals, engineered nanomaterials, and emerging pollutants. It calls for a shift toward predictive toxicological science that moves beyond studying one substance at a time.

Reconnecting with nature: developing urban spaces in the age of climate change

This reflective essay examined how patterns of urbanization have disconnected humans from nature, arguing that cities must incorporate green spaces and nature-based design to improve resilience and wellbeing in the context of accelerating climate change.

Bringing access and benefit sharing into the digital age

This perspective proposes establishing a Multi-stakeholder Committee on the Governance of Digital Sequence Information to address the legal and equity challenges arising from the digitization of genetic resources and ensure fair access and benefit sharing in the digital age.

British and Irish newspapers implicitly support single-use masks over reusable face coverings

This paper is not directly about microplastics in the scientific sense — it analyzes how British and Irish newspapers framed single-use face masks versus reusable coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding an implicit media bias toward single-use masks despite their greater environmental cost.

Comment on egusphere-2025-3804

This commentary responds to research on plastic film use in agriculture, examining concerns that plastic mulch films are a major secondary source of microplastic residues in cropland soils as their global use continues to expand.

Plastic film residues on cropland: monitoring soil contamination through optical remote sensing

Researchers used optical remote sensing to monitor plastic film residues on agricultural cropland, demonstrating that satellite-based methods can detect surface plastic contamination across large areas. The study provides a scalable approach for tracking agricultural plastic residues — a major secondary microplastic source in soils — without the labor intensity of field sampling.

Comment on egusphere-2025-3804

This commentary responds to research on agricultural plastic film use, examining concerns that plastic mulch films represent a major secondary source of microplastic residues in cropland as their application area continues to grow globally.

Trapping of plastics in semi-enclosed seas: Insights from the Bohai Sea, China

A computer model was used to simulate how microplastics become trapped in the semi-enclosed Bohai Sea in China, using field data to validate predictions. Semi-enclosed seas like the Bohai accumulate plastic pollution from surrounding land sources and can retain it for long periods.

Dislocation-mediated relaxation in nanograined columnar palladium films revealed by on-chip time-resolved HRTEM testing

Time-resolved electron microscopy of nanograined palladium films revealed unexpectedly large creep rates at room temperature, caused by dislocation movement at tiny grain boundaries. This nanomaterials science study addresses deformation in thin metallic films and has no relevance to microplastics research.

Large scale detection of plastic covered crops using multispectral and SAR satellite data

Researchers used satellite imagery combining optical and radar data to detect large-scale plastic covering of agricultural crops across wide geographic areas. The remote sensing approach could help monitor plasticulture practices and track the potential for plastic debris to enter nearby ecosystems.

Agricultural Land Degradation in Peru and Bolivia

Source, Transfer, and Fate of Microplastics in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea: A Holistic Approach