Papers

Current challenges on the widespread adoption of new bio-based fertilizers: insights to move forward toward more circular food systems

This review examines the challenges of adopting bio-based fertilizers made from food and agricultural waste as replacements for synthetic mineral fertilizers. While bio-based fertilizers can improve soil health and reduce reliance on finite resources, barriers include inconsistent nutrient content, concerns about contaminants like microplastics and heavy metals in waste-derived products, and the need for farmer-friendly application methods. The study is relevant because sewage sludge used in some fertilizers is a known source of microplastic contamination in farmland.

Degradation and environmental assessment of compostable packaging mixed with biowaste in full-scale industrial composting conditions

Researchers ran a full-scale composting trial incorporating certified compostable plastics into household biowaste, finding that the materials lost 98% of their mass within four months with no adverse effects on compost safety, soil fertility, or crop growth, and a lower environmental impact than incineration for most indicators.

Organic contaminants sorbed to microplastics affect marine medaka fish early life stages development

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics carrying adsorbed environmental contaminants affect the early life stages of marine medaka fish. The study found that while virgin microplastics alone showed no significant effects, microplastics spiked with benzo(a)pyrene, PFOS, or benzophenone-3 caused developmental impacts in embryos and larvae, demonstrating that microplastics can act as carriers that deliver toxic chemicals to developing fish.

Eco-Interactions of Engineered Nanomaterials in the Marine Environment: Towards an Eco-Design Framework

This review examines the behavior and ecological impact of engineered nanomaterials entering the marine environment, with a focus on titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Researchers found that these materials interact with marine organisms and co-occurring pollutants including microplastics in complex ways that challenge current risk assessment frameworks. The study proposes an eco-design approach to help minimize the environmental impact of nanomaterials before they reach marine ecosystems.

Soil Science Challenges in a New Era: A Transdisciplinary Overview of Relevant Topics

This transdisciplinary overview examines the major challenges facing soil science in the 2020s, with contributions from twenty experts across related disciplines. Among the key concerns identified are microplastics as emerging soil pollutants, alongside issues like soil erosion, contamination, food security, and climate change. The study emphasizes the need for new computational technologies and in situ measurements to better understand soil processes at multiple scales.

Ingestion and contact with polyethylene microplastics does not cause acute toxicity on marine zooplankton

Researchers tested polyethylene microplastics, including particles spiked with the UV filter benzophenone-3, on a range of marine zooplankton and found no acute toxicity at the concentrations tested. The study suggests that short-term exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of virgin polyethylene microplastics may not cause immediate lethal effects on marine zooplankton, though chronic and sub-lethal impacts were not assessed.

Coarse microplastic accumulation patterns in agricultural soils during two decades of different urban composts application

Researchers analyzed 21 years of soil samples from fields treated with three different types of urban waste compost to track how microplastics accumulate over time. They found that all compost types introduced microplastics into the soil, with distinct patterns depending on the compost source, and that certain plastic types persisted and built up over decades. The study suggests that long-term compost application is a significant pathway for microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils.

Microplastic Detection in Soil Amended With Municipal Solid Waste Composts as Revealed by Transmission Electronic Microscopy and Pyrolysis/GC/MS

Researchers developed a method combining soil fractionation, transmission electron microscopy, and pyrolysis-gas chromatography to detect microplastics in agricultural soils amended with municipal solid waste compost. They successfully identified plastic fragments even in fine soil fractions below 200 micrometers by using titanium and barium as chemical tracers from the original polymer production. The study demonstrates that microplastics from compost persist in soil across multiple size fractions after years of repeated application.

Glyphosate, AMPA and glufosinate in soils and earthworms in a French arable landscape

Researchers sampled soils and earthworms across 120 sites in a French agricultural landscape and found glyphosate in 88% of soil samples and 74% of earthworm samples — including in untreated hedgerows and organic fields — with bioaccumulation in earthworms higher than predicted by the chemical's properties, suggesting underestimated trophic transfer risk.

Future Directions in Conservation Research on Petrels and Shearwaters

This review assembled 38 conservation researchers to summarize the major threats facing petrels and shearwaters, a group of seabirds where 41 percent of species are threatened. Researchers identified invasive species, bycatch, overfishing, light pollution, climate change, and pollution including microplastics as the six primary threats. The paper proposes future research directions and management strategies including habitat restoration, improved fisheries policies, and better monitoring of pollution impacts on these vulnerable seabird populations.

Chronic feeding exposure to virgin and spiked microplastics disrupts essential biological functions in teleost fish

Researchers fed zebrafish and marine medaka environmentally relevant concentrations of virgin and chemically spiked polyethylene and PVC microplastics over four months. While classical biomarkers showed no changes, significant decreases in growth and disruptions to reproduction, gut integrity, and liver function were observed. The findings suggest that chronic dietary exposure to microplastics can disrupt essential biological functions in fish even without triggering traditional toxicity markers.

A Systematic Review and Characterization of the Major and Most Studied Urban Soil Threats in the European Union

Researchers systematically reviewed research on urban soil pollution across Europe, comparing two literature analysis methods, and found that heavy metals and soil organic carbon loss are the two biggest threats to city soils. The study highlights major evidence gaps that need to be filled to support the EU's Zero Pollution Action Plan.

Effect of bacterial nanocellulose and plant-containing facial serum on hyperpigmentation in in-vitro conditions

Researchers investigated herbal extract formulations combined with bacterial nanocellulose and bioactive compounds for treating skin hyperpigmentation. The study tested ingredients including licorice root, green tea, and niacinamide for their ability to inhibit tyrosinase and reduce melanin production. While not directly about microplastics, the research explores nanocellulose-based delivery systems that represent alternatives to synthetic polymer materials in cosmetic applications.

Genome-wide detection of positive and balancing signatures of selection shared by four domesticated rainbow trout populations (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Researchers mapped regions of the rainbow trout genome that show signs of selection pressure across four domesticated populations, identifying genes likely shaped by the domestication process. These findings provide a reference resource for understanding how genetic diversity changes when wild fish species are bred in captivity over many generations.

Understanding the cost of soil erosion: An assessment of the sediment removal costs from the reservoirs of the European Union

Researchers calculated the economic cost of soil erosion in the European Union by estimating how much sediment accumulates in reservoirs and what it costs to remove it, finding the bill likely exceeds 2.3 billion euros per year just from water erosion alone. This matters because understanding these off-site costs can help justify stronger soil conservation policies like the EU's Zero Pollution Action Plan.

FitNESS: An E-Learning Platform to Design Safe and Responsible Food Packaging

The FitNESS project, funded by the European Commission, developed an open-source e-learning platform to educate current and future professionals about safe and sustainable food packaging design. The platform addresses the dual challenge of packaging materials as sources of both environmental pollution and food contamination, covering topics from polymer science to circular economy practices.

Macroplastic and microplastic contamination assessment of a tropical river (Saigon River, Vietnam) transversed by a developing megacity

Researchers assessed macroplastic and microplastic contamination in a tropical river in Vietnam, finding elevated pollution levels linked to urban and agricultural land use along the waterway.

Chemicals sorbed to environmental microplastics are toxic to early life stages of aquatic organisms

Environmental microplastics collected from two Guadeloupe island beaches showed similar polymer compositions but very different contamination profiles and toxicity — beach-specific leachates caused early-life toxicity in aquatic organisms, with one sample's toxicity driven by lead and organochlorines and the other by copper and hydrocarbons.

Use and misuse of FTIR spectroscopy for studying the bio-oxidation of plastics

Researchers demonstrate that many published FTIR spectroscopy studies claiming evidence of plastic biodegradation have misidentified spectral signatures from biomass contamination (lipids, proteins, polysaccharides) as plastic oxidation products, and provide guidelines for correctly interpreting FTIR spectra to distinguish genuine plastic degradation from contamination artifacts.

Towards a circular business ecosystem 4.0 in the cosmetics industry: Findings from a bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review

A Western-style diet shapes the gut and liver responses to low-dose, fit-for-purpose polystyrene nanoplastics in mice

A subchronic mouse study found that low-dose polystyrene nanoplastics designed to mimic real-world particle characteristics impaired gut and liver health in a non-monotonic, diet-dependent manner, with Western-style diet amplifying the effects.

Simulating microplastics temporal dynamics, driving mechanisms and giving insights on sources

Researchers developed a watershed-scale model to simulate temporal dynamics of microplastic concentrations across air, soil, and water compartments, incorporating land use, hydrology, and seasonal variation. The model reproduced observed patterns in a French river catchment and identified agricultural soils as the dominant terrestrial source to receiving waters.

Sources and Fate of Microplastics in Urban Areas: A Focus on Paris Megacity

Using Paris as a case study, this chapter analyzes the various sources of microplastics in an urban catchment — including wastewater, stormwater runoff, and atmospheric deposition — and traces how they move through the city's water system. The study underscores that urban environments are major generators and conduits for microplastic pollution reaching freshwater and marine systems.

Analysis of chlordecone and its transformation products in environmental waters by a new SPME-GC-MS method and comparison with LLE-GC-MS/MS and LLE-LC-MS/MS: A case study in the French West Indies

Researchers developed a new analytical method to detect chlordecone — a banned but long-persistent pesticide still contaminating soil and water in the French West Indies — along with its breakdown products, which had previously been underdetected. The study found that existing routine monitoring methods may overestimate or underestimate certain compounds, calling for improved standardized protocols to accurately track this toxic legacy pollutant.