Papers

Smart Hydrogels for Sustainable Agriculture

This article reviews how "smart hydrogels" -- materials that can absorb and slowly release water and nutrients -- could transform agriculture by reducing water waste and excessive chemical use. While not directly about microplastics, these gel-based systems could help reduce the environmental contamination that comes from conventional farming practices. The authors highlight that more research is needed to make these materials practical and affordable for widespread farm use.

A bio-based nanofibre hydrogel filter for sustainable water purification

Microalgae for microplastic removal from water and wastewater: a review

Microbial valorization of underutilized and nonconventional waste streams

This review examines how microorganisms can be used to convert nonconventional waste streams, including food processing effluents and industrial wastewater, into valuable fuels and biochemicals through fermentation. The study discusses the challenges associated with waste stream impurities, toxicity, and low productivity while highlighting the growing potential of microbial valorization approaches.

Specimen collection is essential for modern science

This commentary argues that collecting physical specimens of animals and plants remains essential for scientific research, despite growing interest in non-lethal alternatives like photography and DNA sampling. Researchers highlight that preserved specimens provide irreplaceable data for taxonomy, evolutionary studies, and environmental monitoring, including tracking chemical contaminant levels over time. The piece emphasizes that responsible specimen collection is a cornerstone of natural history research.

Source, Environmental Behavior and Ecological Impact of Biodegradable Microplastics in Soil Ecosystems: A Review

Microplastics in Bays along the Central Texas Coast

Researchers surveyed microplastic contamination in sediments from Matagorda and San Antonio Bays along the central Texas coast. They found relatively low concentrations, in the range of tens to hundreds of particles per kilogram of sediment, with negligible correlation to grain size, organic content, or water depth. The study suggests that strong wind-driven mixing and flushing into the Gulf of Mexico limits microplastic accumulation within these bays.

Acute exposure to nanoplastics and GenX results in increased tissue accumulation of GenX in brain and liver of spotted seatrout ( <i>Cynoscion nebulosus</i> )

Scientists found that when fish were exposed to both GenX (a newer type of "forever chemical") and tiny plastic particles at the same time, more of the toxic GenX chemical built up in their brains and livers compared to GenX exposure alone. This matters because humans eat fish and are also exposed to both plastic pollution and forever chemicals in our environment. The study suggests these two types of pollution may work together to cause more harm than either one alone.

Recent ecological change in ancient lakes

This review examined ecological change in ancient lakes (those >100,000 years old), finding that all ancient lakes with available data show significant surface warming, with eutrophication, invasive species, and habitat degradation threatening both their unique biodiversity and their value as long-term environmental archives. The authors argue that despite their unusual resilience and longevity, ancient lakes are now facing human-induced stressors at unprecedented rates.

Microplastic particle versus fiber generation during photo-transformation in simulated seawater

Researchers exposed common plastic films and fibers to simulated sunlight in seawater and tracked the photo-transformation process, finding that particles and fibers formed at different rates and that UV irradiation preferentially generates certain morphologies depending on the parent polymer.

Closing the Loop: Harnessing waste plastics for sustainable asphalt mixtures – A comprehensive review

Global Observing Needs in the Deep Ocean

This overview assessed observational gaps in the deep ocean below 200 m -- Earth's largest habitat -- and outlined priority needs for sustained monitoring of its climate, biodiversity, and resource functions.

Highly effective nanoparticle removal in plant-based water filters

A plant-based water filter using Moringa oleifera seed protein as an affinity-based medium demonstrated high removal efficiency for various nanoparticles including metal oxides and polystyrene particles. The natural material offers a low-cost, biodegradable alternative to synthetic filtration systems for nanoparticle-contaminated water.

Unveiling microplastics pollution in Alaskan waters and snow

Microplastic occurrence was investigated in water bodies and snow samples from Alaska, a region where the extent and distribution of microplastics in terrestrial freshwater and drinking water sources had been unknown. The study provides baseline data on microplastic contamination in this Arctic and sub-Arctic region.

Hospitals Should Offer Straws Only on Demand to the Public and Patients—An Environmental and Patient Care Imperative

This paper argued that hospitals should offer plastic straws only on demand rather than routinely, based on environmental sustainability data and analysis of patient welfare needs. The review found that most patients and visitors do not require straws, and a demand-based approach would substantially reduce hospital plastic waste without compromising patient care.

Electrokinetic separation techniques for studying nano- and microplastics

Electrokinetic separation techniques including capillary electrophoresis and field-flow fractionation are reviewed for their application to separating, identifying, and quantifying nano- and microplastics, offering advantages over traditional size- and density-based methods that exclude the smallest particles.

Microplastics removal in the aquatic environment via fungal pelletization

Meeting the environmental challenges of endoscopy: a pathway from strategy to implementation

Deep-ocean seafloor islands of plastics

Deep-ocean sediment transport processes concentrate microplastics into underwater islands or hotspots, similar to how they concentrate fine organic particles, making the deep seafloor a major repository for plastic pollution.

Biophysical flocculation reduces variability of cohesive sediment settling velocity

Researchers measured how biological substances called extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) — sticky molecules produced by microorganisms — influence how sediment particles clump together and sink in water. They found that EPS dramatically reduces the variability in how fast sediment settles, helping explain why lab results often differ from real-world ocean observations.

Hitchhiking into the Deep: How Microplastic Particles are Exported through the Biological Carbon Pump in the North Atlantic Ocean

This study investigated how microplastic particles are exported from the ocean surface to the deep sea through the biological carbon pump in the North Atlantic. Microplastics were found associated with sinking organic aggregates (marine snow), fecal pellets, and zooplankton, demonstrating biological packaging as a key mechanism for deep-sea plastic transport.

Microplastics in Stormwater: Sampling and Methodology Challenges

Stormwater runoff washes microplastics from roads, lawns, and urban surfaces directly into streams and rivers, but measuring this pathway consistently has been hampered by a lack of standardized sampling methods. This study collected stormwater sediment samples from control measures across multiple U.S. regions and found that conventional sampling tools designed for chemical contaminants are poorly suited for capturing the full range of microplastic sizes and shapes. The results call for purpose-built sampling protocols for stormwater microplastics to improve the reliability of pollution monitoring.

Future of coral bleaching research

Despite its title, this paper focuses on the science and policy of coral bleaching caused by ocean warming — not microplastic pollution. It outlines a research agenda for an NSF-funded coral bleaching research network, addressing bleaching thresholds, monitoring technology, and conservation policy. Microplastics are not a subject of the paper and it is not relevant to microplastic pollution research.

Microplastics in the rough: using data augmentation to identify plastics contaminated by water and plant matter

This study developed machine learning approaches using data augmentation to improve the identification of microplastics in "real world" samples where particles are contaminated by water droplets, soil, or plant material. Accurately classifying weathered and dirty microplastics from spectral images is a practical challenge that limits field research, and the techniques developed here improve detection accuracy. Better identification tools are a necessary step toward reliable monitoring of microplastic pollution across diverse environments.