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Papers
44 resultsShowing papers from North-West University
ClearBioremediation of environmental wastes: the role of microorganisms
This review discusses how bacteria, fungi, and algae can be used to clean up environmental pollution including plastic waste, heavy metals, and pesticides through a process called bioremediation. These biological cleanup methods are relevant to microplastic pollution because certain microorganisms may be able to break down plastic particles in contaminated soil and water.
Fish Intake in Relation to Fatal and Non-Fatal Cardiovascular Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies
This meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies confirmed that higher fish intake is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality, with a non-linear dose-response showing benefits plateauing at moderate consumption levels. The findings are relevant to the microplastics debate because fish is a known vector for human microplastic exposure, creating a tension between cardiovascular benefits and potential plastic contamination risks.
Responses of <i>Hyalella azteca</i> to acute and chronic microplastic exposures
Researchers exposed the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca to polyethylene microplastics in both short-term and long-term laboratory tests. They found that chronic exposure over 10 days to high concentrations of the smallest microplastic particles reduced survival and reproduction. The study provides some of the first data on how microplastics affect freshwater invertebrates over extended periods, highlighting the importance of particle size and exposure duration.
Effect of an antidepressant on aquatic ecosystems in the presence of microplastics: A mesocosm study
In a three-month experiment using near-natural pond ecosystems, researchers found that microplastics changed how aquatic food webs responded to the antidepressant fluoxetine, altering plankton growth and microbial decomposition rates. The interaction between microplastics and the drug produced different effects than either pollutant alone. This study shows that microplastics can change how other common water pollutants affect ecosystems, making real-world impacts harder to predict.
Exploring the Potential of Endophytic Microorganisms and Nanoparticles for Enhanced Water Remediation
This review explores how plant-dwelling microorganisms (endophytes) combined with nanoparticles can be used to clean pollutants, including microplastics, from contaminated water. The endophytes produce enzymes that break down pollutants, while nanoparticles boost their effectiveness. This biological approach offers a potentially low-cost and sustainable alternative to conventional water treatment methods for removing emerging contaminants.
Chitosan-Based Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation of Mercury Pollution
This review examines how chitosan-based polymer nanocomposites can be used to remove mercury pollution from water and air. Researchers highlight that chitosan, derived from crustacean shells, has strong adsorption properties that can be enhanced through composite materials to capture mercury at very low concentrations. The findings point to chitosan nanocomposites as a promising, sustainable option for environmental mercury remediation.
Plant Disease Management: Leveraging on the Plant-Microbe-Soil Interface in the Biorational Use of Organic Amendments
This review discusses how organic soil amendments can help restore soil health and manage plant diseases by supporting beneficial microbial communities in the root zone. Researchers found that organic amendments improve the interactions between plants, soil microbes, and the surrounding soil environment, creating conditions less favorable for plant pathogens. The study emphasizes that sustainable agricultural practices that nurture soil biology may reduce the need for synthetic pesticides and plastics in farming.
Bioresources in Organic Farming: Implications for Sustainable Agricultural Systems
This review examines how bioresources such as compost, biochar, and organic amendments can support sustainable organic farming practices. Researchers assessed the benefits and limitations of various biological inputs for improving soil health, nutrient cycling, and crop yields without synthetic chemicals. The study highlights the growing need for innovative organic approaches as conventional intensive agriculture continues to degrade soil quality and threaten food safety.
Emerging challenges of the impacts of pharmaceuticals on aquatic ecosystems: A diatom perspective
Researchers review how pharmaceuticals — drugs that enter waterways through human and veterinary use and pass through wastewater treatment largely intact — affect diatoms, the microscopic algae that produce about 40% of the world's oxygen and form the base of aquatic food webs. Because diatoms are rarely studied in pollution research, the authors argue they could serve as early-warning indicators of drug contamination in aquatic ecosystems.
A global assessment of microplastic abundance and characteristics on marine turtle nesting beaches
Researchers coordinated a global sampling effort across 209 marine turtle nesting beaches in six ocean basins to assess microplastic contamination in beach sediments. They found microplastics present on 45% of beaches, with the Mediterranean showing the highest contamination rate at 80%. The study provides an open-access dataset to support ongoing monitoring of plastic pollution in critical nesting habitats.
Marine outfall discharges contribute to coastal microplastic pollution and the spread of antimicrobial resistance
Researchers investigated how marine outfall discharges from wastewater treatment plants contribute to coastal microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. They found that microplastics in treated wastewater effluent can serve as reservoirs for multidrug-resistant bacteria, potentially transferring them to the marine environment. The study challenges current regulations that permit marine outfall disposal and suggests that microplastics may facilitate the spread of antimicrobial resistance in coastal waters.
Genomic mechanisms of plant growth-promoting bacteria in the production of leguminous crops
This review examines how plant growth-promoting bacteria in the rhizosphere contribute to legume crop production through genomic mechanisms like nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and disease suppression. Researchers discuss the symbiotic relationship between leguminous plants and rhizobia and how molecular signaling drives these beneficial interactions. The study highlights the potential of these bacteria as sustainable alternatives to chemical fertilizers in agriculture.
Larger Common River Frogs (Amietia delalandii) have Fewer and Shorter Tissue Microplastic Fibres than Smaller Frogs
Researchers investigated microplastic contamination in adult Common River Frogs from South Africa, analyzing water, skin, intestine, and body tissue samples. The study found that microplastic fibers were present in all frogs examined, with larger frogs containing fewer and shorter fibers than smaller ones, suggesting possible size-related differences in microplastic accumulation or clearance.
Microplastics in the Indian and South Atlantic oceans translocate to gills, digestive glands, and muscle of the chokka squid Loligo reynaudii
Researchers compared microplastic contamination in chokka squid from the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans off South Africa. The study found that squid from both oceans contained microplastics in their gills, digestive glands, and muscle tissue, with blue polyethylene fibers being the dominant type, suggesting that marine microplastic pollution affects commercially important cephalopod species.
Microplastic Categories Distinctively Impact Wastewater Bacterial Taxonomic Composition and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes
Researchers investigated how five manufactured microplastic pellet types affected bacterial communities and antimicrobial resistance genes in wastewater from treatment plants in Norway and South Africa. Different MP types had distinct effects on taxonomic composition and ARG abundance after one week, with UV and hydrogen peroxide aging altering these interactions—suggesting MPs in wastewater contribute to divergent AMR dissemination risks.
Development of a silica gel chromatography-based cleanup method for quantification of polystyrene nanoplastics in tissue samples via pyrolysis–GC/MS
Researchers developed a silica gel chromatography cleanup method to eliminate biological matrix interference and enable accurate quantification of polystyrene nanoplastics in animal tissue samples using pyrolysis-GC/MS, addressing a key methodological barrier in nanoplastic bioaccumulation research.
Harnessing beneficial bacteria to remediate antibiotic-polluted agricultural soils: integrating source diversity, bioavailability modulators, and ecological impacts
This review examines how plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) can be used to remediate antibiotic-contaminated agricultural soils, covering the diversity of bacterial mechanisms and ecological risks. It also discusses how microplastics in soil interact with antibiotic persistence and resistance gene spread.
Microplastics pollution in the ocean: Potential carrier of resistant bacteria and resistance genes
This review examined microplastics in marine environments as carriers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, finding that plastic surfaces selectively enrich resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer and co-selection pressure, making ocean microplastics a vector for resistance dissemination across ecosystems.
Microplastic Concentrations in Sediments and Waters Do Not Decrease in Two Rivers Flowing Through the Kruger National Park, South Africa
Researchers quantified 36,984 microplastics in riverbed sediments and water across two rivers flowing through South Africa's Kruger National Park, examining whether microplastic concentrations decreased within this protected natural area. Concentrations did not decrease along the river gradient through the park, suggesting that protected area status alone is insufficient to prevent or reduce ongoing microplastic accumulation in freshwater systems.
Public perceptions of marine environmental issues: A case study of coastal recreational users in Italy
Researchers surveyed 202 coastal recreational users along Italy's Adriatic coast about their perceptions of marine environmental issues, finding that awareness of marine litter, pollution, and overfishing was high, and that observed coastal changes and pro-environmental behaviors were primarily shaped by demographic factors such as gender and water use frequency.
Microplastics in coral from three Mascarene Islands, Western Indian Ocean
Researchers compared microplastic concentrations, morphotypes, sizes, colors, and polymer compositions across six coral genera from three remote Mascarene Islands in the western Indian Ocean over a 1200 km transect. Microplastics were detected in all coral genera across all islands, with polymer types and concentrations reflecting both local and long-range ocean transport of plastic debris.
Methods, models, mechanisms and metadata: Introducing the Nanotoxicology collection at F1000Research
This editorial introduces the F1000Research Nanotoxicology collection, highlighting the interdisciplinary challenges in studying nanomaterial safety, including inconsistent reporting standards, difficulty reproducing results across laboratories, and gaps between materials characterization and biological testing. The collection aims to improve research quality through open peer review and standardized methods. These challenges directly parallel those facing microplastic toxicology, where inconsistent methods and reporting make it difficult to compare findings across studies.
Addressing the Insufficiency of Marine Outfall Regulations in Mitigating Microplastic and AMR Pollution from Wastewater Treatment
This review assessed whether existing marine outfall regulations adequately prevent microplastic discharge to the ocean from wastewater treatment plants, finding that most regulatory frameworks do not specifically address microplastics. The authors argue that mandatory effluent microplastic limits and tertiary filtration requirements are needed to reduce marine plastic inputs from point sources.
Exposure Assessment of Silver and Gold Nanoparticles Generated During the Synthesis Process in a South African Research Laboratory
Researchers assessed occupational exposure to silver and gold nanoparticles generated during synthesis in a laboratory setting, using particle sampling and deposition modeling to characterize inhalation risk, finding that adequate ventilation and personal protective equipment are critical to limiting respiratory exposure.