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Papers
150 resultsShowing papers from Polish Academy of Sciences
ClearWhat Does the “Trojan Horse” Carry? The Pollutants Associated with Microplastics/Nanoplastics in Water Environments
Microplastics act as tiny "Trojan horses" in water, carrying toxic chemical additives like plasticizers, flame retardants, and stabilizers that leach out as the plastic breaks down. These additives can build up in living organisms and pose risks to human health. This review maps out what we currently know about these hitchhiking pollutants and identifies major gaps in our understanding of how they behave in aquatic environments.
Insight into microplastics in the aquatic ecosystem: Properties, sources, threats and mitigation strategies
This review summarizes how microplastics contaminate aquatic ecosystems through various pathways, where they can absorb other toxic chemicals and become even more harmful. The findings are relevant to human health because microplastics in fish and shellfish from contaminated waters can carry these concentrated pollutants into our diets.
A review of the endocrine disrupting effects of micro and nano plastic and their associated chemicals in mammals
This review summarizes how micro- and nanoplastics carry hormone-disrupting chemicals that can interfere with the thyroid, reproductive organs, and other parts of the endocrine system in mammals. Because these chemicals are not tightly bound to the plastic, they can leach into milk, water, and food, potentially disrupting hormone function in humans who consume them.
Risks Associated with the Presence of Polyvinyl Chloride in the Environment and Methods for Its Disposal and Utilization
This review examines the environmental and health risks of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), one of the most common plastics. As PVC breaks down into microplastics, it contaminates soil, water, and even drinking water, entering the food chain and exposing humans to harmful effects. The paper surveys methods being developed to clean up and remove PVC microplastics from the environment.
Hematological and Hematopoietic Analysis in Fish Toxicology—A Review
This review summarizes how blood analysis in fish is used to detect the toxic effects of environmental pollutants, including microplastics and heavy metals. Changes in red and white blood cell counts, along with shifts in blood-forming tissue, can reveal early signs of pollutant damage before visible symptoms appear. Since fish are often used as indicator species for water quality, these blood markers can help scientists understand how pollutants in aquatic environments may eventually affect human health through the food chain.
Nanoplastics Penetrate Human Bronchial Smooth Muscle and Small Airway Epithelial Cells and Affect Mitochondrial Metabolism
When human lung cells were exposed to 25 and 50 nanometer polystyrene nanoplastics in the lab, the particles penetrated both airway lining cells and the smooth muscle cells underneath, including cells from asthmatic donors. The nanoplastics disrupted the cells' energy-producing mitochondria, impairing both normal oxygen-based metabolism and backup energy pathways -- demonstrating a direct mechanism by which inhaled nanoplastics could harm respiratory health.
Aging properties of polymer pellets, release of secondary microplastics and additives in the water environment under laboratory-controlled conditions
Scientists tracked how plastic pellets made of ABS, HDPE, and polyamide break down over 20 months in water under controlled conditions, releasing smaller microplastic particles and chemical additives. The degradation rate varied by plastic type, water salinity, and temperature, with recycled plastics releasing more particles than new ones. This research shows how primary microplastics continuously generate even smaller secondary particles and leach chemicals into water over time.
Rivers as microplastic factories
This perspective paper argues that rivers will continue generating and releasing microplastics for centuries, even if all new plastic pollution were stopped today. Plastic already buried in riverbanks and floodplains will gradually break into smaller pieces through natural water flow, erosion, and weathering. The study reframes rivers as long-term microplastic factories rather than just transport routes, meaning human exposure through water supplies will persist far into the future.
First attempt to measure macroplastic fragmentation in rivers
Researchers developed the first method to directly measure how large plastic debris fragments into microplastics while traveling through rivers. They found that river transport causes significant breakdown of plastic waste into smaller pieces, confirming that rivers are major producers of secondary microplastics. This is important for understanding where microplastics come from, since rivers eventually carry these particles to oceans and drinking water sources.
The Essentials of Marine Biotechnology
This comprehensive article reviews the field of marine biotechnology, which harnesses ocean organisms for applications in medicine, food, cosmetics, agriculture, and energy. Researchers describe the enormous diversity of marine life, from microorganisms to deep-sea species, and the promising biomolecules they produce. The study outlines both the opportunities and the environmental responsibilities involved in developing products inspired by or derived from marine resources.
Macroplastic fragmentation in rivers
This paper presents a framework for understanding how larger plastic waste in rivers breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics over time. The researchers identified key factors that control fragmentation, including the type of plastic, its shape, and river conditions like sunlight exposure and water flow. Understanding this process is important because rivers are a major pathway for microplastics to spread through the environment and eventually reach drinking water sources.
Isolation and identification of microplastics in infant formulas – A potential health risk for children
Researchers tested 30 infant formula products and found microplastics in every single one, with polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET being the most common types. They estimated that formula-fed babies consume about 49 microplastic particles per day through their formula alone. This is concerning because infants are especially vulnerable to potential health effects from microplastics during critical stages of development.
Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Characteristics, Occurrence and Removal Technologies
This review summarizes how wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway for microplastics entering the environment, covering the types, sizes, and sources of microplastics found in wastewater. While treatment plants can remove many microplastics, significant amounts still escape into rivers and oceans through treated water and sludge. The authors evaluate various removal technologies and recommend advanced treatment methods to better prevent microplastics from reaching water supplies.
Polymers Use as Mulch Films in Agriculture—A Review of History, Problems and Current Trends
This review traces the history of plastic mulch films in agriculture, from their widespread adoption for moisture retention and weed control to growing concerns about soil contamination. Researchers found that while polyethylene mulch is highly effective, its accumulation in farmland creates long-term pollution and health risks. The study examines emerging biodegradable alternatives and new regulations aimed at reducing agricultural plastic waste.
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.
Human impacts and their interactions in the Baltic Sea region
This comprehensive assessment cataloged the many human-caused pressures on the Baltic Sea region, from climate change and agricultural runoff to shipping, chemical contamination, and microplastic pollution. Researchers found that climate change acts as an overarching force that amplifies or modifies nearly all other environmental stressors in this heavily populated coastal area. The study emphasizes that understanding how these multiple pressures interact is essential for effective environmental management.
Climate Change—The Rise of Climate-Resilient Crops
This review discusses efforts to breed climate-resilient crops that can withstand extreme weather events like droughts, floods, and heat waves caused by climate change. While not about microplastics, the research is relevant because microplastic contamination in agricultural soil adds another stress factor that crops must cope with. As both climate change and plastic pollution worsen, understanding how plants respond to combined environmental stresses becomes increasingly important for food security.
Ecological adaptation of earthworms for coping with plant polyphenols, heavy metals, and microplastics in the soil: A review
This review examines how earthworms cope with and help remediate soil pollutants including heavy metals, microplastics, and plant polyphenols. Researchers describe how earthworms use specialized gut metabolites and elevated antioxidant enzyme activity to neutralize toxic compounds, and can serve as biofilters that accumulate and transform these pollutants. The findings support the wider use of earthworm-based bioremediation as a strategy for restoring contaminated soils.
Remediation of Micro- and Nanoplastics by Membrane Technologies
This review examined how membrane filtration technologies can remove micro- and nanoplastics from water and wastewater, since conventional treatment plants cannot fully eliminate these particles. Researchers found that techniques like ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and membrane bioreactors are highly effective at capturing microplastics, though each has trade-offs related to cost, fouling, and energy use. The study also raises the concern that polymeric membranes themselves could potentially release plastic particles during the filtration process.
Mitochondrial stress response in lung cells triggered by the inhaled nanoplastics
This review focuses on how inhaled nanoplastic particles affect mitochondrial function in lung cells, including the activation of stress responses, disruption of energy production, and triggering of cell death pathways. Researchers found that because of their extremely small size, nanoplastics can penetrate deep into lung tissue and interact directly with cellular components in ways larger particles cannot. The study highlights the lungs as a particularly vulnerable site for nanoplastic-related health effects.
Copepods' true colors: astaxanthin pigmentation as an indicator of fitness
This review explores how carotenoid pigmentation, particularly the molecule astaxanthin, serves as a visible indicator of health and fitness in copepods, a dominant type of zooplankton. Researchers found that the bright red-orange coloring in copepods is linked to their ability to handle environmental stressors like UV radiation and oxidative damage. The study proposes that pigmentation could be used as a simple, practical tool for assessing the overall condition of zooplankton populations in aquatic ecosystems.
Biodeterioration of Untreated Polypropylene Microplastic Particles by Antarctic Bacteria
Researchers isolated Antarctic bacteria and tested their ability to degrade untreated polypropylene microplastics over a 40-day incubation period. They found that several bacterial strains caused measurable physical and chemical changes to the microplastic surfaces, indicating early-stage biodegradation. The study suggests that cold-adapted microorganisms from extreme environments may hold potential for biological approaches to plastic pollution remediation.
Learning from natural sediments to tackle microplastics challenges: A multidisciplinary perspective
Researchers drew on decades of sediment science to propose seven research priorities for improving microplastic studies, including better particle description, transport modeling, and toxicity assessment methods adapted from geology. This cross-disciplinary approach could accelerate understanding of how microplastics move through rivers, oceans, and ecosystems and how they harm living organisms.
Illicit Drugs in Surface Waters: How to Get Fish off the Addictive Hook
This review examines how illicit drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids, enter waterways through wastewater discharge and accumulate in fish at concentrations that can cause measurable harm. Evidence indicates that these substances induce oxidative stress, neurological changes, altered behavior, and tissue damage in exposed fish. The study highlights an underexplored dimension of water pollution where pharmaceuticals and microplastics coexist in aquatic environments.