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Papers
79 resultsShowing papers from Newcastle University
ClearEvaluating the Effectiveness of Coagulation–Flocculation Treatment Using Aluminum Sulfate on a Polluted Surface Water Source: A Year-Long Study
This year-long study tested how well a common water treatment chemical (aluminum sulfate) removes pollutants from a heavily contaminated surface water source used for drinking water. While not focused on microplastics specifically, improving water treatment methods is important because polluted drinking water sources can carry contaminants, including microplastics, that pose risks to human health.
Harnessing Deep Learning for Real-Time Water Quality Assessment: A Sustainable Solution
Researchers developed a deep learning system that can predict water quality in real time based on measurements like pH, turbidity, and dissolved solids. While not directly about microplastics, this kind of AI-powered monitoring tool could eventually be adapted to detect microplastic contamination in water supplies more quickly and affordably than current lab-based methods.
Interlaboratory Comparison Reveals State of the Art in Microplastic Detection and Quantification Methods
This large international study compared how 84 laboratories around the world performed when identifying and measuring microplastics using five common detection methods. The results showed significant differences between labs, with spectroscopy-based methods generally outperforming heat-based techniques for accuracy. The findings highlight that standardized methods are urgently needed so that microplastic measurements in food, water, and the environment can be reliably compared across studies.
Molecular Insights into α-Synuclein Fibrillation: A Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning Approach
This study used advanced spectroscopy and machine learning to track the molecular changes that occur as alpha-synuclein protein clumps together, a process central to Parkinson's disease and other brain disorders. While not directly about microplastics, this research is relevant because recent studies have shown that nanoplastics can accelerate alpha-synuclein aggregation. Better tools for detecting early protein clumping could help researchers understand whether environmental exposures like nanoplastics contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.
Advancing river monitoring using image-based techniques: challenges and opportunities
This review examines advances in using cameras, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence to monitor rivers, covering applications from flood tracking to water quality assessment. While not focused on microplastics directly, these image-based monitoring tools could be adapted to detect and track visible plastic pollution in waterways. Improved river monitoring technology is an important step toward understanding and reducing the sources of microplastic contamination in freshwater systems.
The hidden power of secondary metabolites in plant-fungi interactions and sustainable phytoremediation
This review explores how plants and fungi produce secondary metabolites that play important roles in their interactions with each other and can be harnessed for cleaning up contaminated environments. Researchers examined how fungal compounds help plants tolerate pollutants like heavy metals and microplastics in soil. The findings suggest that leveraging plant-fungi partnerships could offer sustainable, nature-based approaches to environmental remediation.
Comparison of the Uptake of Tire Particles via Suspension and Surface Deposit Feeding in the Estuarine Amphipod <i>Corophium volutator</i>
Researchers exposed a common estuarine amphipod to tire wear particles at environmentally relevant concentrations and compared how much the animals consumed through two different feeding methods. They found that suspension feeding resulted in significantly higher ingestion of tire particles compared to surface deposit feeding, with particles also adhering to antennae and other body parts. The study helps clarify how bottom-dwelling coastal organisms encounter and take in tire-derived microplastic pollution.
Causes and consequences of tipping points in river delta social–ecological systems
This systematic review examines how cascading effects across anthropogenic, ecological, and geophysical processes trigger tipping points in river delta social-ecological systems, generally enhancing economic development at the expense of environmental sustainability. While not specifically about microplastics, the framework illustrates how cumulative environmental stressors — including pollution — push deltas toward collapse or transformation.
Recent advances in screening and identification of PET-degrading enzymes
Researchers reviewed recent advances in discovering and engineering enzymes capable of breaking down PET plastic, one of the most widely produced and persistent plastic types. They examined screening methods including metagenomic mining and machine learning approaches that have accelerated the identification of promising PET-degrading enzymes. The study suggests that enzymatic recycling could become a viable, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional PET disposal methods.
Advances in understanding of air–sea exchange and cycling of greenhouse gases in the upper ocean
This review summarizes the latest understanding of how greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane cycle between the ocean and atmosphere. Researchers found that while the ocean is well established as a major absorber of CO2 and a source of N2O, significant uncertainties remain about the processes controlling these gas distributions in the upper ocean. The study suggests that a coordinated global research effort is needed to understand how ocean warming, acidification, and deoxygenation will affect these critical gas exchanges.
Environmental impacts, pollution sources and pathways of spent lithium-ion batteries
This review categorizes and assesses the environmental impacts, pollution sources, and pathways associated with spent lithium-ion batteries. The study highlights the growing environmental concerns as battery waste increases alongside the expansion of electric vehicles and portable electronics.
The transport and vertical distribution of microplastics in the Mekong River, SE Asia
Researchers measured microplastic levels throughout the water column of the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam, finding concentrations increased significantly from rural to urban areas. Most microplastics were fibers, predominantly polyester, and 86% were transported within the water column rather than at the surface. The study reveals that surface-only sampling methods substantially underestimate actual microplastic levels in major rivers.
The Complex Interplay Between Antibiotic Resistance and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in the Environment
This review explores the complex relationship between antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and environmental contaminants including pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Researchers found that antibiotic resistance is often elevated in human-impacted environments, particularly where faecal waste and chemical contaminant mixtures are present. The study highlights how environmental pollution, including microplastic contamination, may contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance through horizontal gene transfer and bacterial adaptation.
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.
A scientific perspective on microplastics in nature and society: Evidence review report
This evidence review by the European Commission's Science Advice Mechanism provides a comprehensive scientific perspective on nano- and microplastics in the environment and society. Researchers synthesized current knowledge on the sources, distribution, and potential impacts of microplastics across air, soil, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. The report highlights significant uncertainties in risk assessment and emphasizes the need for standardized methods and more data to understand the full implications for environmental and human health.
Non-buoyant microplastic settling velocity varies with biofilm growth and ambient water salinity
Researchers investigated how biofilms (thin layers of bacteria that grow on plastic surfaces), water salinity, and suspended clay affect how fast microplastics sink in water, finding that biofilm growth alone increased sinking speed by up to 130% within just hours. These findings show that current models predicting where microplastics end up in rivers and oceans are too simplistic, and that biological and chemical conditions must be factored in for accurate predictions.
Fifty-year study of microplastics ingested by brachyuran and fish larvae in the central English North Sea
Researchers analyzed preserved plankton samples spanning fifty years from the central English North Sea to track microplastic ingestion by crab and fish larvae over time. They found that microplastic consumption by these tiny marine animals has increased significantly over the decades, mirroring the rise in global plastic production. The study provides some of the longest-running evidence that microplastic pollution in the ocean has been steadily worsening and increasingly affecting the base of the marine food web.
Microplastic trapping efficiency and hydrodynamics in model coral reefs: A physical experimental investigation
Researchers experimentally investigated how branching coral structures trap microplastics under different water flow speeds and canopy densities using 3D-printed model coral reefs. They found that coral canopies retained 79-98% of microplastics at higher flow velocities, compared to only 10-13% for bare surfaces, through mechanisms including particle interception and settlement on branches. The study suggests that coral reefs may act as significant accumulators of microplastic pollution, with implications for reef ecosystem health.
Zero-waste circular economy of plastic packaging: The bottlenecks and a way forward
Researchers analyzed why plastic packaging recycling rates have stalled and identified key bottlenecks including difficult-to-recycle plastics like polystyrene and PVC. They propose simplifying the system to focus on four recyclable plastics (PET, PP, HDPE, LDPE) and treating them in two streams to move toward a true zero-waste circular economy.
Species-specific impact of microplastics on coral physiology
Short-term experiments with two coral species (Acropora sp. and Seriatopora hystrix) exposed to microspheres and microfibres at in-situ concentrations and elevated temperature found species-specific physiological responses, with some coral species more sensitive to microplastic exposure than others.
Microplastics and synthetic particles ingested by deep-sea amphipods in six of the deepest marine ecosystems on Earth
Amphipod crustaceans from six of the deepest Pacific ocean trenches (7,000–10,890 m depth) were examined for microplastic ingestion, with over 72% of the 90 individuals containing at least one microparticle, including fibers, films, and fragments of polyethylene terephthalate and nylon. The study provides the first evidence that microplastic contamination reaches the deepest inhabited parts of the world's oceans.
Efficient magnetic capture of PE microplastic from water by PEG modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles: Performance, kinetics, isotherms and influence factors
Researchers developed PEG-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles that efficiently capture polyethylene microplastics from water with a maximum adsorption capacity of 2,203 mg/g, maintaining high removal efficiency across varying environmental conditions.
The scientific basis for addressing marine micro- and nanoplastic pollution: Informing effective monitoring and remediation frameworks
This review synthesizes the scientific basis for monitoring and remediating marine micro- and nanoplastic pollution, covering detection technologies, ecotoxicological effects across the food web, and the specific challenges nanoplastics pose due to their nanoscale properties.
Platform to study intracellular polystyrene nanoplastic pollution and clinical outcomes
Polystyrene nanoplastics exposed to human embryos and stem cells altered the expression of genes linked to heart valve development and eye development, and pathway analysis predicted increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The study presents a new platform for studying nanoplastic effects on early human development.