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Papers
114 resultsShowing papers from University of Copenhagen
ClearClear Aligner Treatment: Indications, Advantages, and Adverse Effects—A Systematic Review
This systematic review of clear aligner orthodontic treatment identified microplastics release as a potential adverse health effect, alongside decreased condyle bone volume. While clear aligners offer oral hygiene advantages over fixed braces, they remain inferior for complex tooth movements, and the microplastic exposure risk from wearing plastic aligners warrants further investigation.
The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt
Researchers analyzed 1,816 freshwater invertebrate community datasets from 22 European countries spanning 1968 to 2020, finding that biodiversity recovered steadily through the 1990s and 2000s thanks to water quality improvements, but has largely plateaued since the 2010s. Emerging threats including climate warming, emerging pollutants like microplastics, and invasive species are now offsetting earlier conservation gains, signaling that stronger protections are urgently needed.
Optimization of the Hemolysis Assay for the Assessment of Cytotoxicity
This study improved a common lab test used to measure how toxic chemicals and materials are to red blood cells. While not directly about microplastics, the hemolysis assay is one of the tools researchers use to evaluate whether micro- and nanoplastic particles damage blood cells, making standardized testing methods important for accurate health risk assessment.
Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries
Scientists updated the planetary boundaries framework and found that six of nine critical Earth system limits have been crossed, including chemical pollution and climate change. This matters for human health because these boundary violations -- driven partly by plastic and chemical pollution -- signal that the planet's ability to support safe living conditions is being seriously compromised.
International consensus guidelines for the definition, detection, and interpretation of autophagy-dependent ferroptosis
This scientific review provides guidelines for understanding a specific type of cell death called autophagy-dependent ferroptosis, where cells essentially digest their own protective components and then die from iron-driven damage. While not directly about microplastics, this process is relevant because microplastics and nanoplastics have been shown to trigger oxidative stress and iron-related cell damage in tissues. Understanding these cell death pathways helps researchers assess how plastic particle exposure could harm organs like the liver, brain, and lungs.
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.
Groundwater is a hidden global keystone ecosystem
This study argues that groundwater should be recognized as a "keystone ecosystem" because of its critical role in sustaining surface environments, biodiversity, and human water supplies. Over half of the world's land surface has significant interaction with groundwater, yet it remains overlooked in conservation planning. Protecting groundwater is essential for planetary health, including safeguarding water sources from emerging contaminants like microplastics.
Long-Term Fertilization History Alters Effects of Microplastics on Soil Properties, Microbial Communities, and Functions in Diverse Farmland Ecosystem
This study found that adding polyethylene microplastics to farm soil changed the soil's microbial communities, and the effects depended on the soil type and fertilization history. Soil with lower microbial diversity was more vulnerable to microplastic disruption, and microplastics increased the presence of disease-causing microorganisms. These findings matter because microplastics in agricultural soil could reduce soil health and potentially affect the safety of crops grown for human consumption.
Do contaminants compromise the use of recycled nutrients in organic agriculture? A review and synthesis of current knowledge on contaminant concentrations, fate in the environment and risk assessment
This review examines whether recycled nutrients from waste streams, such as sewage sludge and compost, introduce harmful contaminants including microplastics into organic farmland. While levels of heavy metals and many pollutants have decreased in European waste streams, microplastic contamination in agricultural soil remains widespread and poorly understood. The review highlights that spreading waste-derived fertilizers on farmland is a significant pathway for microplastics to enter the food production system.
Continuing benefits of the Montreal Protocol and protection of the stratospheric ozone layer for human health and the environment
This assessment reviews the continuing health and environmental benefits of the Montreal Protocol, which protects the ozone layer. While primarily focused on UV radiation, skin cancer, and air quality, the review notes that UV light accelerates the breakdown of plastics into microplastics in the environment. The interaction between ozone protection, climate change, and plastic degradation highlights the complex relationship between atmospheric changes and microplastic pollution.
Microplastics in aquatic environments: Toxicity to trigger ecological consequences
This review draws on cross-disciplinary research to connect the toxic effects of microplastics on individual organisms to broader ecological consequences in aquatic environments. Researchers found that microplastics can disrupt nutrient cycling, alter metabolic processes, trigger immune responses, and threaten ecosystem composition. The study highlights how the ecological damage from microplastics depends on how their toxicity transfers and multiplies through aquatic food webs.
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.
Nanoplastics from ground polyethylene terephthalate food containers: Genotoxicity in human lung epithelial A549 cells
This study tested nanoplastics made from ground-up PET food containers on human lung cells in the lab and found they caused DNA damage and increased harmful reactive oxygen species. Unlike most studies that use standard polystyrene particles, this research used real-world PET plastic from supermarket containers, making the results more relevant to actual human exposure. The findings suggest that inhaling tiny PET particles shed from everyday food packaging could pose a risk to lung health.
Plastics in the environment in the context of UV radiation, climate change and the Montreal Protocol: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2023
Researchers from the UN Environment Programme reviewed how sunlight and climate change accelerate the breakdown of plastic debris into micro- and nanoplastics, which have now been detected in every ecosystem on Earth — including inside the human body. They conclude that new plastics should be designed to break down harmlessly at the end of their useful life, rather than persisting indefinitely as pollution.
Air pollution and publications: historic and emerging trends in research topics - a bibliometric study
Scientists reviewed thousands of research papers to see what we're learning about air pollution and health. They found that researchers are discovering new health problems linked to dirty air, including kidney disease, brain disorders, diabetes, and pregnancy complications. However, there are still big knowledge gaps, especially about how tiny plastic particles in the air might affect our health.
Radical changes are needed for transformations to a good Anthropocene
This paper argues that achieving a sustainable future requires radical changes to financial, legal, political, and governance systems, not just incremental improvements. The researchers present five key principles involving fundamental shifts in how societies think about growth, efficiency, government, shared resources, and justice. The study emphasizes that these transformations must happen together across neighborhoods, cities, and regions to stay within planetary boundaries.
Quantification Challenges in Polymer Analysis in Urban Runoff and Wastewater using Pressurized Liquid Extraction and Double-Shot Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Researchers optimized methods for isolating and measuring common microplastics like polyethylene and polystyrene in urban runoff and wastewater samples. They found that standard extraction techniques achieved only 43-58% recovery rates, and that calibration methods significantly affected measurement accuracy. The study highlights ongoing challenges in reliably quantifying microplastic pollution in real-world water samples.
Tumor Spheroid Uptake of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds Is Limited by Mass Density: A 4D Light-Sheet Assay
Researchers developed a new 4D light-sheet microscopy platform to study how fluorescent nanodiamonds penetrate tumor tissue models. They found that the nanoparticles' high density limited their ability to reach the interior of tumor spheroids, an important consideration for designing nanoparticle-based cancer treatments. While focused on nanodiamonds rather than microplastics, the study advances understanding of how nanoparticle physical properties determine their behavior in biological tissues.
Aminated polystyrene and DNA strand breaks in A549, Caco-2, THP-1 and U937 human cell lines
Researchers exposed four types of human cells — lung, intestinal, and two immune cell types — to amine-coated polystyrene nanoplastics (240 nm) and found no significant DNA damage or cell death, though the particles did deplete an antioxidant called glutathione in lung cells, suggesting a mild oxidative stress effect worth monitoring.
Micro‐by‐micro interactions: How microorganisms influence the fate of marine microplastics
This review examines how microorganisms interact with microplastics in marine environments, including biofilm formation, biodegradation, and effects on plastic transport and sedimentation. Researchers found that microbial colonization of plastics can influence how microplastics move through the water column and enter food webs. The study highlights that understanding these micro-by-micro interactions is essential for assessing the environmental fate of microplastic pollution.
Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
Researchers measured nanoplastic concentrations in polar ice from both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. They detected nanoplastic particles in ice samples from both poles, confirming that plastic pollution has reached even the most remote environments on Earth. The study demonstrates that nanoplastics are now a globally distributed contaminant, present even in pristine polar regions far from major population centers.
Health burden and economic loss attributable to ambient PM2.5 in Iran based on the ground and satellite data
Researchers estimated that long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) caused between 49,000 and 59,000 deaths in Iran in 2018 — representing economic losses of up to $12.8 billion — with satellite-based pollution data revealing greater health impacts than ground monitoring alone captured.
Exposure to nanoplastic particles and DNA damage in mammalian cells
This review assessed the evidence for DNA damage caused by nanoplastic exposure in mammalian cells, focusing primarily on polystyrene particles. Researchers found that most studies reported increased DNA strand breaks and chromosomal damage, though the results varied depending on particle size, surface chemistry, and concentration. The evidence indicates that nanoplastics have the potential to cause genetic damage in mammalian cells, but more standardized testing is needed to fully understand the risks.
Microplastic pollution associated with reduced respiration in seagrass (Zostera marina L.) and associated epiphytes
Researchers examined how microplastic exposure from polyethylene and polypropylene affects the seagrass Zostera marina and the algae growing on its leaves. They found that microplastics significantly reduced respiration rates in both the seagrass and its associated epiphytes, while photosynthesis was less affected. The study suggests that microplastic pollution could quietly undermine the health of seagrass meadows, which provide critical ecosystem services in coastal waters.