Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Small Ruminants I

A study in Guayas Province, Ecuador, found microplastics in every sample collected from 200 sheep feces, water, and feed samples, with water origin and feed category as the primary sources of microplastic contamination in small ruminant farming.

2025
Article Tier 2

Emerging contaminants in rural water: microplastic pollution and its association with agricultural, livestock, and industrial activities in Ecuador

Researchers surveyed 169 samples from 29 rural drinking water systems in southern Ecuador, finding microplastics in 61.5% of samples, with PET as the most frequent polymer and contamination levels correlating with proximity to agricultural, livestock, and industrial activities.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination in Pig Production

Researchers analyzed 200 samples—feces, water, and feed—from pig farming operations in Manta, Ecuador, finding microplastics in 100% of samples, with water source and feed category identified as key contamination sources.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination in Horse Husbandry

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination in water sources, feed types, and equine feces at two horse husbandry facilities in Guayas province, Ecuador, finding microplastics detectable in all sample types. Results showed 58 percent of river water samples and 66 percent of balanced feed samples contained microplastics, demonstrating that horses are exposed to plastic particles through multiple pathways in both their water supply and diet.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Brazilian milk: isolation and characterization

Brazilian researchers isolated and characterized microplastics from commercial milk samples, finding particles in all tested products across multiple polymer types, and raising concerns about microplastic contamination of dairy products through packaging and processing environments.

2024 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

Quantification and Characterization of Microplastics in Wildlife Feces: Case Study from Buffer zones of Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu

Researchers collected fecal samples from wild elephants, sambar deer, gaurs, and rabbits in buffer zones of the Western Ghats, India, finding 127 microplastic particles across 12 samples, demonstrating that wildlife in protected areas are ingesting microplastics from the surrounding environment.

2025 International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology
Article Tier 2

Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species

Researchers conducted a comprehensive survey of plastic contamination across the marine ecosystem of a Galapagos island — covering beaches, water, sediment, and invertebrates — and found widespread contamination including in native species, identifying dominant sources and risk levels for key marine animals.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 111 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on microplastics in mammalian feces: Monitoring techniques and associated challenges

Researchers reviewed how microplastics appear in the feces of humans, dogs, cats, and marine mammals, finding PET plastic to be the most common type across species. Analyzing feces offers a non-invasive way to track how much plastic organisms are ingesting, which could help guide environmental health policies.

2025 Environmental Challenges
Article Tier 2

Prevalence of Plastic and Hardware Foreign Bodies among Goats at Malawi Markets

Researchers examined goats at markets in Malawi and found a high prevalence of plastic and hardware foreign bodies in their digestive systems. The ingestion of these materials was linked to the animals scavenging in areas with poor waste management. The findings raise concerns about both animal welfare and food safety for people consuming these goats.

2024 Animals 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of Plastics in Cattle Digestive Systems

Researchers detected plastic microfibers (0.5 to 15 mm) in the fecal matter of two herds of cattle on a college campus, demonstrating that cattle ingest microplastics at similar rates regardless of management differences, and raising concerns about plastic transfer through livestock products.

2022 Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 7 citations
Article Tier 2

A non-invasive method of microplastics pollution quantification in green sea turtle Chelonia mydas of the Mexican Caribbean

Researchers used a non-invasive method of analyzing green sea turtle feces to measure microplastic contamination near the Caribbean coast of Mexico, finding between 10 and 89 microplastic particles per gram. Fibers were the most common type, made of nylon, PVC, polypropylene, and polyester. The study shows that even marine wildlife in relatively remote areas is exposed to significant microplastic pollution, and provides a way to monitor contamination without harming the animals.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in seawater and marine organisms across the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos

Researchers sampled water and seafood across 453,000 square kilometers of the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos Islands, finding microplastics in 100% of water samples and in every species of fish, squid, and shrimp collected. This confirms that microplastic contamination is pervasive even in remote ocean regions, raising concerns for both marine ecosystems and human food safety.

2021 Scientific Reports 288 citations
Article Tier 2

Critical review on microplastics in fecal matter: Research progress, analytical methods and future outlook

This critical review synthesizes methods and findings from microplastic research in fecal matter across diverse organisms, highlighting the need for standardized analytical methods to enable comparisons of microplastic passage and excretion rates.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental implications of microplastic pollution in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Researchers assessed microplastic concentrations, distribution, and characteristics across the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, finding widespread contamination with significant spatial variation and identifying environmental implications for marine ecosystems in this understudied region.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in large marine animals stranded in the Republic of Korea

Researchers analyzed microplastics in the digestive tracts of 12 stranded marine animals in South Korea, including whales, porpoises, dolphins, and sea turtles, detecting microplastic contamination across all species examined between 2019 and 2021.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Valoración de la presencia de microplásticos en la playa de San Vicente de la provincia de Manabí – Ecuador

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination at San Vicente beach in Manabi Province, Ecuador, using transect sampling and vacuum filtration, identifying microplastics at a concentration of 16.5 units/kg in white and blue colors across size classes of 1-4 mm, and characterizing microbial biofilm colonization on recovered particles.

2024 Revista Científica y Tecnológica UPSE
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in farmyard manures: implications for sustainable agriculture

Researchers investigated microplastic abundance and characteristics in non-commercial farmyard manures - a largely understudied pathway for microplastic entry into agricultural soils. The study assessed how manure application may serve as a source of microplastic contamination in farmland, contributing to understanding of plastic pollution cycles in terrestrial agricultural ecosystems.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Ecuador: A review of environmental and health-risk assessment challenges

This review summarizes the current state of microplastic research in Ecuador, covering contamination in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments as well as potential health effects. Researchers found that while evidence of microplastic pollution across Ecuador is growing, significant gaps remain in monitoring coverage and risk assessment methods. The study calls for standardized sampling and analysis protocols to better understand the scope of microplastic contamination in the country.

2023 Heliyon 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Using feces to indicate plastic pollution in terrestrial vertebrate species in western Thailand

Researchers examined feces from 12 wild animal species in western Thailand and found microplastics in over 40% of samples across eight species, including elephants, deer, and wild boar. The amount of microplastics found was linked to human activity near the animals' habitats. This demonstrates that microplastic contamination has reached even terrestrial wildlife in protected areas, entering the food chain far from obvious pollution sources.

2024 PeerJ 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in an endangered Galapagos pinniped: A comprehensive regional assessment

Researchers tested whether the endangered Galapagos sea lion, living in one of the world's most remote marine reserves, is ingesting microplastics. They found plastic particles in 44% of scat samples, with synthetic fibers dominant and polymer types suggesting both ocean-transported pollution and local fishing and domestic sources. Even in this protected and relatively pristine ecosystem, sea lions are regularly consuming microplastics, underscoring that no marine habitat is truly shielded from the global plastic pollution crisis.

2026 Environmental Pollution