Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfideand Increased PolybrominatedMethanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in AcidifiedOcean

Researchers conducted a ship-based microcosm experiment to investigate how combined microplastic pollution and ocean acidification affect biogenic climate-active gases, finding decreased dimethylsulfide and increased polybrominated methanes, with potential implications for marine climate regulation.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfideand Increased PolybrominatedMethanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in AcidifiedOcean

Researchers conducted a ship-based microcosm experiment examining the combined effects of microplastic pollution and ocean acidification on short-lived biogenic climate-active gases, finding that these stressors together decreased dimethylsulfide while increasing polybrominated methanes, suggesting novel climate feedback pathways.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Effects of micro- and nano-plastics on community assemblages and dimethylated sulfur compounds production

Researchers conducted a field microcosm experiment to study how micro- and nanoplastics affect marine plankton communities and the production of climate-relevant sulfur compounds. They found that medium and high concentrations of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyamide particles disrupted zooplankton grazing and altered the production of dimethyl sulfide. The study suggests that plastic pollution could interfere with marine biogeochemical cycles that play a role in climate regulation.

2026 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Stress Alters Microorganism Community Structure and Reduces the Production of Biogenic Dimethylated Sulfur Compounds

Researchers studied how microplastic stress alters marine microbial community composition and affects production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide, which play key roles in global sulfur cycling and cloud formation. Microplastic exposure shifted microbial community structure and significantly reduced DMSP and DMS production, with potential implications for climate-relevant atmospheric sulfur emissions from the ocean.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics stress alters microorganism community structure and reduces the production of biogenic dimethylated sulfur compounds

This study examined how microplastic stress affects marine microbial community structure and the production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) -- sulfur compounds that play key roles in global sulfur cycling and cloud formation. Microplastic exposure altered microbial community composition and significantly reduced DMSP and DMS production, indicating potential cascading effects on global climate-regulating biogeochemical cycles.

2024 Limnology and Oceanography 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of nano- and micro-plastics exposure on zooplankton grazing, bacterial communities, and dimethylated sulfur compounds production in the microcosms

Researchers investigated how nano- and microplastics affect zooplankton grazing, bacterial communities, and the production of climate-relevant dimethyl sulfide compounds. The study found that plastic particle exposure reduced zooplankton feeding rates and disrupted dimethyl sulfide production in a dose- and size-dependent manner, with nanoplastics showing greater toxicity than larger microplastics.

2024 Environmental Pollution 2 citations
Article Tier 2

A Study of the Effects of Microplastics on Microbial Communities in Marine Sediments

This study investigated how the presence of microplastics in marine sediments affects microbial communities and, specifically, the methane cycle, finding that microplastics significantly altered microbial community structure and function. Since marine sediment microbes play a critical role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, microplastic contamination could have broader climate-relevant effects beyond direct toxicity.

2024 Highlights in Science Engineering and Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics alter plankton community and enhance greenhouse gas emissions: A case study in the China coastal sea

Researchers demonstrated through ship-based and laboratory experiments that polystyrene microplastics suppress phytoplankton growth by up to 82 percent and increase dissolved organic carbon accumulation in coastal seawater. The microplastics restructured plankton communities and enhanced the production of brominated volatile halocarbons, which are ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases. The study suggests that microplastic pollution in coastal waters may have cascading effects on marine carbon cycling and atmospheric chemistry.

2025 Water Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic accelerate the phosphorus-related metabolism of bacteria to promote the decomposition of methylphosphonate to methane

Researchers found that microplastics accelerate phosphorus-related metabolism in marine bacteria, promoting the decomposition of methylphosphonate to methane in oxygenated water and revealing a previously unknown mechanism linking plastic pollution to greenhouse gas production.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 30 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Polyethylene Microplastics on Growth and Halocarbon Release of Marine Microalgae].

Lab experiments showed that polyethylene microplastics affected two species of marine microalgae differently, inhibiting growth of one while promoting growth of the other. Microplastic stress also increased production of reactive oxygen species and altered the release of volatile halocarbons, trace gases important for climate and ozone chemistry.

2023 PubMed 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics promote methane emission in estuarine and coastal wetlands

This study found that microplastics in coastal and estuarine wetlands increase methane emissions by boosting the activity of methane-producing microorganisms while reducing methane-consuming ones. Both conventional and biodegradable plastics had this effect, meaning microplastic pollution is not just a direct health concern but also contributes to climate change by amplifying greenhouse gas release from natural ecosystems.

2024 Water Research 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Sea Ice and Water Mass Influence Dimethylsulfide Concentrations in the Central Arctic Ocean

Researchers measured a climate-relevant gas (dimethylsulfide) in Arctic Ocean surface waters and found concentrations were influenced by sea ice extent and water mass type. This study is focused on atmospheric chemistry rather than microplastics.

2019 Frontiers in Earth Science 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyethylene microplastics on CHCl3 and CHBr3 fluxes and microbial community in temperate salt marsh soil

This study examined how polyethylene microplastics in marine sediments affect the production of halogenated compounds (chloroform and bromoform) and microbial community structure, finding that plastics alter both biogeochemical fluxes and microbial diversity.

2024 Environmental Pollution 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Affect Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane and Sedimentary Prokaryotic Communities in Cold Seep Areas

Laboratory experiments exposing cold seep seafloor sediments to microplastics for 120 days showed that polyamide and PET microplastics reduced methane oxidation rates to roughly a third of normal and altered the bacterial communities responsible for this process. Cold seep sediments are major global sinks for methane, so microplastic disruption of this microbial activity could have implications for greenhouse gas cycling in deep ocean environments.

2023
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics exposure on ingestion, fecundity, development, and dimethylsulfide production in Tigriopus japonicus (Harpacticoida, copepod)

Researchers tested how polyethylene and nylon-6 microplastics affect the copepod Tigriopus japonicus, finding that microplastic exposure reduced feeding and reproductive output and suppressed the production of the climate-relevant gas dimethylsulfide during copepod grazing.

2020 Environmental Pollution 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Greenhouse gas cycling by the plastisphere: The sleeper issue of plastic pollution

The microbial community living on ocean microplastics (the plastisphere) appears to contribute to cycling of greenhouse gases CO2 and N2O in the South Pacific Ocean. This finding suggests that the plastisphere may play a previously unrecognized role in ocean biogeochemistry with implications for climate change.

2019 Chemosphere 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Production Potential of Greenhouse Gases Affected by Microplastics at Freshwater and Saltwater Ecosystems

Researchers experimentally analyzed how four types of microplastics (PET, HDPE, PVC, and polyamide) affect greenhouse gas production in freshwater and saltwater soils, finding that microplastics promoted CO2 production across all ecosystems while HDPE had the greatest impact on methane emissions at 1,276 umol/g/L.

2022 Atmosphere 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine plastics alter the organic matter composition of the air-sea boundary layer, with influences on CO2 exchange: a large-scale analysis method to explore future ocean scenarios

Researchers used six large-scale mesocosms filled with Mediterranean seawater to simulate high microplastic concentration scenarios, finding that polystyrene microbeads increased microbial biomass production and organic matter enrichment in the sea-surface microlayer, with potential implications for CO2 gas exchange at the air-sea boundary.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Physiological responses and altered halocarbon production in Phaeodactylum tricornutum after exposure to polystyrene microplastics

Exposure to microplastics altered physiological responses and halocarbon production in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, with implications for oceanic emissions of ozone-depleting brominated substances.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Reshape the Fate of Aqueous Carbon by Inducing Dynamic Changes in Biodiversity and Chemodiversity

Researchers found that microplastics reshape aqueous carbon cycling by releasing chemical additives that inhibit autotrophic bacteria, promoting CO2 emissions, and stimulating microbial metabolic pathways that transform dissolved organic matter into more stable, less bioavailable forms.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Amplify Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freshwater Sediments through Synergistic Interactions

A large-scale aquatic microcosm experiment with 1264 containers found that greater microplastic chemical diversity — more types of polymers together — significantly amplified greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater sediments, with warming temperature further compounding the effect.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polystyrene microplastic on the growth and volatile halocarbons release of microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics inhibit the growth of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum and significantly alter the release of volatile halocarbons, including trihalomethanes, raising concerns about microplastic impacts on oceanic climate-active trace gas production.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastics Affect the Ocean's Uptake of Atmospheric CO₂ across the Marine Boundary Layer

Researchers used six large-scale mesocosms to test whether microplastics in seawater affect the sea-surface microlayer and thereby influence air-sea CO2 exchange, by measuring microbial organic matter dynamics in the presence and absence of 30-micrometre polystyrene beads over a 12-day experiment. They found that microplastics altered microbial biomass production and organic compound accumulation in the sea-surface microlayer, with potential implications for the ocean's capacity to absorb atmospheric CO2.

2024
Article Tier 2

Ocean acidification has a strong effect on communities living on plastic in mesocosms

A mesocosm experiment found that simulated ocean acidification significantly changed the microbial communities colonizing plastic debris (the "plastisphere"), increasing the relative abundance of pathogenic and parasite bacteria and altering nutrient cycling. This is concerning because ocean acidification driven by climate change could make plastic pollution even more dangerous by turning floating plastics into enhanced vectors for harmful microbes.

2023 Limnology and Oceanography Letters 7 citations