Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

PlasticLeachatesDisproportionately Impair AquaticAnimals: A Multifactor, Multieffect, and Multilevel Meta-analyticModel

A meta-analysis using a multifactor, multilevel model found that plastic leachates disproportionately impair aquatic animals compared to microplastic particles alone, with toxicity varying by leachate concentration, polymer type, and exposure duration across six biochemical endpoints.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

PlasticLeachatesDisproportionately Impair AquaticAnimals: A Multifactor, Multieffect, and Multilevel Meta-analyticModel

A meta-analysis using a multifactor, multilevel model found that plastic leachates disproportionately impair aquatic animals compared to microplastic particles alone, with toxicity varying by leachate concentration, polymer type, and exposure duration across six biochemical endpoints.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

PlasticLeachatesDisproportionately Impair AquaticAnimals: A Multifactor, Multieffect, and Multilevel Meta-analyticModel

A meta-analysis using a multifactor, multilevel model found that plastic leachates disproportionately impair aquatic animals compared to microplastic particles alone, with toxicity varying by leachate concentration, polymer type, and exposure duration across six biochemical endpoints.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

PlasticLeachatesDisproportionately Impair AquaticAnimals: A Multifactor, Multieffect, and Multilevel Meta-analyticModel

A meta-analysis using a multifactor, multilevel model found that plastic leachates disproportionately impair aquatic animals compared to microplastic particles alone, with toxicity varying by leachate concentration, polymer type, and exposure duration across six biochemical endpoints.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Plastic Leachates Disproportionately Impair Aquatic Animals: A Multifactor, Multieffect, and Multilevel Meta-analytic Model

This large-scale analysis of 115 studies found that chemicals leaching out of plastics significantly harmed aquatic animals, reducing survival by 28%, impairing development by 30%, and hurting reproduction by 13%. Marine species were more sensitive than freshwater species, and smaller organisms at the base of the food chain were most vulnerable. These findings are important because toxic chemicals leaching from plastic waste can accumulate through the food chain and ultimately reach humans through seafood.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 5 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Effects of microplastics on the toxicity of co-existing pollutants to fish: A meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of 1,380 biological endpoints from 55 studies found that microplastics in co-existing pollutant solutions significantly increased toxicity to fish beyond what the pollutants caused alone, particularly elevating immune system damage, metabolic disruption, and oxidative stress. The effect depended on fish life stage and microplastic size, but not on pollutant or polymer type.

2023 Water Research 81 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Aging process potentially aggravates microplastic toxicity in aquatic organisms: Evidence from a comprehensive synthesis

This meta-analysis found that environmental aging of microplastics significantly worsens their toxicity to aquatic organisms overall, particularly harming algae, zooplankton, and fish. However, the effect varied by organism type — aged microplastics were less toxic to aquatic plants. Aging methods, particle characteristics, and environmental conditions all modulated the severity of toxicity.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aggravate the bioaccumulation and toxicity of coexisting contaminants in aquatic organisms: A synergistic health hazard

Researchers conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of 870 endpoints from 40 studies to evaluate whether microplastics increase the bioaccumulation and toxicity of co-occurring contaminants in aquatic organisms. They found that microplastics significantly increased co-contaminant bioaccumulation by 31% and exacerbated toxicity by 18%, with effects manifesting as increased oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and immunotoxicity. The study confirms that microplastics act as vectors that amplify the hazards of other environmental pollutants.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics effects in a multiple stressed marine environment

Researchers examined how micro- and nanoplastics interact with other environmental stressors in marine settings, finding that realistic multi-stressor scenarios can amplify or modify plastic toxicity in ways single-exposure studies miss.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 21 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

An enigma: A meta-analysis reveals the effect of ubiquitous microplastics on different taxa in aquatic systems

This meta-analysis pooled data from multiple studies to assess how microplastics affect aquatic organisms including fish, invertebrates, and zooplankton. Results showed that microplastic exposure can reduce feeding, growth, and reproduction across different species, raising concerns about broader impacts on aquatic food webs.

2022 Frontiers in Environmental Science 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Functional Trait-Based Evidence of Microplastic Effects on Aquatic Species

Researchers merged data from two global meta-analyses on microplastic effects on benthic invertebrates and fish to compare impacts across functional traits, finding that microplastics impair feeding, reproduction, and growth across both vertebrate and invertebrate aquatic species.

2023 Biology 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Review of Ecotoxicological Effects, Exposure Pathways and Trophic Transfer Risks

This review synthesises evidence on the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics in marine, freshwater, and estuarine environments, covering ingestion, bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, and physiological harms across aquatic fauna. It identifies chemical co-contamination and particle size as key modulators of toxicity.

2025 UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicity effect factors for plastic additives on the aquatic environment: a new approach for life cycle impact assessment

Researchers calculated toxicity effect factors for 75 plastic additives — chemicals mixed into plastics to improve flexibility, durability, and color — gathering 461 data points across 75 aquatic species to assess how much these chemicals harm marine and freshwater life. The resulting factors can be used in life cycle assessments to quantify the environmental damage caused by plastic additives leaching into water, helping guide greener plastic design and policy.

2023 Environmental Pollution 32 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Microplastics induce neurotoxicity in aquatic animals at environmentally realistic concentrations: A meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of 35 studies demonstrated that microplastic exposure at environmentally realistic concentrations (median 0.1 mg/L) significantly decreased brain acetylcholinesterase levels by 16.2% in aquatic animals, confirming neurotoxic effects. The neurotoxicity was linked to particle size and exposure duration but was independent of animal species, polymer type, or concentration.

2022 Environmental Pollution 111 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis of the effects of microplastic on fish: Insights into growth, survival, reproduction, oxidative stress, and gut microbiota diversity

A meta-analysis of 3,757 biological endpoints from 85 studies found that microplastic exposure significantly inhibits fish growth, survival, and reproduction while increasing oxidative damage, but does not significantly alter gut microbiota diversity. The severity of toxic effects depends on microplastic type, size, concentration, exposure pathway, and the fish's life stage.

2024 Water Research 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity Mechanism, Exposure Pathways, and Environmental Risk Assessment of Microplastic Pollution

This book chapter reviews the toxicity mechanisms and exposure pathways of microplastics in aquatic environments, examining how MPs cause harm through physical ingestion, chemical leaching, and facilitation of co-contaminant transport, and discussing frameworks for environmental risk assessment.

2025
Article Tier 2

An effect factor approach for quantifying the impact of plastic additives on aquatic biota in life cycle assessment

Researchers developed a preliminary effect factor approach to quantify the environmental impact of plastic additives on aquatic organisms within life cycle assessment frameworks, addressing a critical gap in how marine plastic chemical impacts are characterized.

2022 The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Cross-ecosystem impacts of plastic pollution: a systematic analysis of environmental threats

A systematic analysis of recent literature on plastic pollution across ecosystems found that microplastics impair organisms through physical ingestion, chemical toxicity, and facilitated transfer of co-contaminants, with cross-ecosystem effects linking terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments.

2025 Brazilian Journal of Development
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Effects of microplastics on the functional traits of aquatic benthic organisms: A global-scale meta-analysis

Microplastics had a moderate overall negative effect on functional traits of aquatic benthic organisms, particularly impairing energy assimilation and population-level traits like reproduction, while behavior and feeding traits appeared unaffected.

2021 Environmental Pollution 75 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis unravels the complex combined toxicity of microplastics and antibiotics in aquatic ecosystems

A meta-analysis of 730 datasets found that microplastics amplify antibiotic accumulation in aquatic organisms and worsen effects on growth, development, and immune function, but paradoxically appear to mitigate reproductive toxicity from antibiotics. The impact depends on biological response pathway, microplastic concentration, antibiotic properties, and exposure time, with an inverse relationship between antibiotic toxicity and both microplastic concentration and exposure duration.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 28 citations
Article Tier 2

The legacy effect of microplastics on aquatic animals in the depuration phase: Kinetic characteristics and recovery potential

A meta-analysis of microplastic depuration studies across 68 kinetic curves from aquatic animals found that many species retain a fraction of ingested MPs even after prolonged exposure-free periods, with retention rates and recovery timelines varying by species and MP type. The findings highlight the legacy effects of microplastic exposure that persist after contamination ends.

2022 Environment International 18 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Global distribution characteristics and ecological risk assessment of microplastics in aquatic organisms based on meta-analysis

This meta-analysis assessed the global distribution of microplastics in aquatic organisms across multiple trophic levels, finding that biological characteristics like body size and feeding strategy significantly influence microplastic ingestion rates. The study provides a framework for ecological risk assessment and proposes strategies to reduce microplastic input into water bodies.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 22 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Microplastics could be marginally more hazardous than natural suspended solids – A meta-analysis

Species sensitivity distributions constructed from harmonized toxicity data suggest microplastics may be marginally more hazardous to aquatic organisms than natural suspended sediments, though high uncertainty prevents definitive conclusions. The lack of comparable experimental studies and dose-dependent data was a major limitation.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Adverse outcome pathway networks of microplastic ecotoxicity to aquatic organisms: A critical review

Researchers used automated text-mining combined with multi-level ecotoxicological review to construct adverse outcome pathway networks for microplastic toxicity in aquatic organisms. They mapped how microplastics cause harm from initial tissue contact through molecular disturbances to higher-level biological effects in gills, gut, liver, gonads, and brain. The study found strong evidence for early-stage toxic mechanisms but identified critical knowledge gaps in understanding downstream biological consequences.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology 1 citations