Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic pollution inhibits stream leaf decomposition through modulating microbial metabolic activity and fungal community structure

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics significantly inhibited leaf litter decomposition in freshwater streams, even at low concentrations. The study suggests this occurs through suppression of key microbial enzymes and shifts in fungal community structure, indicating that nanoplastic pollution could disrupt important nutrient cycling processes in freshwater ecosystems.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Lead and Nanoplastic Co-Exposure on Decomposition, Microbial Diversity, and Community Assembly Mechanisms in Karst Riverine Miscanthus Litter

Researchers conducted a 90-day experiment exposing plant litter in simulated karst river conditions to lead, nanoplastics, and their combinations. Low-dose nanoplastics accelerated litter decomposition while high doses suppressed it, and co-exposure with lead produced complex, non-linear effects. The study found that bacterial communities remained resilient to contamination, while fungal communities were far more vulnerable, suggesting fungi are the weaker link in pollutant-stressed decomposition processes.

2025 Microorganisms 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Fluorescent nanoplastics enhanced toxicity of Graphene oxide nanoparticles in freshwater algae Scenedesmus obliquus

The presence of fluorescent polystyrene nanoplastics significantly increased the toxicity of graphene oxide nanoparticles to the freshwater alga Scenedesmus obliquus, demonstrating that nanoplastics can act as vectors that amplify the effects of co-occurring nanocontaminants.

2024
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoparticles intensify the algae-mediated negative priming effect on leaf litter decomposition

Researchers showed that polystyrene nanoplastics intensify the natural inhibitory effect of benthic algae on leaf litter decomposition in streams, reducing decomposition rates by 21%, by depleting labile carbon transfer from algae to fungal decomposers and reducing fungal diversity, including key decomposer genera essential for aquatic nutrient cycling.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of nanoplastic exposure routes on leaf decomposition in streams

Researchers conducted a microcosm experiment showing that dietary exposure to nanoplastics — through eating contaminated leaf litter — more severely disrupts stream food webs than waterborne exposure, reducing microbial enzyme activity, lowering leaf lipid content, and decreasing river snail feeding rates by up to 17%.

2024 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics with different functional groups modulate cellular and molecular mechanisms of reduced graphene oxide toxicity on the green microalga, Scenedesmus obliquus

Researchers tested how microplastics with different surface chemistries interact with reduced graphene oxide, another emerging pollutant, and their combined effects on green algae. They found that certain microplastics reduced the toxicity of graphene oxide by adsorbing it, while others amplified the harmful effects depending on their surface functional groups. The study reveals that the combined impact of different nanomaterials in the environment can vary widely based on their chemical properties.

2024 Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Fluorescent nanoplastics increase the toxic effects of Graphene oxide nanoparticles in freshwater algae Scenedesmus obliquus

Researchers examined how fluorescent nanoplastics modify the toxic effects of graphene oxide nanoparticles on freshwater algae. They found that the combination of nanoplastics and graphene oxide significantly amplified toxicity compared to either pollutant alone, increasing oxidative stress, membrane damage, and loss of photosynthetic activity. The study highlights that co-occurring nanoscale pollutants in freshwater environments may pose greater ecological risks than individual contaminants.

2024 Toxicology Reports 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics intensify metal-induced impacts in freshwater ecosystems

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics — both bare and carboxylated — intensified metal-induced impairment of leaf litter decomposition by aquatic hyphomycetes in freshwater microcosms, with combined stressor effects observed at environmentally relevant concentrations and amplified at higher exposures.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Can microplastics from personal care products affect stream microbial decomposers in the presence of silver nanoparticles?

This study exposed freshwater fungal decomposers to microplastics from personal care products and silver nanoparticles, individually and in combination, finding that both pollutants reduced microbial activity and that combined exposure often produced additive or synergistic inhibition. The results highlight the risk to stream-based decomposition processes from personal care product-derived pollutants.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined Exposure of Microplastics and Climate Warming Affects the Bacteria-Driven Macrophyte Litter Decomposition in an Urban Lake

Researchers conducted a 30-day microcosm experiment to study how climate warming and polystyrene microplastics interact to affect plant litter decomposition in lake ecosystems. The study found that combined warming and high microplastic concentrations promoted litter decomposition by increasing bacterial biomass and diversity, but also raised concerns by boosting potentially harmful bacteria on microplastic surfaces.

2026 Environmental Management
Article Tier 2

Impacts of low concentrations of nanoplastics on leaf litter decomposition and food quality for detritivores in streams

Researchers found that low concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics impaired leaf litter decomposition in forested streams by reducing aquatic hyphomycete fungal activity and decreasing food quality for detritivore invertebrates, threatening stream ecosystem function.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles in constructed wetlands: Microbial and macrophyte responses

Researchers co-exposed constructed wetlands to polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles and found synergistic disruption of the electron transport chain, impaired ATP production, and altered nitrogen transformation, with combined exposure more toxic than either contaminant alone.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Response of a simulated aquatic fungal community to nanoplastics exposure and functional consequence on leaf decomposition

Researchers exposed a simulated stream fungal community to nano-polystyrene and found that even low concentrations (1–100 µg/L) suppressed fungal reproduction and reduced the abundance of Geotrichum candidum, slowing leaf litter decomposition by up to 27.9% and disrupting a key aquatic nutrient cycling function.

2024 Environmental Pollution 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and silver nanoparticles compromise detrital food chains in streams through effects on microbial decomposers and invertebrate detritivores

Researchers tested how microplastics and silver nanoparticles, both common pollutants from personal care products, affect stream food webs built around decomposing leaf litter. They found that both pollutants, alone and in combination, reduced fungal decomposition and harmed invertebrate feeding and growth, disrupting the base of the food chain. The study suggests that the co-occurrence of these contaminants in freshwater could impair nutrient cycling in stream ecosystems.

2024 Chemosphere 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Can nature-based biochar and biochar nanoparticles diminish the impacts of silver nanoparticles and microplastics on microbially-driven stream detrital ecosystem?

Researchers tested whether biochar and biochar nanoparticles could offset the adverse effects of silver nanoparticles and microplastics on stream microbial decomposer communities and leaf-litter decomposition. Biochar nanoparticles actually stimulated fungal reproduction and decomposition activity and alleviated the toxicity of both silver NPs and MPs, demonstrating nature-based remediation potential.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances
Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene microplastics in bare and iron oxide-coated quartz sand: Effects of ionic strength, humic acid, and co-existing graphene oxide

Researchers investigated how graphene oxide nanoparticles and humic acid influence the transport of polystyrene microplastics through sand columns, comparing bare quartz sand with iron oxide-coated sand. They found that iron oxide-coated sand strongly retained microplastics regardless of other factors, while graphene oxide significantly promoted microplastic transport by increasing surface charge and creating steric barriers. The study suggests that the co-presence of nanomaterials and organic matter in the environment can significantly alter how microplastics move through soil and groundwater systems.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic residues in wetland ecosystems: Do they truly threaten the plant-microbe-soil system?

Researchers used a controlled pot experiment to assess microplastic effects on wetland plant growth, soil microbial communities, and nutrient cycling, finding that MPs altered soil enzyme activity and shifted bacterial community composition but had variable effects on plant growth depending on plastic type.

2021 Environment International 238 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined influence of the nanoplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure on microbial community in seawater environment

Researchers studied the individual and combined effects of nanoplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on microbial communities in seawater. They found that the combination of these two pollutants altered microbial diversity and community structure differently than either pollutant alone. The study suggests that the interaction between nanoplastics and chemical pollutants in the ocean may have complex and unpredictable effects on marine microbial ecosystems.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics change the functional traits of biofilm communities in freshwater environment revealed by GeoChip 5.0

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics altered the functional traits of freshwater biofilm communities, changing their structure, metabolic activities, and gene expression related to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and leaf litter decomposition dynamics: New insights from a lotic ecosystem (Northeastern Italy)

Researchers studied how microplastics affect the natural decomposition of plant litter in a freshwater stream over four seasons, finding that microplastics had a small but measurable negative effect on decomposition rates and accumulated inside the invertebrates responsible for breaking down organic matter. These findings suggest microplastic pollution subtly disrupts the nutrient cycling processes that keep freshwater ecosystems healthy.

2023 Ecological Indicators 18 citations
Article Tier 2

The individual and combined effects of polystyrene and silver nanoparticles on nitrogen transformation and bacterial communities in an agricultural soil

Researchers ran a 45-day soil experiment combining polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics with silver nanoparticles, finding that the silver nanoparticles dominated nitrogen cycle disruption while polystyrene nanoplastics partially offset this by upregulating anammox genes — with particle size proving a critical variable in predicting combined ecological risk.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 41 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Do microbial decomposers find micro- and nanoplastics to be harmful stressors in the aquatic environment? A systematic review of in vitro toxicological research

Researchers systematically reviewed in vitro studies on how bacteria and fungi respond to micro- and nanoplastics, finding that polystyrene particles and E. coli dominate the literature and that nanoplastic toxicity commonly disrupts antioxidative systems, gene expression, and cell membrane integrity in microbial decomposers.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic and microbial ecological insights into the impacts of micro- and nano- plastics on microbial reductive dehalogenation of organohalide pollutants

Researchers found that microplastics generally enhanced microbial reductive dehalogenation of organohalide pollutants by 10-217%, while nanoplastics consistently inhibited it by increasing reactive oxygen species, revealing size-dependent effects on pollutant biotransformation in contaminated environments.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microsized and nanosized polystyrene on detrital processing and nutrient dynamics in streams

Researchers exposed a stream detrital food chain — leaf-decomposing microbes and a river snail — to nano- and microsized polystyrene particles and found that nanosized particles suppressed microbial growth while boosting certain enzymes, whereas microsized particles reduced leaf nitrogen content and snail feeding, indicating distinct ecological disruption pathways depending on particle size.

2026 Environmental Pollution