Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

International Law and Regulation of Marine Microplastics: Current Situation, Problems, and Development

This study evaluated the current international legal framework governing marine microplastic pollution and identified significant gaps in regulatory coverage. Researchers found that existing global and regional legal instruments lack the specificity and enforcement mechanisms needed to effectively address microplastic contamination. The study offers recommendations for strengthening international law to better regulate the sources and impacts of marine microplastic pollution.

2024 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing the international regulation of plastic pollution beyond the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on marine litter and microplastics

This legal paper reviews international frameworks relevant to plastic pollution and argues for a binding global agreement specifically targeting plastic pollution, beyond existing resolutions. A comprehensive international treaty is increasingly seen as necessary to meaningfully reduce plastic pollution, including microplastics.

2018 Review of European Comparative & International Environmental Law 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Legal Analysis of the Prevention of Marine Microplastics Pollution

This legal analysis examines international law frameworks governing marine microplastic pollution prevention, identifying obstacles including enforcement difficulties, weak jurisdictional clarity, and insufficient coordination among existing treaty regimes, while noting growing attention to microplastics in UN General Assembly resolutions and calling for stronger multilateral legal mechanisms.

2022 Law and Economy
Article Tier 2

Updated review on microplastics in water, their occurrence, detection, measurement, environmental pollution, and the need for regulatory standards

This review examines microplastic occurrence, detection methods, and measurement techniques in aquatic environments, highlighting the urgent need for explicit regulatory frameworks to address the growing threat of microplastic pollution in water systems.

2021 Environmental Pollution 130 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystem: A review of existing policies and regulations

This review examines existing government policies and regulations worldwide aimed at controlling microplastic pollution in water environments. While many countries have taken steps like banning microbeads in personal care products, the authors found that current efforts are insufficient to prevent microplastic release at scale. The study calls for stronger, more coordinated global regulations to protect both ecosystems and public health from microplastic contamination.

2024 Chemosphere 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Occurrences, treatment methods, regulations and foreseen environmental impacts

This review provides a broad overview of microplastic pollution, covering where these particles are found, how they are treated and regulated, and what environmental impacts are anticipated. Researchers found that current wastewater treatment methods are often insufficient to fully remove microplastics, and regulatory frameworks remain inconsistent across countries. The study emphasizes the urgent need for improved treatment technologies and coordinated global policies to address this growing environmental challenge.

2022 Environmental Research 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Addressing Microplastic Pollution via the Global Plastic Treaty

This paper discusses the role of the global plastic treaty in addressing microplastic pollution, evaluating policy mechanisms, international governance challenges, and the scientific evidence needed to support binding reduction targets.

2024 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Burden of Microplastics Pollution and Contending Policies and Regulations

This review examines the growing global burden of microplastic pollution and the policies being developed to address it. Researchers found that inadequate waste management systems allow massive amounts of plastic to contaminate terrestrial and aquatic environments, threatening ecosystems and the billions of people who depend on them. The study evaluates existing regulations and suggests that stronger, more coordinated policy frameworks are needed to curb microplastic pollution.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 140 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in Freshwater – Regulatory Barriers for Better Water Protection

This review examines regulatory barriers to freshwater microplastic protection, analyzing the limitations of existing water quality frameworks in addressing microplastic pollution in rivers and lakes. The authors argue that jurisdictional fragmentation, lack of standardized monitoring methods, and absence of enforceable microplastic-specific limits prevent effective water protection.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Law = Agrár- és Környezetjog
Article Tier 2

An Examination of Evolving Concerns, Obstacles, and Prospects in Relation to Pollution in the Marine Environment

This review examines international and national regulatory frameworks for marine pollution, finding that laws are often reactive — triggered only after environmental disasters — and inadequate for addressing diffuse threats like microplastic contamination. The authors argue that current legal tools need modernization and stronger enforcement to keep pace with emerging pollutants. This is relevant context for understanding why microplastic regulation lags far behind scientific evidence of harm.

2023 Pakistan Journal of Criminal Justice 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Legislation and Policy on Pollution Prevention and the Control of Marine Microplastics

This review analyses international legislation and policies targeting marine microplastic pollution, finding that most existing regulations focus narrowly on microbeads while failing to address other microplastic types, and identifies three systemic dilemmas that impede more comprehensive regulatory frameworks.

2022 Water 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Prevailing Directives Regarding Microplastic Pollution

This review examines prevailing regulations and directives governing microplastic pollution, which enters land and water environments through inadequate plastic waste management and urban wastewater discharge. The authors analyze gaps in current policy frameworks and assess the effectiveness of existing global and regional legislative approaches.

2024
Article Tier 2

Bottlenecks of Global Plastic Strategy and the Way Forward of Microplastics Management

This review examines bottlenecks in global plastic waste management strategies, arguing that rising plastic use in everyday activities has outpaced regulatory and logistical capacity, and proposing pathways forward for more effective microplastics management at a global scale.

2025
Article Tier 2

International Water Law’s Role in Addressing the Problem of Marine Plastic Pollution: A Vital Piece in a Complex Puzzle!

This legal analysis examined the role of international water law in addressing marine plastic pollution, arguing that existing water governance frameworks have largely overlooked plastics as a water resource management problem. The author advocates for integrating plastic pollution controls into international water law instruments.

2022 Chinese Journal of Environmental Law 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in water resources: Global pollution circle, possible technological solutions, legislations, and future horizon

This review summarizes the global scope of microplastic contamination in water and sediment, finding levels that vary enormously -- from near zero to thousands of particles per sample. Microplastics absorb other pollutants from their surroundings, potentially concentrating harmful chemicals, and they infiltrate food chains from the smallest organisms upward. The authors call for stronger legislation and a combination of technological innovation, recycling, and public awareness to address this widespread threat to ecosystems and human health.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 29 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role of Legislation, Regulatory Initiatives and Guidelines on the Control of Plastic Pollution

This review examines existing plastic pollution regulations globally, finding that despite many proposals and national bans, the overall effectiveness of legislation is unclear and most measures focus narrowly on marine plastics or single-use items. The authors argue that laws often lag behind science and face practical limitations given how deeply embedded plastics are in daily life.

2020 Frontiers in Environmental Science 220 citations
Article Tier 2

Freshwater Microplastics: Challenges for Regulation and Management

This book chapter reviews the regulatory and management challenges posed by microplastic contamination of freshwater systems, noting that most policy attention has focused on marine environments. The authors call for freshwater-specific monitoring frameworks and coordinated international action to reduce plastic inputs to rivers and lakes.

2017 ˜The œhandbook of environmental chemistry 60 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics: A Review of Policies and Responses

This critical review assembled current knowledge on policies and regulatory responses to plastic pollution globally, including legislative measures, economic instruments, and voluntary commitments. The authors identify a gap between scientific evidence and policy action and call for stronger, more coordinated international governance of plastic pollution.

2022 Microplastics 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Tackling microplastics pollution in global environment through integration of applied technology, policy instruments, and legislation

This review examines the global microplastics pollution problem and evaluates solutions combining technology, policy, and legislation. Current water treatment technologies like membrane bioreactors can remove microplastics, but no single approach is sufficient. The authors call for coordinated international action combining better detection methods, cleanup technologies, and stronger regulations to address plastic pollution in both water and land environments.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 60 citations
Review Tier 2

Review on invasion of microplastic in our ecosystem and implications

This review examines microplastic pollution across aquatic, terrestrial, airborne, and biological environments, concluding that microplastics travel across national boundaries and media, requiring global collective action beyond individual national waste reduction policies.

2022 Science Progress 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Are We Underestimating Microplastic Contamination in Aquatic Environments?

This review argues that current microplastic monitoring methods likely underestimate the true extent of contamination in aquatic environments, especially for small particles and fibers. The authors call for standardized, more sensitive detection methods to better inform regulation and risk assessment.

2017 Environmental Management 277 citations
Article Tier 2

Why we need an international agreement on marine plastic pollution

This commentary argues for the establishment of an international agreement to address marine plastic pollution, noting that plastic debris including microplastics is a pervasive global threat to marine biodiversity, ecosystem services, and potentially human health. The authors highlight that existing regulatory frameworks are insufficient to manage the transboundary nature of the problem. The study calls for measurable reduction targets and coordinated international action to curb the flow of plastic into the world's oceans.

2017 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 275 citations
Article Tier 2

An International Legal Framework for Marine Plastics Pollution

This legal analysis reviews the current international framework for regulating marine plastics and identifies significant gaps and inconsistencies across treaties and agreements. The chapter argues that stronger, more unified global legal instruments are needed to effectively reduce plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

2023 Cambridge University Press eBooks 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The emergence of microplastics: charting the path from research to regulations

This study summarized recent groundbreaking microplastic research and emerging regulations, charting the path from scientific discovery to policy action and providing recommendations to overcome remaining regulatory barriers.

2023 Environmental Science Advances 40 citations