Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Preliminary Study on PCC-Chitosan’s Ability to Enhance Microplastic Excretion in Human Stools from Healthy Volunteers

In a crossover pilot study, 10 healthy volunteers consumed a standardised meal with or without a chitosan-based food supplement and had their stool tested for microplastics. The supplement significantly increased faecal MP excretion, suggesting chitosan may facilitate the physical removal of ingested microplastics from the gut.

2025
Article Tier 2

Preliminary Study on PCC-Chitosan’s Ability to Enhance Microplastic Excretion in Human Stools from Healthy Volunteers

In a small human trial, ten healthy volunteers who took a chitosan supplement (made from crayfish shells) before eating excreted significantly more microplastics in their stool compared to eating without the supplement. The chitosan appeared to help the body eliminate nine different types of microplastics more effectively, with overall microplastic excretion increasing by about 47%. While preliminary, this is one of the first studies to suggest a dietary intervention could help the human body get rid of accumulated microplastics.

2025 Foods 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Utilization of chitosan as a natural coagulant for polyethylene microplastic removal

Scientists tested chitosan, a natural material derived from shellfish, as an eco-friendly way to remove polyethylene microplastics from water. Under the best conditions (pH 6.0 with 100 mg/L of chitosan), the treatment removed 81.5% of microplastics, offering a promising and environmentally safe approach to cleaning microplastic-contaminated water.

2025 Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimisation of Chitosan as A Natural Flocculant for Microplastic Remediation

Laboratory tests found that chitosan — a natural, biodegradable material derived from shellfish — can remove 68.3% of microplastics from water using a coagulation-flocculation process, with an optimal concentration of 30 ppm. Higher chitosan doses increased organic matter in the water (COD and BOD), suggesting a trade-off between microplastic removal efficiency and water quality parameters. Chitosan offers a promising eco-friendly alternative to synthetic chemicals for treating microplastic-contaminated water.

2023 Journal of Emerging Science and Engineering 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of chitosan with nanoplastic in water: The effect of environmental conditions, particle properties, and potential for in situ remediation

Researchers tested chitosan — a natural polymer derived from shellfish — as a tool to aggregate and remove nanoplastic particles from water, finding it caused clumping at low doses but that high pH, dissolved organic matter, and surface chemistry of the plastics all affected its performance. The results suggest chitosan-based treatment has real potential for water remediation but requires careful tuning of environmental conditions.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

The use of chitosan for water purification from microplastics

Researchers investigated chitosan as a sorbent for removing microplastics from water, analyzing its physicochemical properties and proposing an optimized purification method based on chitosan's sorption characteristics.

2025 Open MIND
Article Tier 2

Synergistic removal of microplastic fibres: Integrating Chitosan coagulation in hybrid water pre-treatment systems

Microplastic fibers are the most common type of microplastic found entering water treatment plants, yet their elongated shape makes them especially hard to remove with conventional filters. This study investigated using chitosan — a natural, biodegradable material derived from crustacean shells — as a "green" coagulant to clump fibers together so they can be more easily removed, and also developed chemically modified versions of chitosan that work across a wider range of water conditions. The results showed that combining chitosan-based coagulation with microbubble aeration creates a synergistic pretreatment system that significantly improves microplastic fiber removal while avoiding the residual metal ions left by conventional chemical coagulants.

2026 Australasian Journal of Paramedicine
Article Tier 2

Potential of Fermented Plant Extract for Removing Microplastics in Artificial Gastric and Intestinal Juices

This study tested whether fermented plant extract could accelerate microplastic excretion from the gastrointestinal tract in an animal model, finding that the extract promoted intestinal motility and MP passage, suggesting a potential natural approach to reducing residence time of ingested MPs.

2025 Current Nutrition & Food Science
Article Tier 2

Chitosan with Natural Additives as a Potential Food Packaging

Researchers reviewed the potential of chitosan, a natural polymer derived from chitin, as a sustainable alternative to conventional plastic food packaging. Chitosan-based materials combined with natural additives show promising antimicrobial and biocompatible properties while being biodegradable. The study suggests these materials could help reduce plastic packaging waste and the associated microplastic pollution from food industry sources.

2023 Materials 53 citations
Article Tier 2

Harnessing the power of amphoterically modified Chitosan coagulants for enhanced Polyester microplastic fibre removal from water

Amphoterically modified chitosan was used as a coagulant aid to capture microplastics from water, leveraging the biopolymer's charge-switching ability to bind particles across a range of pH conditions. Chitosan-based capture materials are attractive because chitosan is biodegradable and derived from renewable sources.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic removal of microplastic fibres using hybrid pre-treatment: evaluation of Chitosan as a green coagulant

Researchers evaluated the capacity of existing water treatment pre-treatment methods to remove microplastic fibers and investigated chitosan — a low-molecular-weight, 75-85% deacetylated green coagulant — as an alternative to conventional chemical coagulants. The study assessed a hybrid pre-treatment approach, finding synergistic microplastic fiber removal efficiency when chitosan was combined with existing processes.

2024 Water e-Journal
Article Tier 2

Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside impacts fecal discharge of polystyrene microplastics in mice: Potential role of microbiota-derived metabolites

Researchers found that the dietary compound cyanidin-3-O-glucoside accelerated the fecal discharge of polystyrene microplastics in mice by remodeling gut microbiota composition and altering microbiota-derived metabolites, suggesting a potential dietary strategy for reducing microplastic accumulation.

2022 Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Coagulative removal of microplastics from aqueous matrices: Recent progresses and future perspectives

This review examines how coagulation, a common water treatment technique, can be used to remove microplastics from water. Researchers compared the effectiveness of different coagulants, finding that natural options like chitosan and protein-based coagulants achieved removal rates above 90 percent. The study highlights the promise of natural coagulants as a more sustainable approach to tackling microplastic contamination in water treatment systems.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 71 citations
Article Tier 2

Overlooked role of aged cationic natural organic matter in aquatic microplastics aggregation-sedimentation

Aged cationic chitosan (a natural biopolymer) was found to drive aggregation and sedimentation of both conventional polystyrene and biodegradable PMMA microplastics more effectively than other forms of organic matter, revealing a previously overlooked mechanism for microplastic removal in natural waters.

2025 Water Research 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Chitosan: A Novel Approach and Sustainable Way to Remove Contaminants and Treat Wastewater

This review examines how chitosan, a natural material derived from crustacean shells, can be used to remove pollutants including microplastics, heavy metals, and pesticides from wastewater. Chitosan's chemical structure allows it to bind and capture a wide range of contaminants, and it can be combined with other materials to improve its effectiveness. Developing affordable, biodegradable water treatment materials like chitosan could help reduce human exposure to microplastics in drinking water.

2025 Starch - Stärke 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of excretion of different sizes of orally ingested microplastics in rats

Researchers developed a method to analyze microplastics in rat feces to evaluate how particle size affects excretion after oral ingestion, incorporating an enzymatic digestion step that achieved recovery rates above 80%. They found that smaller microplastics (30-50 µm) had significantly lower fecal excretion rates compared to larger particles (200 µm), suggesting size-dependent retention or translocation in the gut.

2025 Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Article Tier 2

Fighting microplastics: The role of dietary fibers in protecting health

This review examines how microplastics entering the body through food may affect gastrointestinal health and explores whether dietary fibers could help reduce those risks. Researchers found that dietary fibers may help mitigate the harmful effects of microplastics through mechanisms related to their size, concentration, and composition, though the evidence is still limited. The study calls for more research into using dietary strategies as a practical approach to reducing the health impact of microplastic ingestion.

2024 Food Frontiers 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Efficient removal of polystyrene microplastics from seawater using a chitosan-activated carbon nanocomposite: Preparation of the adsorbent and optimisation of removal methods

Scientists created a new material that can remove up to 99% of tiny plastic particles (called microplastics) from seawater by mixing two natural substances - chitosan (from shellfish) and activated carbon. This filtering material can be cleaned and reused at least five times, making it a promising tool for removing plastic pollution from our oceans. Since microplastics can enter our food chain through seafood and sea salt, better ways to clean them from seawater could help protect human health.

2026 Next Materials
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of Organic Pollutants from Wastewater Using Chitosan-Based Adsorbents

This review examines how chitosan, a natural material made from shrimp and crab shells, can be used to remove organic pollutants including microplastics from wastewater. Different modified forms of chitosan can effectively absorb a range of contaminants like antibiotics, pesticides, and plastic particles from water. Since chitosan is biodegradable and non-toxic, it offers a sustainable alternative to chemical-based water treatment methods for reducing human exposure to microplastics and other pollutants.

2025 Polymers 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Novel probiotics adsorbing and excreting microplastics in vivo show potential gut health benefits

Researchers screened 784 bacterial strains and identified two probiotic strains that can stick to microplastic particles in the gut and help remove them from the body. In mice, these probiotics increased microplastic excretion by 34% and reduced the amount of plastic remaining in the intestine by 67%. This is the first study to show that specific probiotics could help the body get rid of ingested microplastics and reduce gut inflammation caused by them.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioadsorbents for removal of microplastics from water ecosystems: a review

This review analyzes over 200 studies on using natural biological materials, called bioadsorbents, to remove microplastics from water. Researchers found that materials like chitosan, biochar, and cellulose show strong potential for capturing microplastic particles from contaminated water. The study highlights bioadsorbents as a promising, eco-friendly alternative to conventional water treatment methods for addressing microplastic pollution.

2024 International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 25 citations
Article Tier 2

The use of chitosan as an antioxidant in the feed of cultivated P. vannamei shrimp against oxidative stress induced by exposure to microplastics

Researchers tested whether adding chitosan to shrimp feed could protect farmed shrimp from oxidative stress caused by microplastic exposure. They found that chitosan supplementation helped counteract the harmful oxidative effects of microplastics on shrimp tissues. The findings suggest that natural antioxidants like chitosan could be a practical strategy for reducing microplastic-related damage in aquaculture.

2024 Marine Environmental Research 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated Chitosan-based coagulation and microbubble pre-treatment for improved microplastic fibre removal from water

Researchers developed a combined chitosan-based coagulation and microbubble pre-treatment system for removing microplastic fibres from water, finding that this approach overcame the limitations of conventional inorganic coagulants and improved removal efficiency for the morphologically challenging fibre fraction.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Enhanced removal of microplastic fibres using aluminium and chitosan-based coagulants assisted with microbubble technology

Researchers tested the removal of microplastic fibers from water using aluminium-based and chitosan-based coagulants combined with sedimentation and microbubble flotation techniques. The aluminium coagulant achieved the highest removal rate of 88% through sedimentation in humic acid-containing water, while chitosan achieved 78% removal using microbubble flotation at a lower dosage. The findings suggest that the natural coagulant chitosan has potential as an effective and greener alternative for microplastic fiber removal in water treatment.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 8 citations