Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Floating photovoltaic systems: photovoltaic cable submersion testing and potential impacts.

This study examines whether submerged photovoltaic cables in floating solar installations degrade over time and release contaminants or plastic particles into aquatic ecosystems. The research addresses a gap in understanding the environmental impacts of floating solar technology as it expands globally.

2023 Open research Europe
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics on Aquatic Animals: A Case Study on Daphnia

Researchers exposed Daphnia water fleas to ten types of virgin plastic materials (HDPE, LDPE, PA, PVC, PP, PS, TPU, etc.) and measured survival, reproduction, and behavioral endpoints, finding that PVC and certain engineering plastics caused the greatest acute toxicity while softer polyolefins had lower effects.

2025 Journal of Natural Science Review
Article Tier 2

Floating photovoltaic systems: photovoltaic cable submersion testing and potential impacts

This study evaluated how submersion in water affects the durability of photovoltaic cables used in floating solar panel systems, assessing potential environmental impacts. Floating solar infrastructure, like all plastic-containing structures in water, has the potential to release microplastics as materials degrade.

2023 Open Research Europe 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental data of photovoltaic cable submersion tests

This dataset contains results from submersion tests of photovoltaic (solar panel) cables in freshwater and artificial seawater under realistic conditions. The tests tracked electrical insulation degradation and changes in water chemistry over time. The data is relevant to understanding how plastic-insulated cables used in floating solar installations contribute to microplastic pollution in water bodies.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Aquatic toxicity of UV-irradiated commercial polypropylene plastic particles and associated chemicals

Researchers tested the aquatic toxicity of UV-degraded polypropylene plastic particles on water fleas and algae. They found that smaller nanoplastic particles were significantly more toxic than larger microplastics, and the presence of a common plastic additive (the antioxidant Irgafos 168) made the particles even more harmful. The study suggests that as plastics break down in the environment and release their chemical additives, they may become increasingly dangerous to aquatic life.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Generation, characterization and toxicity analysis of secondary nanoplastics and byproducts from recycled LDPE on daphnia magna and spirodela polyrhiza

Researchers investigated whether recycled plastics generate nanoplastic particles and whether those particles and associated chemical byproducts are toxic. Results showed recycled plastics can produce nanoscale particles along with chemical leachates, raising questions about the safety of recycled plastic materials compared to virgin alternatives.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Recycled polyvinyl chloride microplastics: investigation of environmentally relevant concentrations on toxicity in adult zebrafish

Researchers investigated the toxicity of recycled polyvinyl chloride microplastics on adult zebrafish at environmentally relevant concentrations, finding that chemical leachates from these recycled particles pose measurable toxicological risks to aquatic organisms.

2023 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Generation, characterization and toxicity analysis of secondary nanoplastics and byproducts from recycled LDPE on daphnia magna and spirodela polyrhiza

Researchers generated and characterized secondary nanoplastics from recycled plastics and tested their toxicity alongside associated chemical byproducts. The study found that recycled plastic materials can produce nanoplastic particles that retain toxic properties, raising concerns about recycling as a complete solution.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Sublethal effects induced by different plastic nano-sized particles in Daphnia magna at environmentally relevant concentrations

Researchers tested whether nanoplastics made from three different plastics — polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) — harm tiny water fleas called Daphnia magna at environmentally realistic concentrations, finding that PVC nanoplastics caused the most damage to both cellular health and swimming behavior. This suggests that studies focused only on polystyrene nanoplastics may be underestimating the true hazard of nanoplastic pollution.

2023 Environmental Pollution 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Metal sorption onto nanoscale plastic debris and trojan horse effects in Daphnia magna: Role of dissolved organic matter

Researchers tested whether nanoscale plastic particles act as a "Trojan horse" by carrying toxic silver ions into water fleas (Daphnia magna), finding that the plastic-silver combination was indeed toxic even when neither substance alone caused harm — but dissolved organic matter (naturally present in rivers and lakes) largely blocked this effect. This suggests the Trojan horse risk from nanoplastics may be lower in natural freshwater environments than lab conditions imply.

2020 Water Research 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Leaching behavior of fluorescent additives from microplastics and the toxicity of leachate to Chlorella vulgaris

Researchers studied how fluorescent chemical additives leach from polyurethane sponge microplastics into different water environments. They found that the amount of additives released increased with higher pH and longer leaching times, with basic and saline waters extracting the most chemicals. The leachate reduced photosynthetic efficiency in the green alga Chlorella vulgaris, suggesting that chemicals leaching from microplastics may pose ecological risks to aquatic organisms.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 324 citations
Article Tier 2

Acute toxicity of triclosan, caffeine, nanoplastics, microplastics, and their mixtures on Daphnia magna

Researchers tested the acute toxicity of triclosan, caffeine, nanoplastics, and microplastics individually and in mixtures on the water flea Daphnia magna. They found that nanoplastics were more toxic than microplastics, and mixtures of these pollutants with triclosan or caffeine produced varying levels of combined toxicity. The study highlights that environmental pollutants rarely occur in isolation, and their mixtures may have unpredictable effects on aquatic organisms.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological consequences of polystyrene naturally leached in pure, fresh, and saltwater: lethal and nonlethal toxicological responses in Daphnia magna and Artemia salina

Researchers tested the toxic effects of chemicals that naturally leach out of polystyrene plastic in both freshwater and saltwater on two small aquatic organisms. They found that the leachates caused both lethal and sublethal effects, including reduced reproduction and mobility, with toxicity varying depending on water salinity. The study highlights that the chemicals released by degrading plastics may pose risks to aquatic life even when the plastic particles themselves are not directly ingested.

2024 Frontiers in Marine Science 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological assessment, in freshwater environment, of wastewater sludge coupled and uncoupled with micro‐polyvinyl chloride on algae and water fleas

Researchers conducted an ecotoxicological assessment of wastewater sludge in a freshwater environment, measuring the combined toxicity of microplastics and co-occurring contaminants in sludge on aquatic invertebrate and algae test species.

2024 Water Environment Research
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: toxicity and Bioacumulation at the first trophic levels of the food chain

Using standardized ecotoxicity tests, researchers exposed the water flea Daphnia magna and the alga Desmodesmus subspicatus to polyethylene microspheres — the kind widely used in cosmetic exfoliants — and found measurable harm at low concentrations. Crucially, adult Daphnia were ten times more sensitive than juveniles, and microscopy confirmed that microplastics physically accumulated in the animals' digestive tracts, showing that contamination begins at the very base of the food chain.

2023 MOJ Biology and Medicine 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-mediated transport of PCBs? A depuration study with Daphnia magna

This study used the water flea Daphnia magna to investigate whether microplastics can affect how persistent organic pollutants like PCBs are eliminated from aquatic organisms. The experiment found that microplastics could act as a vehicle for contaminant transport, supporting the concern that they change how organisms are exposed to legacy pollutants.

2018 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycled polyvinyl chloride microplastics: investigation of environmentally relevant concentrations on toxicity in adult zebrafish

Researchers investigated the toxicity of recycled PVC microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations in adult zebrafish, finding that these particles release chemicals that cause measurable toxic effects in exposed organisms.

2023 Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemicals sorbed to environmental microplastics are toxic to early life stages of aquatic organisms

Environmental microplastics collected from two Guadeloupe island beaches showed similar polymer compositions but very different contamination profiles and toxicity — beach-specific leachates caused early-life toxicity in aquatic organisms, with one sample's toxicity driven by lead and organochlorines and the other by copper and hydrocarbons.

2020 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental hazard of polypropylene microplastics from disposable medical masks: acute toxicity towards Daphnia magna and current knowledge on other polypropylene microplastics

Researchers assessed the acute toxicity of polypropylene microplastics derived from disposable medical masks to Daphnia magna water fleas. They found that mask-derived microplastics caused toxic effects at environmentally relevant concentrations. The study raises concerns that the massive increase in disposable face mask use during the pandemic has introduced a new source of harmful microplastic pollution into aquatic environments.

2022 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 74 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxic effects of polyethylene microplastics on Allonais inaequalis, Chironomus sancticaroli and Daphnia magna under conventional and stressful exposures

Lab experiments showed that polyethylene microplastics caused toxic effects in three freshwater invertebrates — a worm, a midge larva, and a water flea — under both standard and stressful conditions. The results indicate microplastics pose a real threat to freshwater biodiversity across different aquatic species.

2020 Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo)
Article Tier 2

Toxic effects of fluoxetine-loaded onto virgin or aged polypropylene, polyamide and polyvinyl chloride microparticles on Daphnia magna

Researchers tested whether microplastics loaded with the antidepressant fluoxetine could transfer the drug into the food chain using water fleas as a model organism. They found that all types of microplastics carrying fluoxetine were toxic to the water fleas, with virgin plastics causing more harm than weathered ones. The study provides evidence that microplastics can act as carriers for pharmaceutical pollutants in aquatic environments, delivering harmful chemicals to organisms that ingest them.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Determination of microplastics toxicity

Lab experiments tested the toxicity of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene microplastics on a green alga, a water flea, and zebrafish embryos, finding harmful effects at various concentrations. The study provides toxicological data supporting that microplastics pose real risks to aquatic organisms.

2020 Repository of Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb
Article Tier 2

Microplastics leachate may play a more important role than microplastics in inhibiting microalga Chlorella vulgaris growth at cellular and molecular levels

Researchers found that chemical compounds leaching from aged microplastics may be more harmful to algae than the microplastic particles themselves. UV-weathered polyethylene and PVC released substances that inhibited algae growth, caused oxidative stress, and altered gene expression more severely than direct particle exposure. The study suggests that the chemicals released by degrading microplastics deserve more attention as a source of aquatic toxicity.

2023 Environmental Pollution 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of some recyclable plastic on marine key species

Testing three types of microplastics (polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene) from common packaging against marine crustaceans and algae, researchers found that polypropylene was acutely toxic to all crustacean species tested, while polystyrene was toxic to one amphipod species, but leachates from all plastics were non-toxic. The results highlight that microplastic toxicity varies significantly by polymer type and organism, meaning blanket risk assessments may miss species-specific harms.

2023 1 citations