Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems in India: A Comprehensive Review

This review examines the occurrence, sources, and ecological risks of microplastics across freshwater ecosystems in India, synthesizing current literature on contamination levels in rivers, lakes, and other inland water bodies.

2025 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND ANALYTICAL REVIEWS
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in the Ganga River: A state-of-the-art review of pathways, mechanisms, and mitigation

This review examines microplastic pollution in India's Ganga River, which sustains hundreds of millions of people, identifying sources from industrial discharge, agricultural runoff, and inadequate waste management. Microplastics in the river threaten aquatic life through ingestion and bioaccumulation and ultimately affect the communities that rely on the river for drinking water and food. The study calls for comprehensive management strategies to protect both ecological and public health.

2025 Water Science & Technology Water Supply 9 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Microplastics as a contaminant in Indian riverine system: a review

This systematic review examines microplastic contamination across India's river systems, documenting the types, sources, and concentrations of plastic particles found in major waterways. The findings are concerning for human health because these rivers provide drinking water and irrigation for hundreds of millions of people, creating widespread potential exposure to microplastics.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in Ganga: Present Status and Future Need

This review documents the growing problem of microplastic pollution in the Ganges River in India, finding that the river is heavily contaminated with plastic particles from urban and industrial sources, threatening one of the world's most ecologically and culturally important waterways.

2022 Science and Culture 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in rivers and lakes of India: Sources, ecotoxicological impacts, and removal strategies

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic pollution in India's rivers and lakes, covering sources, ecological impacts, and removal strategies. Researchers found that Indian freshwater systems are increasingly contaminated from industrial discharge, domestic waste, agricultural runoff, and tourism. Evidence indicates that exposed aquatic organisms experience bioaccumulation, oxidative stress, and behavioral changes, underscoring the need for comprehensive remediation efforts.

2025 NanoImpact 1 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A Critical Review on the Characterization and Distribution of Microplastic Contaminants in Indian Water Environments: Pathways and Related Hazards

This systematic review examines microplastic contamination in India's freshwater environments, including rivers and lakes. While marine ecosystems have gotten the most attention, freshwater sources — which supply drinking water — are also heavily contaminated. The findings highlight how inadequate waste management and recycling infrastructure allow microplastics to spread through the water systems that communities depend on.

2025 Water Resources 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems of India: Current Trends and Future Perspectives

The study provides a comprehensive review of microplastic contamination in freshwater ecosystems across India, including lakes and rivers. Researchers found that microplastic research in Indian freshwater environments has grown significantly but remains limited compared to marine studies, highlighting the need for expanded monitoring given India's increasing plastic production and low recycling rates.

2023 ACS Omega 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Freshwater Environments – With Special Focus on the Indian Scenario

This review examines microplastic pollution in freshwater environments globally with a focus on the Indian context, finding that despite India being one of the world's largest contributors to marine plastic pollution, freshwater microplastic research in India remains almost entirely absent, and calling for systematic river catchment monitoring to quantify land-to-ocean plastic fluxes.

2022
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution: An emerging threat to freshwater aquatic ecosystem of India

This review examined microplastic pollution as an emerging threat to freshwater aquatic ecosystems in India, discussing sources, distribution, ecotoxicological effects on aquatic biota, and potential human health hazards. The authors highlighted that while marine microplastic research is extensive, freshwater ecosystems in India remain critically understudied relative to the scale of contamination.

2020 Journal of the Inland Fisheries Society of India 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Indian aquatic systems and its effects on plants, aquatic organisms and humans, and its methods of remediation

This review summarizes microplastic pollution across India's rivers, coasts, and estuaries, finding contamination widespread in both water and sediment. The highest concentrations were found in estuaries and the Hooghly River, with most research focused on southern India's coastal areas. The study highlights that microplastics in Indian waterways pose health risks to the large populations that depend on these water sources for drinking, fishing, and irrigation.

2024 Chemistry and Ecology 17 citations
Article Tier 2

A comprehensive assessment of macro and microplastics from Rivers Ganga and Yamuna: Unveiling the seasonal, spatial and risk factors

This study provides the first comprehensive look at plastic pollution in India's Ganga and Yamuna rivers, finding microplastics in surface water, deeper water, and sediments at all sampling locations. Contamination was higher during the wet season, and some of the polymers found are classified as hazardous. The millions of people living in the Indo-Gangetic Plain may be at risk from both direct water contact and indirect exposure through the food chain.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution in inland aquatic ecosystems of India with a global perspective on sources, composition, and spatial distribution

Researchers reviewed microplastic contamination in India's rivers, lakes, and wetlands, finding widespread pollution across water, sediment, and wildlife, with concentrations peaking during monsoon season due to runoff. The review highlights a critical gap: most studies don't account for how water flow and seasonal variation affect where microplastics go, making it hard to gauge the true health risk to people and ecosystems.

2024 Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of microplastic pollution in the aquatic ecosystems – An indian perspective

A review of Indian microplastic research across aquatic sediments, water, and biota found that river discharge, domestic sewage, and industrial runoff are major sources, and that monsoon hydrology plays a distinctive role in distributing MPs through India's aquatic ecosystems.

2020 Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics – an emerging threat in the Indian waterbodies

This review examines the current state of microplastic research in Indian aquatic ecosystems, documenting widespread contamination in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters alongside growing evidence of impacts on aquatic biota. The authors call for standardized national monitoring frameworks to better characterize and address India's emerging microplastic pollution crisis.

2022 Marine Biology Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution studies in India: a recent review of sources, abundances and research perspectives

This review summarizes microplastic pollution studies conducted across India, covering sources, distribution, and concentrations in aquatic environments and aquatic organisms. The study highlights the growing scale of microplastic contamination in Indian water bodies and the need for standardized national monitoring programs.

2021 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Baseline Study on Microplastics in Indian Rivers under Different Anthropogenic Influences

Researchers collected microplastic samples from Indian rivers under different levels of anthropogenic influence and found MPs in all sites, with concentrations correlating with population density and industrial activity, providing one of the first systematic field datasets for major Indian river systems.

2021 Water 113 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources and Impact of Microplastic Pollution in Indian Aquatic Ecosystem: A Review

This review examines sources and impacts of microplastic pollution across Indian aquatic ecosystems, documenting widespread contamination in marine and freshwater environments and discussing risks to living organisms given projections that ocean plastic will outweigh fish by 2050.

2020 Current World Environment 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution studies in India: a recent review of sources, abundances and research perspectives - a comparison with global research

This review summarizes published research on microplastic pollution in India, identifying sources and distribution across aquatic environments while noting that India remains one of the least-studied countries despite being a major plastic-producing and plastic-polluting nation. The paper compares Indian findings to global research and calls for expanded monitoring.

2022 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Multifaceted analysis of microplastic pollution dynamics in the Yamuna river: Assessing anthropogenic impacts and ecological consequences

Researchers surveyed microplastic pollution across 29 locations along the Yamuna River in India, spanning urban, rural, and industrial zones. They found an average of nearly 15,000 microplastic particles per liter, with hazardous polymers like PET and nylon being most common and concentrations highest near urban and industrial areas. The study highlights that the Yamuna is heavily contaminated with microplastics and that population density and industrial activity are major drivers of this pollution.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources and factors influencing microplastic concentration during monsoon season in the Ganga River, Bihar, India

Researchers investigated sources and factors influencing microplastic concentrations in the Ganga River during monsoon season, finding that untreated residential and industrial waste from major Indian cities contributes significantly to contamination of one of the world's most biodiverse rivers.

2025 Discover Environment
Article Tier 2

Rivers under stress: a comprehensive review on pollutant sources, human and ecological impacts, analytical, statistical, and geospatial methods and restoration strategies, for evaluating river water quality in India

This comprehensive review synthesizes evidence from 145 publications on river pollution across India, covering contamination sources, health impacts, and monitoring methods. Researchers found that untreated sewage is the largest contributor to river degradation, while emerging contaminants including microplastics contribute to bioaccumulation, antibiotic resistance, and health issues in communities living near affected waterways.

2026 Environmental Geochemistry and Health
Review Tier 2

Jeopardy of Indian Waters: A Review

This review covers the major threats to water quality in India, including microplastic pollution from plastic debris that weathers and enters rivers and coastal waters. Microplastics adsorb heavy metals and pathogens, causing mortality in fish and posing risks through the food chain to human consumers of seafood.

2020 Applied ecology and environmental sciences/Applied ecology and environmental science
Article Tier 2

Plastic Pollution from River to Ocean: A Comprehensive Review in Indian Scenario

This review maps how plastic waste travels from India's rivers to the ocean, highlighting that rivers act as conveyor belts transporting microplastics and nanoplastics from inland sources to coastal and marine environments. Given India's large population and extensive river network, the authors argue that current waste management policies have dangerously underestimated the riverine plastic pollution pathway.

2023 Preprints.org 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination: A Case Study in the Freshwater of Krishna River

Researchers found microplastic contamination in three sites along the Krishna River in India, identifying polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyoxymethylene particles at different pilgrimage locations. The study confirms freshwater microplastic pollution in this important Indian river and demonstrates a sampling approach applicable to future monitoring efforts.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)