Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic migration and transformation pathways and exposure health risks

This review traces how microplastics move through soil, air, and water on a global scale, examining how sunlight, weathering, and microbes transform them along the way. The paper highlights that these transformation processes can make microplastics more toxic by increasing their ability to carry harmful chemicals and by generating smaller particles that more easily enter the human body.

2025 Environmental Pollution 42 citations
Article Tier 2

The Complex Dynamics of Microplastic Migration through Different Aquatic Environments: Subsidies for a Better Understanding of Its Environmental Dispersion

This review explores how microplastics move through different aquatic environments, from rivers and lakes to estuaries and oceans, focusing on the physical properties that drive their transport. Researchers found that factors like particle density, size, shape, and biofouling all influence where microplastics accumulate and how far they travel. Understanding these migration dynamics is essential for predicting contamination patterns and designing effective cleanup strategies.

2023 Microplastics 40 citations
Article Tier 2

The occurrence and transport of microplastics: The state of the science

This review provides a comprehensive overview of where microplastics have been found across different environments including oceans, freshwater, soil, and the atmosphere, and how they are transported between these systems. Researchers summarized the key factors influencing microplastic movement, such as particle size, density, and environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastic contamination is expected to increase in the coming decades and may pose growing risks to both ecosystems and human health.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 289 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic migration and distribution in the terrestrial and aquatic environments: A threat to biotic safety

This review summarizes how microplastics move through and accumulate in both land and water environments worldwide. Microplastics have been found in nearly every environment on Earth, and they can enter microorganisms, plants, animals, and humans through multiple pathways. The review highlights that despite growing evidence of widespread contamination, researchers still do not fully understand how microplastics of different sizes and shapes migrate and what biological damage they cause.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 79 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of the migration mechanisms of microplastics in terrestrial environments

This review maps out how microplastics move through land-based environments via wind, water, gravity, and biological processes like animal ingestion and plant uptake. The paper categorizes movement mechanisms as physical, chemical, or biological, and identifies key factors like particle size and shape that determine where microplastics end up. Understanding these migration pathways is essential for predicting how microplastics in soil can reach water supplies and the food chain.

2024 Environmental Engineering Research 14 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review on the migration, transformation, sampling, analysis and environmental effects of microplastics in the environment

This review provides a comprehensive overview of where microplastics come from, how they move through different environments, and the methods used to detect and measure them. It highlights that microplastics can carry harmful chemicals and pathogens, and emphasizes the need for standardized detection methods so researchers can better assess the true risks to ecosystems and human health.

2024 Journal of Environmental Sciences 22 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comprehensive Review on Environmental Migration, Physicochemical Transformations, and Exposure-Related Health Risks of Microplastics

Researchers synthesized over 200 peer-reviewed studies to review the environmental migration pathways, physicochemical transformations, and human health risks of microplastics across aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments, finding heterogeneous global distributions of fragments and fibers predominantly composed of polyethylene and polypropylene, with bioaccumulation, endocrine disruption, and oxidative stress identified as key mechanisms of toxicity.

2026 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

Environmental source, fate, and toxicity of microplastics

This comprehensive review covers the sources, environmental fate, and toxic effects of microplastics across both aquatic and terrestrial environments. The study highlights that microplastics are now found virtually everywhere on Earth and can harm organisms through physical damage, chemical leaching, and by acting as carriers for other pollutants.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 982 citations
Article Tier 2

The environmental journey of micro- and nanoplastics: fate, transport, and toxicity

This review traces the journey of micro- and nanoplastics through the environment, from their sources in textiles and personal care products to their transport through water and soil systems. The authors highlight major gaps in knowledge, including the lack of standardized detection methods for the smallest particles and insufficient long-term data on human health effects. The review calls for better risk assessment to protect food safety and human health from microplastic contamination.

2026 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: An introduction to environmental transport processes

This review introduces a new concept called the Plastic Cycle to describe how microplastics move between land, water, and air environments, rather than treating these as separate systems. Researchers outline the sources, transport processes, and ultimate fate of microplastics across environmental compartments. Understanding these interconnected pathways is essential for assessing long-term ecological and human health risks from pervasive microplastic pollution.

2017 Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water 676 citations
Article Tier 2

Continental microplastics: Presence, features, and environmental transport pathways

This review mapped the known transport pathways of microplastics across continental environments — air, soil, freshwater, and marine — synthesizing evidence on how particles move between compartments and identifying key gaps in understanding long-range terrestrial transport.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 131 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comprehensive Review on Environmental Migration, Physicochemical Transformations, and Exposure-Related Health Risks of Microplastics

This review of over 200 studies found that tiny plastic particles smaller than 5mm are now everywhere in our environment—from ocean water to soil to the air we breathe. These microplastics can carry harmful chemicals and may cause health problems like hormone disruption and chronic diseases when we eat contaminated fish and other foods. The researchers say people may be consuming millions of these plastic particles every week, mainly through seafood, which highlights the need for better waste management and plastic alternatives.

2026 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

Environmental Transport and Fate Modelling of Micro- and Nanoplastics

This research reviews how scientists track tiny plastic particles (called micro- and nanoplastics) as they move through air, water, and soil in our environment. The study explains different computer models that help predict where these plastic particles end up and how they spread from pollution sources to places where people might be exposed. Understanding how these tiny plastics travel through the environment is important because it helps scientists figure out how much plastic pollution humans might breathe in, drink, or eat.

2026
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on the transport of microplastics/nanoplastics in abiotic and biotic compartments

This review synthesizes recent findings on how microplastics and nanoplastics are transported through environmental compartments including water, soil, atmosphere, and biological systems, highlighting key factors that govern their fate and distribution.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 136 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging microplastics in the environment: Properties, distributions, and impacts

This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution, covering the most common types of plastics found in the environment, their physical characteristics, and how they are distributed across water, soil, and air. Researchers summarized the potential harmful effects of microplastics on ecosystems and living organisms. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps that still need to be addressed to fully understand the environmental and health risks of these tiny particles.

2022 Chemosphere 116 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: From Intrinsic Properties to Environmental Fate

This review examines how the built-in properties of plastics — their chemical structure, additives, and molecular weight — determine how quickly they break down in the environment and what happens when they do. As microplastics degrade, they fragment into even smaller particles that may be more harmful because they can more easily enter living organisms. Understanding these degradation pathways is essential for predicting the long-term environmental and health risks of plastic pollution.

2024 Environmental Engineering Science 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment: Macroscopic transport and effects on creatures

This review takes a big-picture look at how microplastics and nanoplastics move across aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments rather than treating each environment in isolation. Researchers emphasize that these tiny plastic particles cycle between water, land, and air, and they examine the effects on organisms across all of these interconnected systems.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 456 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of the migration behaviour of microplastics as emerging pollutants in freshwater environments

This review summarized how microplastics move through freshwater environments like rivers and lakes, including processes like sinking, floating, being carried by currents, and resuspending from sediments. The study highlights that a microplastic particle's journey depends on its physical properties, water chemistry, and biological interactions, and that understanding these movements is essential for predicting contamination risks.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Source, migration and toxicology of microplastics in soil

This review compiles research on the sources, movement, and toxic effects of microplastics in soil ecosystems, an area that has received less attention than aquatic pollution. Researchers describe how microplastics enter soil through agricultural practices, wastewater, and atmospheric deposition, then transfer through food chains to affect organisms at multiple levels. The study identifies major knowledge gaps and proposes management strategies to mitigate the ecological and human health risks of soil microplastic contamination.

2020 Environment International 1141 citations
Article Tier 2

The biography of microplastics (MPs): occurrences, sources, weathering/degradation, characterization, ecological/human risks, removal methods, policy development, and current trends and future perspectives

This comprehensive review covers the full lifecycle of microplastics, from their sources and environmental breakdown to their effects on ecosystems and human health. The authors discuss how physical, chemical, and biological processes fragment larger plastics into microplastics and nanoplastics that spread through air, water, and soil. The review emphasizes the growing evidence that microplastic exposure poses risks to human health and calls for stronger policies and standardized research methods.

2024 Anthropocene Coasts 12 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A Review of Sources, Hazards, and Removal Methods of Microplastics in the Environment

This systematic review provides a comprehensive look at where microplastics come from, what risks they pose, and how they can be removed from the environment. The review covers contamination in air, water, and soil, noting that microplastics can carry toxic chemicals and harm both ecosystems and human health.

2025 Water 19 citations
Article Tier 2

From Enrichment to Fate: Transport, Transformation, and Fate of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Marine Environments

This review comprehensively assessed the transport, transformation, and fate of micro- and nanoplastics in marine environments. Researchers synthesized findings on how these particles move through ocean systems, undergo physical and chemical changes, and accumulate in key habitats such as seagrass beds, highlighting the ecological risks they pose to marine organisms and ecosystems.

2026 Toxics
Article Tier 2

Environmental distribution, transport and ecotoxicity of microplastics: A review

This review covers the environmental distribution and transport of microplastics across marine, freshwater, soil, and atmospheric compartments, and analyzes their toxicity to organisms at different trophic levels including potential effects on human health.

2020 Journal of Applied Toxicology 76 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Sources, distribution, and environmental effects of microplastics: a systematic review

This systematic review of 91 studies examines how microplastics spread through water, soil, and sediments and accumulate in aquatic organisms. The findings show that these persistent pollutants do not break down easily and can travel long distances, eventually entering the food chain.

2023 RSC Advances 80 citations