Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Core–Shell Au@Nanoplastics as a Quantitative Tracer to Investigate the Bioaccumulation of Nanoplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems

Researchers developed a novel gold-core/polystyrene-shell nanoparticle tracer that mimics nanoplastic behavior in freshwater but can be detected and quantified far more precisely using the gold core's chemical signature. Using this tracer in artificial freshwater mesocosms, they tracked how nanoplastics distribute across water, sediment, and organisms — providing a powerful new tool to study nanoplastic fate and bioaccumulation.

2023 Analytical Chemistry 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution, bioaccumulation, and trophic transfer of palladium-doped nanoplastics in a constructed freshwater ecosystem

Researchers used palladium-doped nanoplastics as tracers in a constructed freshwater ecosystem to quantitatively track distribution, bioaccumulation, and trophic transfer, finding that nanoplastics move through multiple trophic levels and accumulate in organisms.

2022 Environmental Science Nano 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Infiltration of freshwater food chain by nanoplastics: An examination of trophic transfer and biological impact

Researchers used fluorescent nanoplastics to track how these particles move through a freshwater food chain from algae to water fleas. They found that nanoplastics accumulated more in water fleas through the food chain than through direct water exposure, with positively charged particles infiltrating more readily. The study suggests that foodborne nanoplastic exposure may be a more significant pathway for contamination in aquatic ecosystems than waterborne exposure alone.

2023 Chemosphere 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Tracking nanoplastics in freshwater microcosms and their impacts to aquatic organisms

Researchers tracked palladium-doped polystyrene nanoplastics in freshwater microcosms and found they caused toxic effects on cyanobacteria, green algae, and crustaceans at varying concentrations, with particle aggregation and surface interactions driving organism-specific impacts.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/nanoplastics in aquatic ecosystems: Analytical challenges, ecological impacts, and mitigation strategies

This review provides a comprehensive assessment of micro- and nanoplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems, covering detection methods, toxic effects across the food chain, and emerging cleanup strategies. Researchers highlight the limitations of current analytical techniques and the challenges of accurately measuring these tiny particles in water and living organisms. The study identifies key research priorities needed to better understand and mitigate the growing threat of plastic particle pollution in waterways.

2025 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Important ecological processes are affected by the accumulation and trophic transfer of nanoplastics in a freshwater periphyton-grazer food chain

Researchers found that nanoplastics bioaccumulate and transfer trophically in a freshwater periphyton-grazer food chain, affecting fundamental ecological processes and highlighting significant gaps in our understanding of nanoplastic risks in freshwater ecosystems.

2022 Environmental Science Nano 28 citations
Article Tier 2

How suitable is the gold-labelling method for the quantification of nanoplastics in natural water?

This study tested a gold-labelling method for quantifying nanoplastics in natural water samples and found that the method faces significant challenges from interfering organic matter. Accurately measuring nanoplastic concentrations in real-world water remains technically difficult, limiting risk assessment for this smallest and potentially most harmful plastic size class.

2023 AQUA - Water Infrastructure Ecosystems and Society 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro-Nano Plastics in Aquatic Environments: Associated Health Impacts and Mitigation Strategies

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments are biologically transferred up the food chain, covering the factors that influence particle bioavailability, accumulation in organisms, and trophic transfer — with implications for both aquatic ecosystem health and human dietary exposure.

2025
Article Tier 2

Progress in the Research on Bioavailability of Nanoplastics to Freshwater Plankton

A review of recent research finds that nanoplastics can be taken up by freshwater phytoplankton and zooplankton, transferred up the food web, and cause toxic effects — but significant gaps remain in understanding how much actually enters organisms in real-world settings. Because plankton underpin aquatic food webs and nutrient cycling, nanoplastic contamination at this foundational level could have cascading consequences for freshwater ecosystem health.

2023 Preprints.org 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Uptake, removal and trophic transfer of fluorescent polyethylene microplastics by freshwater model organisms: the impact of particle size and food availability

Researchers used fluorescent polyethylene microplastics of different sizes to track how they move through a freshwater food chain from algae to water fleas to zebrafish. They found that smaller particles were ingested and transferred more readily between organisms, and that food availability influenced how many microplastics accumulated. The study demonstrates that microplastics can move up the food chain and that particle size plays a key role in how they are transported through aquatic ecosystems.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Tracking the micro- and nanoplastics in the terrestrial-freshwater food webs. Bivalves as sentinel species

Researchers tracked the transfer of micro- and nanoplastics through an experimental terrestrial-freshwater food chain involving earthworms, freshwater mussels, and predatory fish. The study found evidence of trophic transfer of plastic particles across species, with bivalves serving as effective sentinel organisms for monitoring plastic contamination in freshwater ecosystems.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Research progress of nanoplastics in freshwater

This review summarized the environmental fate, extraction methods, characterization techniques, and biological effects of nanoplastics in freshwater systems, noting that NPs' small size, high surface area, and cell-penetrating ability make them potentially more harmful than microplastics despite being less studied.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 99 citations
Article Tier 2

Synthesis of metal-doped nanoplastics and their utility to investigate fate and behaviour in complex environmental systems

Researchers developed a method to synthesize metal-doped nanoplastics that use an entrapped metal tracer for easy detection in complex environmental systems, demonstrating in wastewater treatment simulations that over 98% of nanoplastics associate with sewage sludge — providing a robust tool for studying nanoplastic fate and transport in real-world environments.

2019 Nature Nanotechnology 311 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution: exploring trophic transfer pathways and ecological impacts

Researchers reviewed how microplastics — tiny plastic fragments under 5 mm — move through food chains across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, turning up in everything from table salt and drinking water to fish and earthworms. The review highlights how microplastics disrupt nutrient cycling and accumulate across trophic levels, calling for stronger management strategies to curb this global pollutant.

2024 Discover Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of petroleum-based and biopolymer-based nanoplastics on aquatic organisms: A case study with mechanically degraded pristine polymers

Researchers compared the toxicity of nanoplastics made from three petroleum-based plastics and one bio-based plastic (PLA) on freshwater organisms. All four types of nanoplastics caused toxic effects, but the bio-based PLA nanoplastics were not necessarily safer than conventional ones. The study suggests that switching to bio-based plastics may not eliminate the problem of nanoplastic toxicity in aquatic environments.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Digestible Fluorescent Coatings for Cumulative Quantification of Microplastic Ingestion

Researchers developed digestible fluorescent coatings for microplastic particles that allow cumulative quantification of ingestion over time, overcoming the limitation of gut-content snapshots by enabling tracking of total microplastic exposure in organisms.

2017 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 21 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Systematic Review of Nano- and Microplastics’ (NMP) Influence on the Bioaccumulation of Environmental Contaminants: Part II—Freshwater Organisms

This systematic review summarizes existing research on how nano- and microplastic particles affect the way freshwater organisms absorb environmental pollutants. The study found that tiny plastics can act as carriers for harmful chemicals like heavy metals and pesticides, potentially increasing their toxicity to fish and other freshwater life. This matters for human health because contaminated freshwater organisms can pass these pollutant-loaded plastics up the food chain to people.

2023 Toxics 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Exposure Assessment in Aquatic Environments: Learning from Similarities and Differences to Engineered Nanoparticles

Researchers reviewed the parallels between microplastic exposure assessment and engineered nanoparticle research in aquatic environments. The study suggests that established methods from nanoparticle science could help address key gaps in microplastic risk assessment, including emission quantification, fate processes, and analytical monitoring techniques.

2017 Environmental Science & Technology 211 citations
Article Tier 2

Analyzing species sensitivity distribution of evidently edible microplastics for freshwater biota

Researchers developed a new framework for assessing the ecological risks of microplastics to freshwater organisms by focusing on species that are known to actually ingest them. The study found that current risk assessment methods may underestimate the danger to freshwater ecosystems and that species known to eat microplastics showed different sensitivity patterns than the broader population of test organisms.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Aquatic Ecotoxicity of Microplastics and Nanoplastics: Lessons Learned from Engineered Nanomaterials

This review drew lessons from engineered nanoparticle research to improve understanding of aquatic ecotoxicology for microplastics and nanoplastics, identifying shared challenges in dose-response assessment and environmental relevance.

2017 ˜The œhandbook of environmental chemistry 109 citations