Papers

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Article Tier 2

Impacts of nano- and micro-plastics exposure on zooplankton grazing, bacterial communities, and dimethylated sulfur compounds production in the microcosms

Researchers investigated how nano- and microplastics affect zooplankton grazing, bacterial communities, and the production of climate-relevant dimethyl sulfide compounds. The study found that plastic particle exposure reduced zooplankton feeding rates and disrupted dimethyl sulfide production in a dose- and size-dependent manner, with nanoplastics showing greater toxicity than larger microplastics.

2024 Environmental Pollution 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics stress alters microorganism community structure and reduces the production of biogenic dimethylated sulfur compounds

This study examined how microplastic stress affects marine microbial community structure and the production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) -- sulfur compounds that play key roles in global sulfur cycling and cloud formation. Microplastic exposure altered microbial community composition and significantly reduced DMSP and DMS production, indicating potential cascading effects on global climate-regulating biogeochemical cycles.

2024 Limnology and Oceanography 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Size-dependent influences of nano- and micro-plastics exposure on feeding, antioxidant systems, and organic sulfur compounds in ciliate Uronema marinum

Researchers studied how nano- and microplastics of different sizes affect a marine ciliate that plays a key role in ocean sulfur cycling. Exposure to polystyrene particles reduced the organisms' ability to feed on algae, which in turn dramatically decreased their production of dimethyl sulfide, a gas important for climate regulation. The findings suggest that plastic pollution could disrupt fundamental ocean chemistry processes beyond its direct effects on individual organisms.

2024 Environmental Pollution 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Stress Alters Microorganism Community Structure and Reduces the Production of Biogenic Dimethylated Sulfur Compounds

Researchers studied how microplastic stress alters marine microbial community composition and affects production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide, which play key roles in global sulfur cycling and cloud formation. Microplastic exposure shifted microbial community structure and significantly reduced DMSP and DMS production, with potential implications for climate-relevant atmospheric sulfur emissions from the ocean.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effects of micro- and nano-plastics on growth, antioxidant system, DMS, and DMSP production in Emiliania huxleyi

Researchers exposed a key ocean-dwelling algae species to polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics and found that both sizes impaired growth and triggered oxidative stress. The nanoplastics were more harmful than microplastics, reducing chlorophyll content and altering the production of climate-relevant sulfur compounds. The study suggests that plastic pollution could disrupt ocean algae that play an important role in regulating atmospheric chemistry and climate.

2024 Environmental Pollution 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfideand Increased PolybrominatedMethanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in AcidifiedOcean

Researchers conducted a ship-based microcosm experiment to investigate how combined microplastic pollution and ocean acidification affect biogenic climate-active gases, finding decreased dimethylsulfide and increased polybrominated methanes, with potential implications for marine climate regulation.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfideand Increased PolybrominatedMethanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in AcidifiedOcean

Researchers conducted a ship-based microcosm experiment examining the combined effects of microplastic pollution and ocean acidification on short-lived biogenic climate-active gases, finding that these stressors together decreased dimethylsulfide while increasing polybrominated methanes, suggesting novel climate feedback pathways.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfide and Increased Polybrominated Methanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in Acidified Ocean

A ship-based microcosm experiment simulating ocean acidification and microplastic pollution found that combined conditions decreased dimethylsulfide production and increased polybrominated methane emissions, with potential climate-active gas implications for ocean carbon cycling.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

A Study of the Effects of Microplastics on Microbial Communities in Marine Sediments

This study investigated how the presence of microplastics in marine sediments affects microbial communities and, specifically, the methane cycle, finding that microplastics significantly altered microbial community structure and function. Since marine sediment microbes play a critical role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, microplastic contamination could have broader climate-relevant effects beyond direct toxicity.

2024 Highlights in Science Engineering and Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics exposure on ingestion, fecundity, development, and dimethylsulfide production in Tigriopus japonicus (Harpacticoida, copepod)

Researchers tested how polyethylene and nylon-6 microplastics affect the copepod Tigriopus japonicus, finding that microplastic exposure reduced feeding and reproductive output and suppressed the production of the climate-relevant gas dimethylsulfide during copepod grazing.

2020 Environmental Pollution 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Stable Isotopic and Metagenomic Analyses Reveal Microbial-Mediated Effects of Microplastics on Sulfur Cycling in Coastal Sediments

This study investigated how microplastics affect sulfur cycling in coastal mangrove sediments, an important process for marine ecosystem health. Biodegradable plastics actually increased sulfur-related bacterial activity more than conventional plastics, suggesting they may have unintended environmental effects. The findings show that microplastic pollution can disrupt fundamental chemical cycles in coastal environments, which could have cascading effects on water quality and the marine food web.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Different Environmental Stressors on Marine Biogenic Sulfur Compounds in the Northwest Pacific and Eastern Indian Oceans

Researchers conducted ship-based experiments in the Northwest Pacific and Eastern Indian Oceans to study how dust deposition, ocean acidification, and microplastic exposure affect marine sulfur compounds that play key roles in atmospheric chemistry. They found that these environmental stressors alter phytoplankton communities and modify how cells produce and break down sulfur-containing compounds. The results suggest that initial ocean conditions like nutrient availability may influence how sensitive these systems are to environmental changes.

2025 Geophysical Research Letters 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of co-exposure to nanoplastics and ofloxacin on marine planktonic microbial communities and DMSP dynamics

Researchers conducted a 19-day experiment examining how nanoplastics and the antibiotic ofloxacin, alone and in combination, affect marine microbial communities and sulfur cycling in coastal seawater. Combined exposure produced significantly stronger negative effects than either pollutant alone, reducing microbial biomass, simplifying community networks, and disrupting the cycling of DMSP, a compound important for marine food webs and climate regulation.

2026 Marine Environmental Research
Article Tier 2

Revealing the response of microbial communities to polyethylene micro(nano)plastics exposure in cold seep sediment

Researchers explored how polyethylene micro- and nanoplastics affect microbial communities in cold seep ocean sediments over a 120-day experiment. While the plastics did not significantly change overall microbial diversity, they did alter the community structure and affected methane-related metabolic processes. The study suggests that plastic pollution could interfere with important deep-sea biogeochemical cycles, including those involved in methane regulation.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of nanoplastics exposure on ingestion, life history traits, and dimethyl sulfide production in rotifer Brachionus plicatilis

Researchers exposed tiny marine organisms called rotifers to polystyrene nanoplastics and found that the particles accumulated in their digestive tracts, shortened their lifespans, and reduced their ability to reproduce. Higher concentrations also decreased the production of dimethyl sulfide, a compound important for cloud formation and climate regulation. This study shows that nanoplastic pollution can affect marine organisms at the base of the food chain, with potential ripple effects on both ecosystems and the climate.

2024 Environmental Pollution 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Weathered microplastics alter deep sea benthic biogeochemistry and organic matter cycling: insights from a microcosm experiment

Weathered (aged) microplastics deposited in deep-sea sediments were found to alter benthic biogeochemical cycles, affecting nitrogen and carbon processing by seafloor microorganisms. The findings show that plastic pollution can disrupt the chemical ecology of even the most remote deep-ocean environments.

2025 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics alter plankton community and enhance greenhouse gas emissions: A case study in the China coastal sea

Researchers demonstrated through ship-based and laboratory experiments that polystyrene microplastics suppress phytoplankton growth by up to 82 percent and increase dissolved organic carbon accumulation in coastal seawater. The microplastics restructured plankton communities and enhanced the production of brominated volatile halocarbons, which are ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases. The study suggests that microplastic pollution in coastal waters may have cascading effects on marine carbon cycling and atmospheric chemistry.

2025 Water Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics alter the functioning of marine microbial ecosystems

Researchers used experimental mesocosms to investigate how microplastics affect the structure and functioning of marine microbial ecosystems. They found that microplastics indirectly altered marine productivity by shifting the composition of bacterial and phytoplankton communities. The study provides evidence that microplastic pollution can disrupt fundamental ecological processes in ocean ecosystems beyond effects on individual organisms.

2024 Ecology and Evolution 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics on microbial-mediated soil sulfur transformations in flooded conditions

This study examined how polystyrene and polyphenylene sulfide microplastics affect microbial-mediated sulfur transformations in flooded soils. Researchers found that microplastic contamination significantly altered the microbial community structure involved in sulfur cycling, suggesting that microplastics could disrupt important nutrient processes in waterlogged agricultural soils.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Different Types of Microplastics on Cold Seep Microbial Diversity and Function

Researchers simulated deep-sea cold seep conditions to study how different microplastics affect microbial communities. They found that microplastics made the plastisphere microbial networks more fragile than surrounding environments and disrupted nitrogen cycling and methane metabolism, while potentially concentrating pathogenic species.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the impact of microplastics on sulfur mineralization in different soil types: A mechanism study

This study used soil microcosm experiments to investigate how polystyrene and polyphenylene sulfide microplastics affect sulfur mineralization in different soil types, revealing mechanisms by which MPs alter soil physicochemical properties and microbial activity.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Greenhouse gas cycling by the plastisphere: The sleeper issue of plastic pollution

The microbial community living on ocean microplastics (the plastisphere) appears to contribute to cycling of greenhouse gases CO2 and N2O in the South Pacific Ocean. This finding suggests that the plastisphere may play a previously unrecognized role in ocean biogeochemistry with implications for climate change.

2019 Chemosphere 58 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Ecological implications beyond the ecotoxicity of plastic debris on marine phytoplankton assemblage structure and functioning

PVC, polystyrene, and polyethylene microplastics and nanoplastics significantly reduced phytoplankton cell density, with polymer type being a key factor; given phytoplankton's role in atmospheric CO2 fixation, plastic pollution could potentially impact the marine carbon pump.

2021 Environmental Pollution 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics affect sedimentary microbial communities and nitrogen cycling

A microcosm experiment showed that microplastics added to salt marsh sediment altered microbial community composition and disrupted nitrogen cycling, including reduced denitrification rates, suggesting that microplastic contamination could impair important biogeochemical functions.

2020 Nature Communications 1095 citations