Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Contamination of stream fish by plastic waste in the Brazilian Amazon

Researchers evaluated plastic contamination in small fish from Amazonian headwater streams in Brazil, finding widespread plastic pollution in these understudied tropical freshwater ecosystems and characterizing the shapes, sizes, and abundance of plastic items ingested.

2020 Environmental Pollution 96 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fishes in amazon riverine beaches: Influence of feeding mode and distance to urban settlements

Researchers found microplastics in the digestive tracts of 29 fish species from Amazon riverine beaches, with contamination levels influenced by fish feeding mode and distance to urban settlements within a protected area.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of Amazonian fish species with different feeding habits

Microplastics were found in the gastrointestinal tracts of multiple Amazonian fish species with different feeding habits from Lake Janauacá and the Anavilhanas Archipelago, with feeding strategy influencing ingestion rates—underscoring widespread microplastic contamination even in remote Amazon basin aquatic ecosystems.

2025 Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2 citations
Article Tier 2

First evidence of microplastic ingestion by fishes from the Amazon River estuary

Researchers documented the first evidence of microplastic ingestion by fish in the Amazon River estuary, finding plastic particles — predominantly polyamide and polyethylene pellets — in 30% of 189 specimens across 14 species, with larger fish containing more particles, indicating widespread contamination extending into one of the world's most biodiverse river systems.

2018 Marine Pollution Bulletin 317 citations
Article Tier 2

Preliminary Assessment of Plastic Litter and Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Depositional Areas: The Case Study of Puerto Misahualli, Ecuadorian Amazonia

Researchers conducted a preliminary assessment of plastic litter and microplastics in sediments at a riverine depositional area in the Ecuadorian Amazon, finding low-density polyethylene bags as the dominant macroplastic and documenting microplastic presence in an upper Amazon basin location.

2021 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Amazon biome: State of the art and future priorities

This review examines microplastic pollution in the Amazon region and finds contamination levels comparable to heavily polluted areas worldwide. Poor sanitation is a major source, with fibers being the most common particle type found in water, sediment, and wildlife. Despite the Amazon's global ecological importance, research on microplastics there has been very limited, and the authors call for urgent expansion of scientific monitoring.

2024 Heliyon 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Large-scale monitoring and risk assessment of microplastics in the Amazon River

Researchers conducted the largest microplastic monitoring study in the Amazon River, sampling 40 sites across 1,500 kilometers. Microplastics were found everywhere, with urban streams near cities showing concentrations up to 1,000 times higher than the main river. This study confirms that even remote freshwater ecosystems like the Amazon are contaminated with microplastics, which could affect the fish and water that local communities depend on.

2023 Water Research 112 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestão e efeitos morfofisiológicos dos microplásticos em espécies de peixes da Amazônia Central

This Brazilian thesis investigates microplastic ingestion and its effects on fish from the Amazon basin, one of the world's most biodiverse freshwater systems. Given that aquatic organisms in even remote areas are exposed to microplastics, the research highlights risks to Amazon fish diversity and the potential for microplastics to disrupt aquatic food webs in previously pristine ecosystems.

2022
Article Tier 2

Microplastic occurrence in fish species from the Iquitos region in Peru, western Amazonia

Researchers surveyed microplastic contamination in 61 fish from 15 commercial species in the Peruvian Amazon near Iquitos. The study found microplastics in 100% of sampled fish, with an average of 38.3 particles per individual detected across gills and internal organs, demonstrating that microplastic pollution has reached even remote areas of the western Amazon basin.

2023 Acta Amazonica 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling Microplastic Presence in Freshwater and Sediment of Rejoso River, Indonesia

Researchers investigated microplastic presence in water and sediment of the Rejoso River in Indonesia across 12 sampling sites, characterizing the types, abundances, and distribution patterns of microplastic particles in this tropical freshwater system.

2025 Environmental Quality Management
Article Tier 2

Far from urban areas: plastic uptake in fish populations of subtropical headwater streams

This study found plastic fibers in 38% of fish from remote subtropical headwater streams far from urban areas in Brazil, with fibers making up the fourth most common item in fish stomachs. The results suggest that even in sparsely populated landscapes, microplastic contamination of freshwater ecosystems is widespread.

2022 Brazilian Journal of Biology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic occurrence in fish species from the Iquitos region in Peru, western Amazonia

Researchers found microplastics in 15 commercial fish species from markets in the Peruvian Amazon, detecting 2,337 particles across 61 specimens — among the first reports of microplastic contamination in fish from the Amazon basin.

2023 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Methods to characterize microplastics: case study on freshwater fishes from a tropical lagoon in Colombia

Fish from Colombia's Luruaco Lagoon contained microplastics with prevalence, abundance, and polymer characteristics analyzed across four sampling events, with principal component analysis linking MP types to feeding ecology and habitat use of the different species.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Distinct microplastic patterns in the sediment and biota of an urban stream

Researchers found distinct microplastic contamination patterns between sediments and aquatic biota in an urban stream, with sediments accumulating more particles while biota showed selective uptake based on particle size and shape, highlighting the complex dynamics of microplastic distribution in urban freshwater systems.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in aquatic communities of neotropical agroecosystems

Researchers surveyed streams running through agricultural areas in the Comandaí basin of Brazil to test whether macroinvertebrates and fish contained microplastics, and whether ecological traits or stream position predicted which organisms were most exposed. Both invertebrates and fish across diverse ecological roles were found to contain microplastics, suggesting that plastic pollution is pervasive throughout the food web in these farming-dominated waterways. This research expands our understanding of microplastic ingestion beyond well-studied coastal systems into inland freshwater ecosystems of the Global South.

2025 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Incidence of Watershed Land Use on the Consumption of Meso and Microplastics by Fish Communities in Uruguayan Lowland Streams

Researchers found that fish in urbanized Uruguayan lowland streams ingested significantly more meso- and microplastics than fish in streams draining extensive ranching land, with 309 individuals from 29 species analyzed. The results link watershed land use intensity to plastic contamination levels in freshwater fish communities.

2021 Water 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems: macro-, meso-, and microplastic debris in a floodplain lake

Researchers surveyed macro-, meso-, and microplastic debris in a South American floodplain lake and found an average of 704 microplastic particles per square meter in sediments, with plastic contamination comparable to marine beaches — demonstrating that freshwater lakes can be major plastic pollution reservoirs.

2017 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 308 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic in an Urbanized Estuary on the Brazilian Equatorial Margin: Analysis of Contamination in Commercially Intent Fish, Water and Sediment in the Anil River

Researchers analyzed microplastic contamination in fish, water, and sediment samples from the Anil River estuary on the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, focusing on commercially important fish species in an urbanized estuarine environment.

2025 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic abundance and composition along an anthropogenic pressure gradient in an Andean river (Colombia)

Researchers surveyed microplastic abundance across an altitudinal gradient in a Colombian Andean river, finding highest concentrations in downstream urban and agricultural zones, with fibers and polypropylene dominating across water, sediment, and fish samples—the first report of microplastics in freshwater fish from the Tolima region.

2026 Hydrobiologia
Article Tier 2

Ecological traits do not predict the uptake of microplastics by fishes in a Neotropical River

Researchers found that ecological traits such as feeding guild, habitat use, and body size do not reliably predict microplastic uptake in fish species from a Neotropical river, suggesting contamination patterns are driven more by local environmental conditions than by species-specific biology.

2023
Article Tier 2

Distribuição longitudinal, vertical e temporal de microplásticos no Igarapé do Mindu em Manaus, Amazonas

Researchers analyzed longitudinal, vertical, and temporal distribution of microplastics in the Mindu stream in Manaus, Brazil, finding that urban concentration, stream hydrodynamics, and riparian vegetation all influence microplastic contamination patterns in this Amazonian freshwater system.

2023 Engenharia Sanitaria e Ambiental 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and characterization of microplastic content in the digestive system of riverine fishes

Researchers found microplastics in 93.8% of riverine fish examined, with polystyrene, polyethylene, and nylon being the most common polymer types concentrated near urban and industrial areas, and small particles (0.025-1 mm) predominating across species.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment on Microplastics Contamination in Freshwater Fish: a Case Study of the Ubolratana Reservoir, Thailand

Researchers examined microplastic contamination in freshwater fish from the Ubolratana Reservoir, Thailand, finding that 96.4% of 14 examined species had ingested microplastics, and assessed abundance, size, colour, and shape of particles from stomach and intestinal contents across sampling stations.

2021 International Journal of Geomate 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Benthic macroinvertebrates and microplastic contamination in contrasting water quality environments of the Middle Tietê River basin (São Paulo, Brazil)

Researchers compared microplastic contamination in benthic invertebrates and sediments between a heavily polluted urban river and a cleaner tributary in São Paulo, Brazil. Higher microplastic concentrations were found near urban areas, confirming that human activity drives plastic accumulation in freshwater ecosystems.

2023 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)