Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Imperative implication of microplastics as vital agent for salmonellosis inducing biofilms, antibiotic resistance, and health risk

This review examines how microplastics serve as reservoirs and vectors for Salmonella, promoting biofilm formation, environmental persistence, and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Researchers summarized evidence that weathered, hydrophobic microplastic surfaces create stable microhabitats that enhance bacterial adhesion and virulence. The findings suggest that microplastics may play a significant role in amplifying foodborne disease risks and accelerating the evolution of drug-resistant pathogens.

2026 Environmental Research
Systematic Review Tier 1

Food-Associated Stressors and Their Synergistic Roles in Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance across the Food Supply Chain

This review identifies microplastics as one of several food supply chain stressors that synergistically promote bacterial antibiotic resistance, alongside antibiotic residues, heavy metals, and pesticides. Microplastics can serve as carriers for resistant bacteria and resistance genes, creating a 'One Health' pathway from agriculture and environment through food processing to human exposure.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The nexus of microplastics, food and antimicrobial resistance in the context of aquatic environment: Interdisciplinary linkages of pathways

This review examines how microplastics in aquatic environments serve as surfaces where bacteria can grow, share antibiotic resistance genes, and then enter the food chain through contaminated seafood. The combination of microplastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance creates a compounding threat, as resistant bacteria riding on plastic particles can survive water treatment and reach humans. The authors call for interdisciplinary research connecting environmental science and public health to address this growing risk.

2025 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 7 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Food-AssociatedStressors and Their Synergistic Rolesin Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance across the Food Supply Chain

This review identifies microplastics as one of several food supply chain stressors that synergistically promote bacterial antibiotic resistance, alongside antibiotic residues, heavy metals, and pesticides. Microplastics can serve as carriers for resistant bacteria and resistance genes, creating a 'One Health' pathway from agriculture and environment through food processing to human exposure.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Biofilm–microplastic interactions in food safety: mechanisms, risks, and control strategies

This review investigates how microplastics in the food industry serve as surfaces where bacterial biofilms can form, creating complexes that resist cleaning and disinfection. Researchers found that these biofilm-microplastic combinations can shield harmful bacteria and promote the spread of antibiotic-resistance genes. The study evaluates strategies for preventing and controlling this form of contamination in food systems.

2025 Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Foodborne pathogens in the plastisphere: Can microplastics in the food chain threaten microbial food safety?

This review examines the potential for microplastics to act as vectors for foodborne pathogens in the food chain, synthesizing current evidence on pathogen attachment to the plastisphere, the effects of microplastics on bacterial virulence and evolution, and the implications for simultaneous uptake of microplastics and pathogens in the human gut.

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

Microplastic-associated pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in environment

This review examines how microplastics in the environment act as surfaces for disease-causing bacteria and antibiotic-resistant microbes to colonize and spread. Researchers found that microplastics can carry pathogens and facilitate the transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes between bacteria in water systems. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution may be contributing to the growing global challenge of antibiotic resistance.

2021 Chemosphere 175 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistant bacteria colonising microplastics in the aquatic environment: An emerging challenge

Researchers reviewed how microplastics in aquatic environments act as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can grow and swap resistance genes with each other, raising concern that contaminated seafood and water could transfer these hard-to-treat bacteria to humans.

2024 Discover Sustainability 15 citations
Article Tier 2

How microplastics and nanoplastics shape antibiotic resistance?

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics act as vectors for antibiotic resistance genes, facilitating their spread through environmental and biological systems by creating selective pressure and hosting microbial communities that exchange resistance determinants.

2022 Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Enrichment of Antibiotic Resistance Genes on Plastic Waste in Aquatic Ecosystems, Aquatic Animals, and Fishery Products

This review examines how plastic waste in water creates surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive and share resistance genes with each other. Microplastics in rivers, oceans, and fish farms were consistently found to harbor more antibiotic resistance genes than natural materials like rocks or sand. Since fish and shellfish can accumulate these microplastic-associated resistant bacteria, there is a risk that drug-resistant infections could reach humans through the seafood supply chain.

2025 Antibiotics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

An Assessment of the Current Trends of Antibiotic Resistance of Salmonella Typhi Against 1st Line Antimicrobial Agents in Metropolitan City of Karachi

This paper is not about microplastics; it reports antibiotic resistance patterns of Salmonella typhi clinical isolates in Karachi, Pakistan, finding alarming levels of extensive drug resistance (XDR) with no connection to microplastic research.

2023 Annals of PIMS-Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Interplay between Antimicrobial Resistance, Microplastics and Xenobiotic Contaminants: A Leap towards One Health?

This review examines the interplay between antimicrobial resistance, microplastics, and xenobiotic contaminants in the environment, highlighting how microplastics can serve as vectors for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes, posing combined threats to ecosystem and human health.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 21 citations
Article Tier 2

How micro-/nano-plastics influence the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes - A review

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics help spread antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria -- a major global health threat. The tiny plastic particles can act as platforms where bacteria exchange DNA carrying drug-resistance instructions, potentially making infections harder to treat. The effect depends on the type, size, and concentration of plastics, and has been documented in sewage, livestock farms, and landfills.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 22 citations
Review Tier 2

Formation of biofilms on microplastics in the food chain and their role as vectors of transfer of foodborne pathogens (literature review, part 2)

This literature review (Part 2 of a series) examines how biofilms formed on micro- and nanoplastic surfaces in the food chain can serve as vectors for pathogenic bacteria, their toxins, and antibiotic resistance genes — potentially increasing foodborne disease risk beyond what bare microplastic particles would cause.

2025 Hygiene and Sanitation
Article Tier 2

Detection of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Originated from cultivated oysters and estuarine waters

This study detected antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in oysters and estuarine waters, raising concerns about how aquatic environments serve as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance that can reach humans through seafood consumption. The findings are relevant to microplastic research because microplastics are known to harbor and concentrate antibiotic resistance genes on their surfaces.

2021
Article Tier 2

Foodborne pathogens in the plastisphere: Can microplastics in the food chain threaten microbial food safety?

This review examines whether microplastics in the food chain can serve as carriers for dangerous foodborne bacteria, potentially threatening food safety. Researchers found that pathogenic bacteria can colonize microplastic surfaces and that these "plastisphere" communities may survive food processing steps that would normally eliminate them. The study raises concerns that microplastic contamination in food and water could introduce a new route for foodborne illness transmission.

2022 Trends in Food Science & Technology 80 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on the effect of micro- and nano-plastics pollution on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance

This review highlights how microplastics serve as breeding grounds for antimicrobial resistance genes, examining the overlooked interaction between plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance that poses combined threats to environmental and human health.

2022 Chemosphere 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential risks of microplastics combined with superbugs: Enrichment of antibiotic resistant bacteria on the surface of microplastics in mariculture system

Microplastics in a mariculture (sea farming) system were found to selectively enrich antibiotic-resistant bacteria on their surfaces compared to surrounding water, creating hotspots of antibiotic resistance in food production environments. This dual threat - microplastics acting as both pollutants and carriers of resistant pathogens - has significant implications for seafood safety.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 325 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes and their effects on the aquaculture environments

This review explores the relationship between microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes in aquaculture environments. Researchers found that microplastics can serve as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive and exchange resistance genes, potentially accelerating the spread of antibiotic resistance in fish farms and surrounding waterways.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 312 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources and contamination routes of seafood with human pathogenic Vibrio spp.: A Farm‐to‐Fork approach

This review examines how Vibrio bacteria, which cause food poisoning, contaminate seafood from farm to table, emphasizing the role of environmental factors like climate change and pollution. While not directly about microplastics, the research is relevant because microplastic surfaces in water can harbor and transport pathogenic bacteria like Vibrio. Understanding these contamination pathways is important for ensuring the safety of seafood that people consume.

2023 Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 55 citations
Article Tier 2

A review focusing on mechanisms and ecological risks of enrichment and propagation of antibiotic resistance genes and mobile genetic elements by microplastic biofilms

This review examines how microplastics in water serve as surfaces for bacterial biofilms that harbor antibiotic resistance genes. The biofilms that form on microplastic surfaces can spread resistance genes to other bacteria and potentially to organisms that ingest them, including fish and ultimately humans. The authors highlight that microplastic-associated antibiotic resistance is an underappreciated public health risk that needs more research.

2024 Environmental Research 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions and associated resistance development mechanisms between microplastics, antibiotics and heavy metals in the aquaculture environment

This review explores how microplastics, antibiotics, and heavy metals interact in aquaculture environments to promote antibiotic resistance. Researchers found that microplastics can serve as carriers for both antibiotics and metals, creating hotspots where bacteria are more likely to develop resistance genes. The study underscores the compounding ecological and human health risks when these three types of pollutants co-exist in fish farming settings.

2021 Reviews in Aquaculture 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Determining the Contribution of Micro/Nanoplastics to Antimicrobial Resistance: Challenges and Perspectives

This review examines how microplastics in the environment serve as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can grow and exchange resistance genes, potentially worsening the global antimicrobial resistance crisis. Researchers found that the unique surface properties of micro- and nanoplastics create favorable conditions for the spread of antibiotic resistance genes among microorganisms. The study highlights that microplastic pollution and antibiotic resistance are interconnected environmental health challenges that may need to be addressed together.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview

Researchers reviewed the link between microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments, finding that microplastic surfaces host unique bacterial communities enriched in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the resistance genes they can share with other microbes. The close packing of bacteria in these plastic-surface biofilms may accelerate the spread of drug-resistant pathogens through drinking water sources, though the full health implications remain poorly understood.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 31 citations