Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

An Introduction to Microfiber Pollution

Microfibers are a subcategory of microplastics and one of the most abundant plastic shapes found in environmental samples worldwide. This introductory chapter reviews the definitions, types, and environmental impacts of microfibers, highlighting that their small size and fibrous form make them particularly persistent and widely distributed. Addressing microfiber pollution urgently is important given how readily they are ingested by wildlife and potentially humans through air, water, and food.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources and Ubiquity of Microfibers

This review addresses the sources and ubiquity of microfibers in the environment, arguing for a clearer definition of microfibers as emerging contaminants and synthesizing evidence of their prevalence in freshwater and marine ecosystems globally.

2024
Article Tier 2

Marine Microfiber Pollution

This chapter reviews marine microfiber pollution, covering sources from synthetic textiles and cosmetics, their environmental persistence, abundance as the most common microplastic form, and ecological impacts on marine organisms.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Microfiber Pollutants in Freshwater Ecosystems

This chapter reviews microfiber pollution in freshwater ecosystems, covering sources, environmental distribution, interactions with flora and fauna, and the pathways through which microfibers enter food webs and harm aquatic organisms.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microfibers: a preliminary discussion on their definition and sources

This paper proposes clearer definitions for "microfibers" as a distinct category of microplastics and reviews their major environmental sources, noting that they are found nearly everywhere and released from both synthetic and natural textiles. Clearer terminology is important for comparability across research studies and for developing targeted policy responses to fiber pollution.

2019 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 141 citations
Article Tier 2

Introduction to Textile Pollution

This introductory chapter examines textile-derived microplastic pollution, reviewing evidence that microfibers are the most commonly found plastic shape inside wild animals, potentially due to their relative environmental abundance and reduced egestion rates compared to other particle shapes. The review covers ingestion across marine mammals, birds, fish, macroinvertebrates, and plankton, and discusses how polymer type, size, and shape influence the degree of biological effects.

2022 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Environment

This chapter reviews the sources, distribution, and environmental persistence of microplastics — small plastic debris less than 5 mm — in both marine and terrestrial environments. It provides an accessible overview of how microplastics enter ecosystems and the concerns they raise for wildlife and human health.

2018 22 citations
Article Tier 2

The fiber microparticle pipeline in the marine water column – from source to mitigation strategies

This review examines the sources, environmental transport, and health implications of microfibers — including synthetic fibers from textiles and natural fibers — in the marine water column. With global fiber production exceeding 100 million metric tons annually, synthetic microfibers are one of the most abundant forms of microplastic in the ocean.

2021 Environmental Advances 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Critical review of environmental impacts of microfibers in different environmental matrices

This review summarizes the environmental impacts of microfibers, both synthetic and natural, across marine, freshwater, and soil ecosystems. The study highlights that natural textile microfibers are actually the predominant type found in ecosystems, and notes a significant gap in research on how microfibers affect primary producers like phytoplankton at the base of food chains.

2021 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics on Aquatic Ecosystems

This short overview summarized the impacts of microplastics (particles <5 mm) on aquatic ecosystems, covering contamination sources, uptake by organisms, food chain transfer, and ecotoxicological effects. It provides a general introduction to the field without novel empirical findings.

2025 Water 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Review of research on migration, distribution, biological effects, and analytical methods of microfibers in the environment

This review examined the environmental distribution, transport pathways, biological effects, and analytical detection methods for microfibers as the most abundant microplastic form in the environment. Microfibers were found in marine, freshwater, atmospheric, and soil environments globally, and laundry effluent and textile industry wastewater were identified as the dominant emission sources.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Nanoplastics in the Environment

This book chapter introduces the growing problem of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, covering their origins, distribution, and potential impacts. Plastics have transformed modern life but now accumulate throughout ecosystems and the food chain, raising broad environmental and health concerns that are the subject of rapidly growing scientific investigation.

2020 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microfibers: Environmental Problems and Textile Solutions

This review argued that microfibers (long thin plastic particles) are the most numerically abundant type of microplastic in aquatic environments when sampling methods account for their shape, yet they receive less attention than other forms. The authors identified textile production and laundering as primary sources and outlined textile-based solutions including fiber-shedding-resistant fabrics and wastewater filtration.

2022 Microplastics 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Current Scenario on the Impact of Microplastics on the Environment, Marine, and Humans

This review surveys the current state of microplastic pollution -- particles smaller than 5 mm from environmental plastic degradation and intentional microbead manufacturing -- in environmental, marine, and human contexts. The authors summarize contamination pathways, concentrations across environmental matrices, and the emerging evidence for health effects from dietary and inhalation exposure.

2024 OAJRC Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Microplastics

This overview paper introduced the topic of microplastics — their origins, classification, environmental distribution, and ecological significance — as an entry point into the broader field of plastic pollution science. It contextualizes current research challenges and policy needs.

2024 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in the Environment

This book chapter provides an overview of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution as emerging environmental contaminants, describing their formation, persistence in the environment, pathways of biological exposure, and potential toxicity to ecosystems and human health.

2025
Article Tier 2

Role of Textile Industries in Microfiber Pollution

This review examines the role of textile industries in generating microfiber pollution, tracing microfiber release during fabric production, consumer use, laundering, and end-of-life disposal as synthetic textile demand grows with fast fashion. The review documents pathways by which textile microfibers enter freshwater and marine environments and accumulate in aquatic biota, linking industry growth trends to escalating environmental microfiber loads.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in the Environment

This book chapter provides a general overview of microplastic pollution, describing the formation, classification, distribution, and environmental fate of plastic particles across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in the Environment

This review examines the ubiquitous presence of microplastics as emerging environmental pollutants across all major environmental compartments, synthesizing data on their sources, fates, and concentrations over time and space to characterize the scale of global contamination.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics

This review synthesizes the current state of knowledge on microplastics — particles under 5 mm derived from both intentional manufacture and fragmentation of larger items — covering their diverse polymer types, shapes, sizes, and densities, and describing how these properties influence their environmental sources, fate, and ecological effects. The authors note that microplastics are now detected in virtually every environment studied, from deep ocean sediments to the atmosphere, highlighting the pervasive nature of this suite of contaminants.

2024 Oxford University Press eBooks
Article Tier 2

Environmental Degradation due to Synthetic Fibres

This review chapter examines how synthetic textile fibres—nylon, polyester, rayon, and acrylic—contribute to microplastic pollution through their entire lifecycle, from manufacturing to washing. Because these fibres shed millions of microfibre particles into waterways with every laundry cycle and persist indefinitely in the environment, the global textile industry is identified as a major, ongoing source of plastic contamination.

2026
Article Tier 2

Micro Plastic Pollution in Freshwater Ecosystems: Sources, Fate and Effects

This review addresses microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems, examining sources including synthetic textile washing microfibers and cosmetic microbeads, and the secondary fragmentation of larger plastic debris. The authors assess the fate of particles in rivers and lakes, their effects on aquatic organisms, and the adequacy of current management approaches.

2024 Aquatic Ecosystems and Environmental Frontiers
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination: An Introduction to an Emerging Issue

This review examines microplastics as emerging environmental pollutants, covering their persistence in the environment, accumulation in aquatic organisms, and the need for standardized detection and monitoring approaches to address growing contamination concerns.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Environment

This book chapter reviews the sources, distribution, fate, and transport of microplastics across terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments. Key topics include the ability of microplastics to adsorb persistent organic pollutants and bioaccumulate through food chains, as well as the physicochemical properties that govern their environmental behavior.

2025