Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Food Chain

This review documents microplastic presence throughout the food trophic chain, examining how plastics enter food webs, accumulate with biomagnification, and affect organisms at each trophic level including humans who are at the top of the chain.

2022 Microplastics 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic in freshwater ecosystem: bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, and biomagnification

This review synthesizes evidence on microplastic bioaccumulation and trophic transfer in freshwater ecosystems, finding that while ingestion by freshwater organisms is well-documented, biomagnification through food chains remains poorly understood and requires further investigation.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 91 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microplastics in marine organisms: A review and meta-analysis of current data

This meta-analysis reviews current evidence on whether microplastics accumulate and concentrate as they move up the marine food chain. The findings have direct implications for seafood safety, since biomagnification would mean that larger predatory fish consumed by humans could contain higher concentrations of microplastics and their associated chemical additives.

2020 PLoS ONE 571 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics move through marine food webs via trophic transfer and carry chemical contaminants that can accumulate in higher predators, including humans. Researchers found that microplastics readily sorb pollutants from surrounding waters and release them after being ingested by organisms, potentially amplifying toxic effects at each level of the food chain. The study underscores the need for more research on bioaccumulation factors and the implications of seafood-mediated microplastic exposure for human health.

2018 Environment International 1310 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic Transfer and Accumulation of Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystem: Risk to Food Security and Human Health

This review examined the trophic transfer and accumulation of microplastics through freshwater food chains, highlighting the risks to food security and human health as plastic particles biomagnify from lower to higher trophic levels.

2022 International Journal of Ecology 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Observing the Effects of Marine Debris Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification

This study examines how marine debris, particularly microplastics and heavy metals, bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through marine food webs, with organisms ingesting microplastics as they move through ocean currents. The review considers the ecological consequences of microplastic ingestion across trophic levels and the implications for food chain safety as humans sit at the top of the marine food web.

2024 Journal of Student Research
Article Tier 2

Gathering at the top? Environmental controls of microplastic uptake and biomagnification in freshwater food webs

This review examines the uptake and potential biomagnification of microplastics through freshwater food webs, from primary producers to top predators. Researchers found that while microplastics accumulate in organisms at multiple levels of the food chain, evidence for true biomagnification remains limited and inconsistent. The study identifies key environmental and physical factors that control microplastic exposure pathways and calls for more standardized field studies to resolve whether microplastics concentrate up the food chain.

2020 Environmental Pollution 166 citations
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Microplastic Bioaccumulation on Marine Ecosystems

This review examined the bioaccumulation of microplastics in marine ecosystems, tracing MP uptake from zooplankton to fish to marine mammals and discussing the ecological disruptions caused by plastic accumulation across food webs. It called for integrated solutions addressing MP pollution at both the source and ecosystem levels.

2024 Theoretical and Natural Science
Article Tier 2

The Effects of Microplastics on the Human Food Chain and Freshwater Ecosystem

This review examines how microplastic pollution affects freshwater ecosystems and the human food chain, tracing the transfer of MPs from contaminated water through aquatic organisms to human consumers and evaluating the cumulative health risks of dietary plastic exposure.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Their Impacts on Organisms and Trophic Chains

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic pollution, examining the mechanisms by which microplastics affect organisms at multiple levels of biological organization and how plastic particles transfer through trophic chains, accumulating and potentially magnifying in concentration up the food web. Researchers highlight evidence for physical, chemical, and microbial impacts on organisms ranging from invertebrates to mammals, including humans, and identify priority areas for future ecotoxicological research.

2022 Water 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of marine organisms at multi-trophic level to study the integrated biological responses induced by microplastics through food-chain

Researchers used marine organisms across multiple trophic levels to study how microplastics move and accumulate through the food chain, finding that toxicological effects intensify at higher trophic levels due to bioaccumulation of plastic particles and associated chemical pollutants.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and associated contaminants in the aquatic environment: A review on their ecotoxicological effects, trophic transfer, and potential impacts to human health

This review examines how microplastics and the chemical contaminants they carry move through aquatic food chains from small organisms up to larger predators. Researchers found that microplastics can transfer toxic additives and absorbed pollutants to organisms that ingest them, with potential implications for seafood safety and ultimately human health.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 727 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics and the chemicals they carry transfer through marine food webs from lower to higher trophic levels, and what this means for human health given that people consume marine fish and seafood. It identifies microplastics as a vector for bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in ways that ultimately reach humans.

2018 OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Article Tier 2

Plastic Peril

This review examines the skyrocketing global plastic production and the resulting accumulation of microplastics that adversely affect terrestrial and aquatic organisms through bioaccumulation and biomagnification. The authors assess evidence for microplastic effects across trophic levels including in edible aquatic organisms, highlighting the food chain risks from plastic pollution.

2024
Article Tier 2

Research Progress on the Migration Pathways and Ecological Effects of Microplastics in Marine Food Webs

This paper reviews migration pathways and ecological effects of microplastics within marine food webs, tracing MP movement from primary producers through various trophic levels to apex predators and humans, and synthesizing evidence for biological harm at each stage of trophic transfer.

2025 Advances in Engineering Technology Research
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics on Living Organisms and their Trophic Transfer: An Ecotoxicological Review

This ecotoxicological review examines the effects of microplastics on living organisms across multiple trophic levels and their transfer through food webs, covering evidence from aquatic and terrestrial environments. The authors highlight the cumulative risks posed by microplastic ingestion and tissue accumulation.

2023 Futuristic Biotechnology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics in zooplanktons towards its speculations on human health: A review

This review examines how microplastics move through the ocean food chain, from tiny zooplankton at the base up through fish to humans, and what health effects may result. Trophic transfer means microplastics can concentrate as they move up the food web, increasing human dietary exposure.

2019 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic profusion in food and drinking water: are microplastics becoming a macroproblem?

This review examined the prevalence of microplastics in food and drinking water, assessing trophic transfer along the food web and evaluating whether microplastic contamination in human dietary sources constitutes a growing public health concern.

2022 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Addressing the current fettle of bioaccumulation of microplastics on the subsequent perspective of the aquatic ecosystem and health implications of commercial species: a review

This review examined the global evidence for microplastic bioaccumulation in aquatic animals and the downstream risks to ecosystem health and food security. The authors highlight how ingestion of plastic-contaminated prey transfers microplastics up the food chain.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics act as vectors for chemical contaminants through marine food webs, discussing the factors influencing ingestion, the biological impacts of sorbed chemicals, and evidence for trophic transfer across multiple trophic levels. Researchers highlight that existing lab studies use unrealistically high concentrations and that no study has yet tracked microplastic-contaminant transfer from seafood to humans.

2018 35 citations