Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Exposure to nanoplastic induces cell damage and nitrogen inhibition of activated sludge: Evidence from bacterial individuals and groups

Researchers exposed activated sludge in a wastewater treatment reactor to polystyrene nanoplastics at concentrations up to 10 mg/L over 30 days. They found that nanoplastic exposure caused cell membrane damage, increased oxidative stress, and significantly inhibited nitrogen removal processes. The study suggests that nanoplastic accumulation in wastewater treatment plants could compromise their ability to effectively process nitrogen-containing pollutants.

2022 Environmental Pollution 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of unmodified and amine-functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics on nitrogen removal by Pseudomonas stutzeri: strain characteristics, extracellular polymers, and transcriptomics

Researchers investigated how two types of polystyrene nanoplastics — plain and amine-modified — affect the ability of bacteria to remove nitrogen from water, a process important for wastewater treatment. The amine-coated nanoplastics were found to be more disruptive than unmodified ones, altering the bacteria's cell surface, extracellular proteins, and gene expression. This matters because nanoplastics entering wastewater systems could undermine the biological processes that keep treated water safe to release into the environment.

2025 Environmental Science Nano 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Metagenomic analysis reveals the responses of microbial communities and nitrogen metabolic pathways to polystyrene micro(nano)plastics in activated sludge systems

Scientists used genetic analysis to study how polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics disrupt the bacteria that process nitrogen in wastewater treatment systems. At high concentrations, the plastics reduced nitrogen removal efficiency by up to 30% by generating harmful reactive oxygen species that damaged key microbial processes. This is concerning because less effective wastewater treatment means more pollutants, including microplastics themselves, could end up in waterways.

2023 Water Research 135 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polystyrene nanoplastics on extracellular polymeric substance composition of activated sludge: The role of surface functional groups

Researchers investigated how three types of polystyrene nanoplastics with different surface functional groups affect activated sludge used in wastewater treatment. All three types significantly reduced total protein production in the sludge and caused cellular oxidative stress and membrane damage, with positively charged particles causing the most harm. The findings suggest that nanoplastic contamination in wastewater could impair the biological processes essential for effective sewage treatment.

2021 Environmental Pollution 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into combined stress mechanisms of microplastics and antibiotics on anammox: A critical review

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics together affect anammox bacteria, which are important for removing nitrogen from wastewater. Researchers found that combined exposure disrupts the bacteria through oxidative stress, cell membrane damage, and interference with key enzymes, often more severely than either pollutant alone. The study highlights that microplastic and antibiotic contamination in wastewater could undermine biological treatment processes.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics and pathogen plasticity: Toxic threat or tolerated stressor in Salmonella enterica?

Researchers examined how polystyrene nanoplastics affect Salmonella enterica, a major foodborne pathogen, across a range of concentrations. They found that nanoplastics induced oxidative stress, membrane damage, and increased biofilm formation, while also triggering early activation of virulence and stress-response genes. The study suggests that nanoplastic pollution in the environment could alter bacterial survival strategies and potentially influence food safety risks.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Uncovering the toxic effects and adaptive mechanisms of aminated polystyrene nanoplastics on microbes in sludge anaerobic digestion system: Insight from extracellular to intracellular

Researchers investigated how nanoplastics with amino functional groups affect the anaerobic digestion process used to treat sewage sludge. They found that these surface-modified nanoplastics reduced methane production and disrupted the microbial communities responsible for breaking down waste. The study reveals that chemically modified nanoplastics may be more disruptive to wastewater treatment processes than unmodified particles.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanisms of inhibition and recovery under multi-antibiotic stress in anammox: A critical review

This review examines how antibiotics, alongside other emerging pollutants like microplastics and nanomaterials, inhibit the anammox process used in wastewater treatment for nitrogen removal. The researchers detail multiple mechanisms by which antibiotics disrupt these specialized bacteria, including damage to cell membranes, enzyme inhibition, and interference with key metabolic pathways. Understanding these mechanisms is important for developing strategies to maintain effective wastewater treatment in the face of increasing antibiotic contamination.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 8 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastics on anammox: Influences and mechanisms

This review summarizes how microplastics affect anammox, a key biological process used in wastewater treatment to remove nitrogen. Microplastics disrupt the microbial communities that perform this process, reducing treatment efficiency depending on plastic concentration, size, and type. Since wastewater treatment is a critical barrier preventing pollutants from reaching drinking water sources, any reduction in treatment performance could increase human exposure to contaminants.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 14 citations
Article Tier 2

How anammox responds to the emerging contaminants: Status and mechanisms

This review synthesizes research on how emerging contaminants including antibiotics, nanomaterials, heavy metals, and microplastics affect anammox bacteria used in wastewater nitrogen removal, identifying inhibition thresholds and possible recovery mechanisms.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Deciphering anammox response characteristics and potential mechanisms to polyethylene terephthalate microplastic exposure

This study tested how PET microplastics affect the bacteria used in wastewater treatment for removing nitrogen pollutants. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of PET microplastics reduced the nitrogen removal efficiency by nearly 29%, though the system partially recovered over three months. The findings matter because compromised wastewater treatment means more pollutants could end up in waterways that supply drinking water.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to polystyrene nanoplastic leads to inhibition of anaerobic digestion system

Researchers showed that polystyrene nanoplastics inhibit methane production in sewage sludge digesters in a concentration-dependent manner, reducing methane yield by up to 14% and delaying the process start-up while shifting microbial community composition away from key methane-producing archaea.

2017 The Science of The Total Environment 212 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics shape microbiome and functional metabolism in anaerobic digestion

Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics and microplastics affect the microbial communities and biochemical processes in anaerobic digestion systems used for waste treatment. They found that nanoplastics had a more disruptive effect than microplastics, significantly altering the composition and metabolic functions of the microbial community. The study suggests that plastic contamination in waste streams could reduce the efficiency of anaerobic digestion, a widely used waste processing technology.

2022 Water Research 88 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Microplastics on Anammox Systems: A Comprehensive Review of Mechanisms and Influences

This review examines how microplastics affect anammox wastewater treatment systems, which are used for biological nitrogen removal. The study found that low concentrations of microplastics can actually enhance system performance by acting as biofilm carriers, while high concentrations inhibit the process through physical clogging, toxic effects, and oxidative stress.

2026 Public health and environment.
Article Tier 2

Influence of nanoplastic type on the short-cut nitrification-denitrification in a sequencing batch reactor: Elucidating the metabolic relationship of nitrogen, extracellular polymeric substances, and oxidative stress

Researchers compared the effects of biodegradable (PBAT) and non-biodegradable (polyethylene) nanoplastics on nitrogen-removing bacteria in a wastewater reactor, finding that both types disrupted nitrogen metabolism, extracellular polymer production, and oxidative stress pathways, with non-biodegradable polyethylene causing more severe inhibition of the treatment process.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

The short and long-term effect of polystyrene nanoplastics on nitrifying sludge at high nitrite concentrations

Researchers examined polystyrene nanoplastic effects on nitrifying sludge and found that while short- and long-term exposure had little impact on nitrification performance, long-term exposure shifted the nitrite-oxidizing bacterial community from Nitrobacter to Nitrospira dominance and altered cell metabolism.

2023 Journal of Environmental Sciences 10 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Do microbial decomposers find micro- and nanoplastics to be harmful stressors in the aquatic environment? A systematic review of in vitro toxicological research

Researchers systematically reviewed in vitro studies on how bacteria and fungi respond to micro- and nanoplastics, finding that polystyrene particles and E. coli dominate the literature and that nanoplastic toxicity commonly disrupts antioxidative systems, gene expression, and cell membrane integrity in microbial decomposers.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics on Nitrogen Removal Performance of Enriched Anammox Cultures

Researchers tested whether polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics affect anammox, a key biological nitrogen removal process used in wastewater treatment. They found that the physical particles themselves did not significantly inhibit the process, but chemical compounds leaching from the plastics, particularly the plasticizer dibutyl phthalate, caused temporary inhibition. Systems using granular or attached biomass structures showed better resilience to these chemical effects than suspended growth systems.

2026 Water
Article Tier 2

Microplastics perturb nitrogen removal, microbial community and metabolism mechanism in biofilm system

Researchers found that polystyrene and PET microplastics reduced total nitrogen removal by 7-16% in biofilm wastewater treatment systems by causing cell damage, altering microbial community structure, and suppressing key genes involved in denitrification and nitrogen conversion.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 57 citations
Article Tier 2

The effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on nitrogen removal, extracellular polymeric substances and microbial community in sequencing batch reactor

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics and microplastics impaired nitrogen removal in sequencing batch reactors by reducing denitrification rates, altering extracellular polymeric substances, and shifting microbial community composition in activated sludge.

2023 Bioresource Technology 54 citations