Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in sediments of tropical shallow lakes

Researchers found microplastics in all sediment samples from 48 tropical shallow lakes across a climatic gradient, with fibres dominating over fragments and polyester being the most common polymer, indicating widespread plastic contamination even in inland freshwater ecosystems.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic evidence assessment from water and sediment sampling in a shallow tropical lake

Researchers assessed microplastic pollution in Lake Chapala, a shallow tropical lake in Mexico, by sampling both water and sediment across multiple seasons. They found microplastics present year-round, with higher concentrations during the dry season, and detected heavy metals associated with the particles. The study highlights the persistent and seasonal nature of microplastic contamination in inland freshwater ecosystems that many communities depend on.

2024 Water Environment Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and other anthropogenic particles contamination and its potential trophic transfer in a tropical Andean reservoir, Colombia

Researchers sampled water, sediment, and multiple trophic levels of biota in a tropical Andean reservoir in Colombia, finding microplastics and other anthropogenic particles at every level and documenting evidence of trophic transfer from zooplankton through macroinvertebrates to fish.

2025 Repositorio CES
Article Tier 2

Microplastics abundance in abiotic and biotic components along aquatic food chain in two freshwater ecosystems of Pakistan

Researchers quantified microplastic abundance across multiple trophic levels in two Pakistani freshwater ecosystems, finding evidence of bioaccumulation along the food chain from water and sediment through invertebrates to fish species.

2022 Chemosphere 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics ingestion by a common tropical freshwater fishing resource

Researchers assessed microplastic ingestion by Hoplosternum littorale, a commonly consumed freshwater fish in tropical regions. The study found evidence of microplastic contamination in these fish, highlighting knowledge gaps about microplastic impacts in freshwater environments and potential risks associated with human consumption of affected organisms.

2016 Environmental Pollution 373 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and amount of microplastic ingested by fishes in watersheds of the Gulf of Mexico

Researchers quantified microplastic ingestion by fishes across several freshwater and estuarine watersheds of the Gulf of Mexico. The study documented widespread microplastic occurrence in fish from these environments, contributing important data about freshwater contamination at a time when most research had focused on marine ecosystems.

2015 Marine Pollution Bulletin 307 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and other anthropogenic particles contamination and their potential trophic transfer in a tropical Andean reservoir, Colombia

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination across water, sediment, and aquatic organisms in a tropical Andean reservoir in Colombia, finding plastic particles present in all environmental compartments and at every level of the food chain studied. The most common particles were fibers and fragments made of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyester. The study provides evidence that microplastics are being transferred up through the food web in this freshwater ecosystem, from tiny crustaceans to fish.

2025 Hydrobiologia 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Food ecology and presence of microplastic in the stomach content of neotropical fish in an urban river of the upper Paraná River Basin

Microplastics were found in the stomachs of multiple fish species in an urban Brazilian river, with ingestion rates linked to each species' feeding ecology. The findings confirm that microplastics have entered the freshwater food chain, raising concern about contamination reaching people who eat these fish.

2020 Ambiente e Agua - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science 18 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Occurrence, transport, and toxicity of microplastics in tropical food chains: perspectives view and way forward

This systematic review of 206 publications found that microplastics move through both aquatic and terrestrial food chains, accumulating as they transfer from lower to higher trophic levels. The interactions between microorganisms and microplastics facilitate the transport of associated pollutants like heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants to top predators, including humans who consume contaminated food.

2024 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic exposure across trophic levels: effects on the host–microbiota of freshwater organisms

Researchers examined how microplastic exposure across trophic levels affects the gut microbiota of freshwater organisms, finding that microplastics alter microbial community composition and that effects can transfer through food web interactions.

2022 Environmental Microbiome 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from Lake Amatitlán

Microplastics were found in Nile tilapia from Lake Amatitlan, Guatemala, with fibers as the dominant type, confirming that even fish from lakes receiving untreated wastewater in Central America are contaminated and that the fish represent a potential vector for human microplastic ingestion.

2021 Ambiente e Agua - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science 12 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

Microplastics integrating the zooplanktonic fraction in a saline lake of Argentina: influence of water management

Microplastics were found throughout a shallow Argentinian lake and its irrigation channel in all seasons, with fiber contamination dominating and concentrations highest in summer. The study found that microplastics mix into the zooplankton fraction, suggesting they could be ingested by small organisms and transferred up the food chain.

2020 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 52 citations
Article Tier 2

High macroplastic pollution in a subtropical urban lake affects macroinvertebrate community structure

Researchers examined the effects of high macroplastic pollution in a subtropical urban lake on macroinvertebrate communities, finding that plastic debris significantly altered benthic assemblages and reduced biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems that have received less ecological attention than marine environments.

2025 Hydrobiologia
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Microplastics as Contaminants in Freshwater Ecosystems and Human Food Chain

This review examines the impacts of microplastics on freshwater ecosystems and human food chains, tracing how plastic particles enter rivers and lakes, accumulate in fish and invertebrates, and transfer to humans through consumption of contaminated freshwater species.

2025
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

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

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

From prey to predators: Evidence of microplastic trophic transfer in tuna and large pelagic species in the southwestern Tropical Atlantic

Researchers found evidence of microplastic trophic transfer from prey to tuna and large pelagic predators in the southwestern Tropical Atlantic, demonstrating that plastic contamination moves through marine food chains to economically important fish species.

2023 Environmental Pollution 53 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of microplastics on lake communities: A mesocosm study

Researchers conducted a mesocosm experiment to assess how microplastic contamination affects lake communities, including zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and fish. They found that microplastic exposure caused varying effects across organism groups, with some community-level changes observed over the study period. The study highlights that microplastic pollution can alter freshwater ecosystem dynamics beyond what has been documented in single-species laboratory studies.

2024 Chemosphere 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro‐ and nano‐plastic loads in fish and macroinvertebrates in a tropical river

In a tropical river system undergoing rapid urbanization, 95% of fish and 44% of macroinvertebrates were found to contain microplastics, with smaller nanoscale plastics detected using a new automated method in addition to traditional visual inspection. The high contamination rates across multiple animal groups in a single river highlight how thoroughly microplastics can permeate freshwater food webs.

2024 Freshwater Biology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Presence of Microplastics in the Food Web of the Largest High-Elevation Lake in North America

Researchers investigated microplastic presence across three trophic levels of the freshwater food web in Lake Tahoe, North America's largest high-elevation lake, sampling water, amphibians, and fish to document microplastic transfer and accumulation through the aquatic food chain.

2021 Water 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Methods to characterize Microplastics: Case study on freshwater fishes from a tropical lagoon in Colombia

Researchers examined microplastic prevalence, abundance, and physical and chemical characteristics in fish from Luruaco lagoon, Colombia, conducting four sampling events using trawl nets and analyzing gastrointestinal tracts of captured individuals to characterize microplastic ingestion across species.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in lakes and rivers: an issue of emerging significance to limnology

Researchers found that microplastic concentrations in freshwater lakes and rivers can exceed those of living organisms like zooplankton, with sediment levels matching the most contaminated marine sites, establishing microplastics as a significant issue for limnology.

2021 Environmental Reviews 141 citations