Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Combined toxicity of microplastics and antibiotics towards aquatic ecosystems: A case study in Beiluo River, China.

eDNA analysis of aquatic communities in the Beiluo River, China found that combined microplastic and antibiotic contamination significantly altered community structure, with MPs predominantly from agriculture and urban sewage and antibiotics from livestock operations exerting synergistic effects.

2024 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Synergistic Pollution: Interactions Among Polyethylene, Surfactants, and Antibiotics in an Aquatic Environment

Researchers investigated synergistic pollution effects among polyethylene microplastics, surfactants, and antibiotics in aquatic systems, finding that co-presence enhanced the environmental persistence and bioavailability of antibiotics beyond what microplastics or surfactants caused individually.

2025
Systematic Review Tier 1

Co-occurence of antibiotics and micro(nano)plastics: a systematic review between 2016-2021

This systematic review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in the environment. It finds that microplastics can absorb and carry antibiotics, potentially spreading antibiotic resistance and creating combined health risks that are greater than either pollutant alone.

2022 Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Status and characteristics of microplastic pollution in Chinese freshwater environment

This review summarizes research on microplastic distribution, toxic effects on organisms, and interactions with other pollutants in Chinese freshwater environments. The paper calls for strengthened regulation and monitoring of microplastics in China's lakes, rivers, and water supplies.

2023 Applied and Computational Engineering 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological Effects of Microplastics Combined With Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment: Recent Developments and Prospects

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in water environments, finding that microplastics can absorb antibiotics onto their surfaces and carry them over long distances. When aquatic organisms encounter these antibiotic-laden microplastics, the combined toxicity can be worse than either pollutant alone. Microplastics also promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, which is a growing public health concern.

2024 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20 citations
Article Tier 2

The occurrence of microplastic in specific organs in commercially caught fishes from coast and estuary area of east China

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics interact with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in aquatic environments and found that the plastic particles can absorb and concentrate the drug on their surface. The adsorption capacity increased with weathering of the plastic, suggesting that aged microplastics in the environment are more effective carriers of pharmaceutical pollutants. The findings raise concerns that microplastics could transport antibiotics through water systems, potentially contributing to antimicrobial resistance.

2018 Journal of Hazardous Materials 453 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review of the Distribution of Antibiotics in Water in Different Regions of China and Current Antibiotic Degradation Pathways

This review summarized the spatial and temporal distribution of antibiotic contamination across major Chinese water bodies, identifying livestock farming, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and aquaculture as primary sources and reviewing current biological and physicochemical degradation pathways.

2021 Frontiers in Environmental Science 161 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined pollution of tetracyclines and microplastics in the aquatic environment: Insights into the occurrence, interaction mechanisms and effects

This review examines how microplastics and tetracycline antibiotics interact in water environments, since microplastics can absorb and carry antibiotics on their surfaces. Factors like pH, heavy metals, and organic matter in water influence how tightly antibiotics bind to microplastics, and the combined pollution is more harmful to aquatic life than either pollutant alone. This is relevant to human health because these microplastic-antibiotic combinations can enter drinking water supplies and promote antibiotic resistance.

2024 Environmental Research 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Antibiotics in Aquatic Environments: A Review of Their Interactions and Ecotoxicological Implications

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact when they meet in water, and what that means for ecosystems and health. Antibiotics can attach to microplastic surfaces through chemical bonds, and the microplastics can then carry these drugs through the environment, potentially spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria. While the combined threat to fish and other aquatic life needs more study, the findings raise concerns about how microplastics help move antibiotic resistance through water systems.

2024 Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined pollution of antibiotics and microplastics in livestock breeding process: Occurrence and correlation

Researchers conducted an integrated assessment of antibiotic and microplastic co-occurrence across four environmental matrices (feed, manure, soil, and sewage) from livestock farms in South China. Antibiotics were widely detected at highest concentrations in manure and sewage, and the study found correlations between antibiotic use and microplastic co-contamination in the farming ecosystem, highlighting compounding pollution risks from intensive livestock operations.

2025 Emerging contaminants
Article Tier 2

Groundwater antibiotics and microplastics in a drinking-water source area, northern China: Occurrence, spatial distribution, risk assessment, and correlation

Researchers surveyed groundwater in a drinking water source area in northern China and found both antibiotics and microplastics present across the sampled wells. They identified correlations between the two pollutants, suggesting common sources such as agricultural runoff and wastewater. The study raises concerns about the quality of groundwater used for drinking and highlights the need for monitoring these emerging contaminants together.

2022 Environmental Research 178 citations
Review Tier 2

Decoding the interactions between antibiotics and microplastics-chemistry, environmental impacts, and mitigation approaches- A state-of-the-art review

This review examines how antibiotics and microplastics interact in the environment, forming complexes that can persist longer and travel farther than either pollutant alone. Researchers found that these complexes can serve as reservoirs for antimicrobial resistance and disrupt microbial communities. The study highlights an underappreciated environmental risk where two common pollutants combine to create compounding ecological and public health challenges.

2025 Environmental Research 2 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis unravels the complex combined toxicity of microplastics and antibiotics in aquatic ecosystems

A meta-analysis of 730 datasets found that microplastics amplify antibiotic accumulation in aquatic organisms and worsen effects on growth, development, and immune function, but paradoxically appear to mitigate reproductive toxicity from antibiotics. The impact depends on biological response pathway, microplastic concentration, antibiotic properties, and exposure time, with an inverse relationship between antibiotic toxicity and both microplastic concentration and exposure duration.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 28 citations
Article Tier 2

The contamination of microplastics in China's aquatic environment: Occurrence, detection and implications for ecological risk

This review summarized microplastic contamination across marine environments, freshwater systems, and wastewater treatment plants in China, one of the world's top plastic-producing countries. The study highlights that research on how microplastics transfer between connected water environments remains lacking, and the microscale toxicity of microplastics is still poorly understood.

2021 Environmental Pollution 91 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

When antibiotics encounter microplastics in aquatic environments: Interaction, combined toxicity, and risk assessments

A meta-analysis of the combined toxicity of antibiotics and microplastics in aquatic environments found significant adverse effects on algae but limited apparent effects on fish and daphnia. Microplastics alter antibiotic environmental behavior through adsorption and co-transport, and their coexistence is widespread across global aquatic study sites, though standardized risk assessment methods for combined exposure remain lacking.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Distinct profile of bacterial community and antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics in Ganjiang River at the watershed level

Researchers investigated microplastic pollution and associated bacterial communities, human pathogenic bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes across the Ganjiang River watershed. They found microplastics were widely distributed with an average of 407 particles per cubic meter, and that microplastic surfaces harbored significantly higher bacterial diversity and more antibiotic resistance genes than surrounding water or sediment.

2021 Environmental Research 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of Microplastics with Antibiotics in Aquatic Environment: Distribution, Adsorption, and Toxicity

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in waterways, finding that microplastics can absorb antibiotics from the water and change their availability and toxicity to aquatic organisms. Critically, microplastics also provide surfaces where antibiotic resistance genes can accumulate and spread among bacteria. This is concerning for human health because it means microplastics in water could be accelerating the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology 415 citations
Article Tier 2

Pollution status of microplastics in the freshwater environment of China: a mini review

This review assessed microplastic pollution in China's freshwater environments including rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, finding widespread contamination in surface waters, sediments, and biota with variations linked to population density and industrial activity.

2022 33 citations
Article Tier 2

The Source and Distribution of Tetracycline Antibiotics in China: A Review

This review tracks the sources and spread of tetracycline antibiotics through the Chinese environment, from animal farms and hospitals into water, soil, and even the air. These antibiotics accumulate because they are not fully broken down by the body and are overused in agriculture. While focused on antibiotics, the findings connect to microplastics research because microplastics can absorb and transport antibiotic residues, potentially spreading both antibiotic resistance and chemical contamination through the food chain.

2023 Toxics 144 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Potential Vector of Antibiotics in Aquatic Media: Environmental Implications

This review examined the role of microplastics as vectors for antibiotics in aquatic environments, highlighting how their small size, large surface area, and hydrophobicity enable them to concentrate organic pollutants. Co-exposure of microplastics and antibiotics can enhance bioaccumulation in organisms and amplify environmental risk.

2025
Article Tier 2

[Microplastics-Induced Shifts of Diversity and Abundance of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in River Water].

This Chinese study used high-throughput quantitative PCR to measure how different microplastic types affect the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in river water. Polystyrene and polyethylene microplastics both increased the overall abundance of resistance genes, supporting concerns that microplastics act as reservoirs and spreaders of antibiotic resistance in freshwater systems.

2020 PubMed 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Insight into combined pollution of antibiotics and microplastics in aquatic and soil environment: Environmental behavior, interaction mechanism and associated impact of resistant genes

This review examines the combined pollution created when microplastics absorb antibiotics in water and soil environments. Researchers found that microplastics can concentrate antibiotics on their surfaces, and this combination promotes the spread of antibiotic-resistant genes in microbial communities. The study highlights that the interaction between these two emerging pollutants may pose greater environmental and health risks than either one alone.

2023 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction between antibiotics and microplastics: Recent advances and perspective

This review examines how microplastics in water can absorb antibiotic pollutants onto their surface, especially as the plastics age and develop bacterial biofilms. This interaction is concerning for human health because microplastics carrying antibiotics could promote antibiotic-resistant bacteria in waterways, making infections harder to treat.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 168 citations
Article Tier 2

Current status of microplastics pollution in the aquatic environment, interaction with other pollutants, and effects on aquatic organisms

This paper reviewed the current state of microplastic pollution across different water environments, examining how microplastics interact with other pollutants like heavy metals, antibiotics, and industrial chemicals. Researchers found that microplastics can either amplify or reduce the toxicity of co-occurring pollutants depending on the combination, creating complex effects on aquatic organisms. The study highlights the need for standardized measurement methods and more research into how microplastics and other contaminants interact in real-world conditions.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 101 citations