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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Freshwater systems in the Anthropocene: why we need to evaluate microplastics in the context of multiple stressors
ClearTowards more ecologically relevant investigations of the impacts of microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems
This review argues that microplastic research in freshwater ecosystems lacks ecological realism, calling for studies that account for realistic exposure concentrations, particle mixtures, and multi-species interactions rather than single-species laboratory tests.
Multi-Interacting Natural and Anthropogenic Stressors on Freshwater Ecosystems: Their Current Status and Future Prospects for 21st Century
This review examines how multiple environmental stressors including pollution, climate change, invasive species, and nanoparticles are simultaneously degrading freshwater ecosystems worldwide. The combined effects of these stressors, including microplastic contamination, threaten both the ecological health of freshwater systems and the clean water supplies that human civilization depends on.
Micro- and nanoplastics effects in a multiple stressed marine environment
Researchers examined how micro- and nanoplastics interact with other environmental stressors in marine settings, finding that realistic multi-stressor scenarios can amplify or modify plastic toxicity in ways single-exposure studies miss.
From plankton to fish: The multifaceted threat of microplastics in freshwater environments
This review summarizes how microplastics harm freshwater organisms from tiny plankton to fish through oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, gut microbiome disruption, and metabolic disorders. Microplastics often combine with other pollutants in water, making their toxic effects even worse. Since freshwater systems are a major pathway for microplastics entering oceans and our food supply, understanding these effects is critical for protecting both ecosystems and human health.
Multi stress system: Microplastics in freshwater and their effects on host microbiota
This study examined how combined exposure to microplastics and organic chemical pollutants affects freshwater organisms through a multi-stress approach, focusing on gut microbiome changes as an indicator. Microplastic exposure in combination with other pollutants altered microbiome composition more than either stressor alone, with potential consequences for host fitness and disease resistance.
Responses of freshwater organisms to multiple stressors in a climate change scenario: a review on small-scale experiments
This review summarizes 156 publications on how freshwater organisms respond to combinations of temperature and salinity changes along with other stressors including metals, pesticides, and emerging contaminants like microplastics in controlled small-scale experiments. It finds that combined stressor effects are often non-additive and species-specific, with significant knowledge gaps remaining for microplastic interactions under climate change scenarios.
Environmental risks of microplastics: A Review of their distribution and effects on aquatic ecosystems
This review examined how microplastics threaten aquatic ecosystems through direct physical and chemical stress on organisms and through synergistic interactions with co-contaminants that disrupt food webs. The authors identify key research gaps including realistic multi-stressor experiments and long-term ecosystem-level studies.
Stressor Exposures Determine Risk: So, Why Do Fellow Scientists Continue To Focus on Superficial Microplastics Risk?
This commentary challenges the field's focus on microplastic concentrations in isolation, arguing that stressor exposures determine risk and urging researchers to consider realistic environmental conditions, bioavailability, and co-occurring stressors when assessing ecological harm.
Microplastics and nanoplastics toxicity assays: A revision towards to environmental-relevance in water environment
This review evaluates how well current laboratory toxicity tests for micro and nanoplastics reflect real-world conditions in water environments. The authors found that most studies use pristine plastic particles at concentrations far higher than what is found in nature, limiting the relevance of their findings. The paper calls for more environmentally realistic testing approaches to better understand the actual risks of plastic particle pollution.
Towards harmonized ecotoxicological effect assessment of micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic systems
This review highlights the methodological problems in current microplastic and nanoplastic toxicity research on freshwater organisms, including the use of unrealistic plastic types, poor test designs, and environmentally irrelevant doses. The authors propose a harmonized framework for testing that better reflects real-world conditions, including more realistic particle types and exposure levels. Better standardized research is essential for accurately assessing the true environmental and health risks of micro and nanoplastic pollution.
Interactive Threats: Multi-stress Systems in Aquatic Environments
Researchers examined how aquatic organisms face multiple simultaneous stressors — including plastic pollution, climate change, altered pH, and habitat loss — finding that the combined interactive effects of these threats are poorly understood yet critical to developing effective conservation and management strategies.
Freshwater wild biota exposure to microplastics: A global perspective
This global review synthesized field evidence on microplastic exposure in freshwater organisms across many taxa and regions, finding that exposure in nature is widespread but that concentrations used in most laboratory toxicity studies are orders of magnitude higher than field measurements.
Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems: Sources, Transport and Ecotoxicological Impacts on Aquatic Life and Human Health
This review summarizes how microplastics enter freshwater ecosystems from sources like industrial runoff, urban waste, and agriculture, and how they accumulate in sediments where aquatic organisms ingest them. Researchers found that microplastics reduce feeding efficiency, inhibit growth, and harm reproduction in freshwater species, while also acting as carriers for toxic chemicals that build up through the food chain. The study highlights the need for better waste management and further research to understand the full scope of risks to both aquatic life and human health.
Long-term exposure of a free-living freshwater micro- and meiobenthos community to microplastic mixtures in microcosms
Researchers exposed a natural freshwater micro- and meiobenthos community to microplastic mixtures in long-term microcosm experiments, finding community-level effects that differ from single-species studies and highlighting the importance of realistic multi-polymer exposure scenarios.
Microplastics as contaminants in freshwater environments: A multidisciplinary review
This multidisciplinary review covers microplastic sources, abundance, composition, transport, and biological effects in freshwater systems globally, arguing that freshwater environments are both major conduits and sinks for microplastic pollution.
Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems : effects and drivers
This thesis assessed how microplastic exposure affects freshwater microorganisms, macroinvertebrates, and other organisms in freshwater ecosystems, finding that microplastics are a pervasive contaminant of freshwater environments with unclear but potentially significant ecological impacts.
Microplastics in the environment: A critical overview on its fate, toxicity, implications, management, and bioremediation strategies
This review provides a broad overview of microplastic pollution, covering how these particles enter freshwater systems, accumulate in organisms, and carry toxic chemicals through the food chain. With approximately 360 million tons of plastic produced globally each year and only 7% recycled, microplastics have become a pervasive threat to water quality and, by extension, human health.
Behavior and Bio-Interactions of Anthropogenic Particles in Marine Environment for a More Realistic Ecological Risk Assessment
This review examines how anthropogenic nanoparticles — including plastic fragments and engineered nanomaterials — behave in marine environments and interact with biology, arguing for more realistic multi-stressor exposure conditions in ecological risk assessment.
Interconnected impacts of water resource management and climate change on microplastic pollution and riverine biocoenosis: A review by freshwater ecologists
Researchers reviewed how river hydrology, water resource management, and climate change interact to influence microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems. They found that floods can flush microplastics from catchments, while reservoirs act as both sinks and sources, and extreme weather events driven by climate change tend to concentrate microplastics and threaten aquatic organisms. The study highlights a critical gap in research that jointly addresses these interconnected factors and calls for integrated policy approaches.
Microplastic Pollutants in Aquatic Ecosystems: Present and Future Challenges
This review synthesizes evidence on microplastics as a widespread and growing contaminant found across marine, freshwater, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments. Organisms at every level of the food chain ingest microplastics, which cause physical harm, oxidative stress, and reproductive disruption, while also acting as carriers for toxic chemicals and pathogens. For humans, exposure via contaminated food, water, and air is well-documented — microplastics have been found in blood and tissues — though direct causal health links are still being established, making further research a priority.
From Origins to Impacts: A Comprehensive Review of Microplastics in Freshwater Environments
This comprehensive review covers microplastics in freshwater ecosystems from sources and transport to biological uptake and food web effects, synthesizing current evidence on ecological risks and identifying research priorities.
The organism fate of inland freshwater system under micro-/nano-plastic pollution: A review of past decade.
This review synthesized a decade of research on how micro- and nano-plastics affect freshwater organisms including microalgae, macrophytes, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, and fish, finding that impacts range from impaired photosynthesis and oxidative stress to reproductive disruption and behavioral changes across multiple biological levels.
Ecotoxicity of microplastics to freshwater biota: Considering exposure and hazard across trophic levels
This review examines the toxic effects of microplastics on freshwater organisms across multiple levels of the food web, from biofilms and plankton to fish and amphibians. Researchers found evidence of harm in several species, though effects varied widely depending on particle size, type, and concentration. The study highlights that freshwater microplastic toxicity is still poorly understood compared to marine environments and calls for more standardized research.
Comprehending the complexity of microplastic organismal exposures and effects, to improve testing frameworks
This review argues that standard toxicity testing frameworks are poorly suited to capture the complexity of microplastic exposures in real environments, proposing improved testing approaches that account for particle mixtures, realistic concentrations, and species-specific feeding behaviors.