Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Addressing the Invisible Threat

This paper examines microplastic contamination in the Philippines, identifying gaps in research, waste management infrastructure, and public awareness that limit effective policy responses, and advocating for evidence-based strategies that coordinate scientific research with regulation and community education.

2025 SCI-TECH LENS
Article Tier 2

Assessing the Environmental Impact of Urban Plastic Waste in Pahang, Malaysia

Researchers assessed the environmental impact of urban plastic waste in Pahang, Malaysia, surveying plastic accumulation in waterways, land, and coastal areas and estimating pollution loads from different urban sources.

2024
Article Tier 2

The urban microplastic footprint: investigating the distribution and transport

Researchers investigated the distribution and transport of microplastics within an urban environment, mapping the 'urban microplastic footprint' to understand how city infrastructure and land use patterns drive the spatial distribution and downstream export of plastic particles to receiving water bodies.

2025
Article Tier 2

Understanding plastic-dependent urban coastal communities: Plastic handling practices and perceptions of urban villages of Iligan City, Philippines

Researchers examined awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of marine macro- and microplastic pollution among 70 coastal community residents in Iligan City, Philippines, finding that despite general awareness, plastic handling practices remained inconsistent with pollution reduction goals.

2025 Journal of Marine and Island Cultures
Article Tier 2

Urbanization Impacts on Microplastic in Benthic Organisms and Sediment of Small Islands

Researchers investigated how urbanisation on small islands in Indonesia affects microplastic contamination levels in benthic organisms and sediments, examining the impact of land use conversions from pristine ecosystems to settlements and tourism facilities.

2025 Journal of King Abdulaziz University-Marine Sciences
Systematic Review Tier 1

Aquatic microplastics research in the ASEAN region: Analysis of challenges and priorities

This systematic review analyzes the state of microplastic research across Southeast Asian countries and identifies gaps in how studies are conducted. The researchers found inconsistent methods being used across the region, making it hard to compare results or understand the true scale of contamination. Standardizing how microplastics are measured is important because it will give us a clearer picture of how much plastic pollution people in the region are exposed to.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 10 citations
Article Tier 2

The nexus of macroplastic and microplastic research and plastic regulation policies in the Philippines marine coastal environments

This study examined the relationship between macroplastic and microplastic research output and plastic regulation policies in the Philippines, one of the world's top plastic polluters, assessing how scientific evidence has informed or failed to influence coastal environmental policy.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics as Emerging Pollutants in Global Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Bibliometric Analysis

This bibliometric analysis mapped the global landscape of micro- and nanoplastic research in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems using data from major scientific databases. Researchers identified key research trends, leading countries, and the most active institutions contributing to the field. The study reveals that while research output has surged in recent years, significant knowledge gaps remain around nanoplastics and their long-term ecological effects.

2024 Environmental Forensics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

A multidimensional approach for microplastics monitoring in two major tropical river basins, Malaysia

Researchers conducted a multidimensional assessment of microplastic distribution in surface waters of two major Malaysian river basins, providing much-needed field data on microplastic emissions from Asian rivers known to be major contributors to ocean pollution.

2023 Environmental Research 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Data on the Philippine Studies on Microplastics: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Through Thematic Analysis

This is a duplicate dataset deposit for the Philippine microplastic meta-synthesis, compiling 45 peer-reviewed studies for thematic analysis of microplastic research across environmental and biological matrices in the Philippines. The dataset supports identifying geographic and thematic research gaps in Southeast Asian microplastic science.

2026 Mendeley Data
Article Tier 2

Assessment of Small-Scale Microplastics Abundance and Characterization in Urban River: A Case Study in Metro River, Indonesia

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination in the Metro River in Indonesia, finding that abundance and characteristics varied by land use type, with urban areas showing higher concentrations of fragments and fibers in this rapidly developing region.

2023 Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences 9 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Plastic pollution research in Indonesia: State of science and future research directions.

This meta-analysis reviews the state of plastic pollution research in Indonesia, a country identified as one of the top contributors to global plastic waste. The findings highlight significant gaps in data on microplastic contamination in Indonesian waters and ecosystems, which matters because plastic pollution from this region affects global ocean health and the seafood supply chain.

2021
Article Tier 2

Investigating the knowledge, attitude and perception on microplastic pollution: a comparison between residents in Temerloh living in urban and rural areas

Researchers surveyed urban and rural residents of Temerloh, Malaysia, on their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of microplastic pollution, finding gaps in awareness that contribute to poor waste management behaviours and ongoing environmental contamination.

2023 UiTM Institutional Repositories (Universiti Teknologi MARA)
Article Tier 2

Are mangrove ecosystems plastic accumulation zones?

Researchers monitored macroplastic and microplastic pollution across nine mangrove sites on Cebu Island, Philippines, for over a year using paired removal and reference plots, finding that mangrove ecosystems function as significant plastic accumulation zones with differing dynamics between landward and seaward zones.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Characterisation of Macro-plastic Waste Along the Philippines' Longest Coastal Boulevard: Basis for Solid Waste Management and Policy Formulation

Researchers characterized macro-plastic waste types and quantities along the Philippines' longest coastal boulevard, using density and cleanliness metrics as a basis for solid waste management and policy formulation. The study identified dominant plastic categories and spatial distribution patterns, providing empirical data to inform targeted waste management interventions and coastal protection policies.

2024 Journal of Applied Life Sciences and Environment
Article Tier 2

Identifying Knowledge Gaps and Research Needs in Microplastic Pollution Research

This review identifies knowledge gaps and research needs in microplastic pollution science, noting ubiquitous detection of microplastics in environmental compartments globally and highlighting unresolved questions about urban-to-rural transport, ecotoxicological effects, and effective mitigation strategies.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution in the rivers of a metropolitan city and its estimated dependency on surrounding developed land

Researchers surveyed microplastic pollution in four rivers across Hong Kong and found that rivers in urbanized areas had significantly higher concentrations of plastic particles than the rural river. The most polluted river contained over 53 plastic particles per liter of water, and contamination levels correlated with the proportion of developed land in surrounding areas. The study suggests that urban development and population density are key drivers of microplastic pollution in city waterways.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Marine plastic pollution: A systematic review of management strategies through a macroscope approach

Researchers applied a systems-level framework to review 176 studies on marine plastic pollution management, finding that waste collection infrastructure and freshwater pathways are critically understudied and that no existing strategy — from beach cleanup to biomaterials — is scalable enough to meaningfully reverse the plastic crisis.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 12 citations
Review Tier 2

Abundance, Uptake, Presence and Biodegradation of Microplastics in Malaysian Context: a Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review compiled published data on microplastic abundance, uptake, and biodegradation in Malaysia's environments and biota. The review finds that microplastic research in Malaysia is growing but still limited, and calls for standardized methods to allow better comparisons across studies.

2022 Journal of Sustainability Science and Management 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Urban tropical freshwater ponds as microplastics hotspots—insight on abundance and characteristics using an improved sampling technique

Researchers surveyed 20 urban freshwater ponds in central India and found microplastics present in all of them, with fragments, films, and foams being the most common types. They introduced an improved, low-cost sampling technique that does not require boats, making it practical for studying smaller water bodies. The results confirm that urban ponds are significant hotspots for microplastic accumulation, with polyethylene and polystyrene being the dominant polymer types.

2023 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Asian freshwater ecosystems: Current knowledge and perspectives

This review of microplastic research in Asian freshwater ecosystems from 2014 to 2021 found that Asia is a global hotspot for freshwater microplastic pollution, driven by rapid urbanization and economic growth, with fibers from textile washing and fragments from plastic debris degradation as dominant types.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic waste occurrence on a beach off southwestern Luzon, Philippines

Researchers documented plastic waste on a beach in southwestern Luzon, Philippines, finding high levels of macroplastic litter and establishing baseline microplastic contamination data for a country identified as one of the largest contributors of plastic waste to the ocean.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 82 citations
Article Tier 2

A Study of marine plastic pollution abatement: A bibliometric analysis on status and development trend

Researchers conducted a bibliometric analysis of marine plastic pollution research using R software, finding that global scientific attention has grown substantially, with microplastics emerging as a central focus spanning both macro- and microscale investigations.

2023 Academic Journal of Environment & Earth Science 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Freshwater plastic pollution: Recognizing research biases and identifying knowledge gaps

Researchers conducted a bibliometric review of freshwater plastic pollution research and identified major gaps: data from the most polluted Asian rivers is severely underrepresented, submerged macroplastics are almost entirely unstudied, and studies of plastic impacts on freshwater fauna lag far behind comparable marine research — limiting the ability to accurately estimate river-to-ocean plastic flux.

2018 Water Research 619 citations