Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Study of the toxicological effects of emerging contaminants on Daphnia similis associating polyethylene microplastics with the agrochemical imidacloprid.

Brazilian researchers tested the ecotoxicological effects of combining polyethylene microplastics with the insecticide imidacloprid on the freshwater crustacean Daphnia, finding combined exposures were more toxic than either pollutant alone. These results suggest that microplastics and pesticides together pose greater risks to aquatic organisms than studies of single pollutants indicate.

2023 Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo)
Article Tier 2

Mixtures of Micro and Nanoplastics and Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Environment: What We Know about Their Toxicological Effects

This review examines what is known about the toxicological effects of micro- and nanoplastic mixtures combined with other emerging contaminants in the environment. Researchers found that most studies fail to calculate proper interaction parameters, making it difficult to determine whether combined exposures produce additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects on organisms.

2024 Toxics 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastics on the environmental behavior of emerging contaminants in aquatic matrices

This study examines how microplastics affect the environmental behavior of emerging contaminants in aquatic systems. Microplastics can adsorb other pollutants and alter their bioavailability, potentially increasing or decreasing toxic effects depending on the chemicals and environmental conditions.

2023 Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo)
Article Tier 2

Ekotoksičnost mikroplastike i prioritetnih onečišćivala u vodi

This review covers the ecotoxicity of microplastics and priority pollutants in water, summarizing experimental evidence for toxicity endpoints including mortality, reproduction, growth, and behavioral effects across aquatic organisms. The authors note that combined exposure to microplastics and co-contaminants often produces greater toxicity than individual exposures, highlighting the importance of mixture effects.

2024 Repository of Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb
Article Tier 2

A review on the combined toxicological effects of microplastics and their attached pollutants

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for other environmental pollutants — including heavy metals and persistent organic chemicals — and how these combinations produce toxic effects in organisms that are more severe than either contaminant alone. The findings highlight a complex, layered toxicity problem that affects microbes, invertebrates, and vertebrates across marine and terrestrial environments.

2025 Emerging contaminants 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity assessment of polyethylene microplastics in combination with a mix of emerging pollutants on Physalaemus cuvieri tadpoles

Researchers assessed the toxicity of polyethylene microplastics alone and in combination with a mixture of emerging pollutants on tadpoles of the frog Physalaemus cuvieri over 30 days. They found that combined exposure produced more severe effects on biomarkers related to oxidative stress and morphological development than individual exposures. The study highlights the need to consider how microplastics interact with other environmental contaminants when evaluating risks to amphibian populations.

2022 Journal of Environmental Sciences 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioassays to assess the ecotoxicological impact of polyethylene microplastics and two organic pollutants, simazine and ibuprofen

Researchers assessed the ecotoxicological impact of polyethylene microplastics combined with the organic pollutants simazine and ibuprofen using bioassays in terrestrial ecosystems, finding measurable toxic effects on soil organisms from both the microplastics and co-contaminants.

2021 Chemosphere 33 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Effects of microplastics on the toxicity of co-existing pollutants to fish: A meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of 1,380 biological endpoints from 55 studies found that microplastics in co-existing pollutant solutions significantly increased toxicity to fish beyond what the pollutants caused alone, particularly elevating immune system damage, metabolic disruption, and oxidative stress. The effect depended on fish life stage and microplastic size, but not on pollutant or polymer type.

2023 Water Research 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicological interactions of microplastics/nanoplastics and environmental contaminants: Current knowledge and future perspectives

This review examines how the combined presence of micro- and nanoplastics with other environmental contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals affects toxicity. Researchers found that plastic particles can alter the bioavailability and toxic effects of co-occurring pollutants, sometimes increasing harm to organisms, which complicates environmental risk assessment.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 501 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of Environmental Pollutants with Microplastics: A Critical Review of Sorption Factors, Bioaccumulation and Ecotoxicological Effects

This critical review examines how microplastics interact with and enhance the toxicity of co-occurring environmental pollutants including heavy metals, persistent organic compounds, and pharmaceuticals, synthesizing evidence on sorption mechanisms and combined ecotoxicological effects.

2020 Toxics 313 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrative Evaluation of the Ecological Hazards by Microplastics and Heavy Metals in Wetland Ecosystem

Researchers conducted an integrative ecological hazard assessment of microplastics combined with heavy metals, evaluating their combined toxicity to aquatic organisms. The study found that co-contamination with heavy metals and microplastics poses greater ecological risk than either pollutant alone.

2023 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxic effects of microplastics and contaminated microplastics – Emerging evidence and perspective

This review examined the ecotoxic effects of microplastics alone and when contaminated with other environmental pollutants. Researchers analyzed how microplastics' small size, surface properties, and hydrophobicity contribute to their environmental persistence and tendency to bind other contaminants. The study suggests that contaminated microplastics may pose greater ecological risks than pristine particles due to combined toxic effects.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and associated emerging contaminants in the environment: Analysis, sorption mechanisms and effects of co-exposure

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for other environmental pollutants — including antibiotics, PFAS, and triclosan — absorbing them from surrounding water and potentially delivering higher doses to organisms that ingest the plastic, with combined toxicity effects that can be either amplified or reduced depending on the combination.

2022 Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry 151 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of microplastics and emerging contaminants: Mechanisms of interactions, bioaccumulation and combined toxicity to aquatic organisms

This review summarizes how microplastics interact with other emerging contaminants in water, finding that microplastics can absorb pollutants at concentrations up to a million times higher than surrounding water and carry them into living organisms. The combined toxicity of microplastics plus these hitchhiking chemicals is often greater than either alone, and these pollutants can reach humans through the food chain.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and PFAS as ubiquitous pollutants affect potencies of highly toxic chemicals in mixtures

Researchers investigated how ubiquitous pollutants like PFAS and microplastics affect the toxicity of other highly toxic chemicals when present together in mixtures. They found that even at non-toxic concentrations, PFAS and microplastics could alter the potency of co-occurring toxic compounds. The study highlights the importance of considering pollutant interactions in complex environmental mixtures rather than assessing chemicals in isolation.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aggravate the bioaccumulation and toxicity of coexisting contaminants in aquatic organisms: A synergistic health hazard

Researchers conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of 870 endpoints from 40 studies to evaluate whether microplastics increase the bioaccumulation and toxicity of co-occurring contaminants in aquatic organisms. They found that microplastics significantly increased co-contaminant bioaccumulation by 31% and exacerbated toxicity by 18%, with effects manifesting as increased oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and immunotoxicity. The study confirms that microplastics act as vectors that amplify the hazards of other environmental pollutants.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyamide and polyethylene terephthalate microplastics as vectors of contaminants in aquatic systems

This thesis examined how polyamide and polyethylene terephthalate microplastics serve as vectors for other contaminants — such as pesticides and heavy metals — in aquatic systems in Brazil.

2023 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Unlocking the combined impact of microplastics and emerging contaminants on fish: A review and meta-analysis

This meta-analysis found that combined exposure to microplastics and emerging contaminants adversely affects fish reproduction, development, and neurotoxicity beyond what either pollutant causes alone. Microplastics with higher adsorption capacities led to more severe outcomes by concentrating and delivering co-contaminants, though exposure duration did not correlate with oxidative stress levels.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Mixed Contaminants: Occurrence, Interactions, Toxicity, Detection, and Remediation

This review examines how mixed environmental contaminants, including microplastics, heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, interact when present together in the environment. The study highlights that pollutant mixtures can produce synergistic toxic effects that are greater than the sum of individual pollutants, making combined contamination a more complex risk than single-pollutant assessments suggest.

2022 Molecules 67 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Review of Ecotoxicological Effects, Exposure Pathways and Trophic Transfer Risks

This review synthesises evidence on the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics in marine, freshwater, and estuarine environments, covering ingestion, bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, and physiological harms across aquatic fauna. It identifies chemical co-contamination and particle size as key modulators of toxicity.

2025 UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Article Tier 2

Ecological and toxicological manifestations of microplastics: current scenario, research gaps, and possible alleviation measures

This review examines the ecological and toxicological effects of microplastics and their associated contaminants across aquatic and terrestrial environments, identifying key knowledge gaps and potential mitigation strategies. The authors emphasize that both physical particle effects and co-transported chemical pollutants pose compounding risks to wildlife and ecosystems.

2020 Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part C 46 citations
Article Tier 2

The single and combined effects of mercury and polystyrene plastic beads on antioxidant-related systems in the brackish water flea: toxicological interaction depending on mercury species and plastic bead size.

Exposure of small crustaceans to mixtures of mercury and polystyrene plastic beads showed complex toxicological interactions — the effects depended on both the size of the plastic beads and the chemical form of mercury. The findings highlight that the real-world health risks of plastic pollution cannot be understood in isolation from the other chemicals that co-occur with plastics in aquatic environments.

2022 Aquatic toxicology (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Article Tier 2

A review: Research progress on microplastic pollutants in aquatic environments

This review summarizes current research on microplastic pollution in aquatic environments, including sources, detection methods, and ecological effects. The study highlights that microplastics can carry heavy metals and organic pollutants, forming complex contaminant combinations that accumulate through the food chain with potentially unpredictable consequences for both aquatic life and human health.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 421 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicology of microplastics in water ecosystems and aquatic organisms: A review of synergistic and antagonistic effects of microplastics on other xenobiotics

This review examines the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, focusing on how they interact with other pollutants like heavy metals, organic contaminants, and pathogens. The study highlights that microplastics can adsorb and transport these pollutants through synergistic or antagonistic interactions, leading to oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and reproductive impairment in exposed organisms, with potential for biomagnification up the food chain.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 1 citations