Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The Travelling Particles: Investigating microplastics as possible transport vectors for multidrug resistant E. coli in the Weser estuary (Germany)

Scientists tested whether microplastics in the Weser estuary in Germany carry multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing E. coli, finding resistant bacteria on plastic surfaces at concentrations above surrounding water, confirming that microplastics can serve as vectors for antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as a novel facilitator for antimicrobial resistance: Effects of concentration, composition, and size on Escherichia coli multidrug resistance

This study examined how microplastics facilitate antimicrobial resistance by acting as a surface for the co-selection of resistant bacteria, finding that plastic surfaces enrich resistance genes and transfer-capable elements in aquatic environments.

2024
Article Tier 2

Marine outfall discharges contribute to coastal microplastic pollution and the spread of antimicrobial resistance

Researchers investigated how marine outfall discharges from wastewater treatment plants contribute to coastal microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. They found that microplastics in treated wastewater effluent can serve as reservoirs for multidrug-resistant bacteria, potentially transferring them to the marine environment. The study challenges current regulations that permit marine outfall disposal and suggests that microplastics may facilitate the spread of antimicrobial resistance in coastal waters.

2025 PLoS ONE 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistant bacteria colonising microplastics in the aquatic environment: An emerging challenge

Researchers reviewed how microplastics in aquatic environments act as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can grow and swap resistance genes with each other, raising concern that contaminated seafood and water could transfer these hard-to-treat bacteria to humans.

2024 Discover Sustainability 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution in the ocean: Potential carrier of resistant bacteria and resistance genes

This review examined microplastics in marine environments as carriers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, finding that plastic surfaces selectively enrich resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer and co-selection pressure, making ocean microplastics a vector for resistance dissemination across ecosystems.

2021 Environmental Pollution 96 citations
Article Tier 2

Sewers to Seas: exploring pathogens and antimicrobial resistance on microplastics from hospital wastewater to marine environments

Researchers tracked microplastics from hospital wastewater through sewers to coastal seas to determine whether the plastisphere on these particles uniquely enriches antimicrobial-resistant and pathogenic bacteria beyond what is found on other environmental substrates.

2025 Environment International
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Their Role in the Maintenance and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Marine Ecosystems

This review examines the role of microplastics in maintaining and spreading antibiotic resistance genes in marine ecosystems, synthesizing evidence that plastic pollution in aquatic environments creates reservoirs for antimicrobial resistant bacteria and facilitates horizontal gene transfer.

2022 Antibiot Khimioter = Antibiotics and Chemotherapy 1 citations
Article Tier 2

[Microplastic-Induced Alterations to Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Seawater].

Microplastics added to seawater were found to increase the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) over a 49-day period, with different plastics having different effects. This suggests that microplastics in coastal waters may contribute to the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, posing a risk to public health.

2021 Huan jing ke xue= Huanjing kexue 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Alteration of microbial mediated carbon cycle and antibiotic resistance genes during plastisphere formation in coastal area

Researchers investigated how microplastic surfaces in coastal environments develop biofilm communities, known as the plastisphere, and whether these biofilms enrich antibiotic resistance genes. The study found that incubation time, habitat type, and microplastic aging state all significantly influenced biofilm composition, and that aged microplastics accumulated more antibiotic resistance genes than new ones, suggesting microplastics may serve as vectors for spreading resistant bacteria.

2023 Chemosphere 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Originated from cultivated oysters and estuarine waters

This study detected antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in oysters and estuarine waters, raising concerns about how aquatic environments serve as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance that can reach humans through seafood consumption. The findings are relevant to microplastic research because microplastics are known to harbor and concentrate antibiotic resistance genes on their surfaces.

2021
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Vectors of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquatic Systems

This doctoral thesis investigated microplastics as vectors for antimicrobial resistance through in vitro, in situ, and in vivo experiments, examining the Plastisphere as a unique niche that may enrich antimicrobial-resistant pathogens beyond what bulk water concentrations would predict.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in marine pollution: Oceanic hitchhikers for the global dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria

This review examines how marine microplastics serve as surfaces for biofilm formation by bacteria, including carbapenem-resistant strains, enabling the global dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria through ocean currents. The authors highlight the plastisphere as an understudied vector for spreading antibiotic resistance genes across marine environments.

2025 One Health 4 citations
Article Tier 2

The nexus of microplastics, food and antimicrobial resistance in the context of aquatic environment: Interdisciplinary linkages of pathways

This review examines how microplastics in aquatic environments serve as surfaces where bacteria can grow, share antibiotic resistance genes, and then enter the food chain through contaminated seafood. The combination of microplastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance creates a compounding threat, as resistant bacteria riding on plastic particles can survive water treatment and reach humans. The authors call for interdisciplinary research connecting environmental science and public health to address this growing risk.

2025 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

From wastewater discharge to the beach: Survival of human pathogens bound to microplastics during transfer through the freshwater-marine continuum

Researchers investigated how human pathogens survive on microplastic surfaces as they travel from wastewater treatment plants through freshwater into marine environments. They found that the biofilm environment on plastic surfaces helped bacteria like E. coli and Enterococcus faecalis persist longer during transitions between water types compared to bacteria in the surrounding water. The study suggests that microplastics may facilitate the environmental spread of pathogens by providing a protective habitat during transport.

2022 Environmental Pollution 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial pathogen assemblages on microplastic biofilms in coastal waters

Researchers incubated different types of microplastics in coastal waters for 21 days and analyzed the bacterial communities that colonized their surfaces. They found that while overall pathogen abundance was low, microplastic biofilms hosted a diverse array of potentially harmful bacteria whose composition varied by polymer type and water location. The study suggests that microplastics in coastal waters can serve as floating platforms for disease-causing microorganisms.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Prevalence of microplastics, antibiotic resistant genes and microplastic associated biofilms in estuary - A review

This review examined evidence for microplastics, antibiotic resistance genes, and microplastic-associated biofilms in estuarine ecosystems. Microplastics in estuaries serve as substrates for diverse microbial biofilms including pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and estuaries are identified as important reservoirs for microplastic-facilitated horizontal gene transfer.

2022 Environmental Engineering Research 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of microplastics and their interaction with antibiotics in wastewater

Researchers characterized microplastics in wastewater and investigated their interactions with antibiotics, examining how microplastic surfaces adsorb antibiotic compounds and the implications for antibiotic transport and dissemination in wastewater treatment systems.

2025 e_Buah
Article Tier 2

Dangerous hitchhikers? Evidence for potentially pathogenic Vibrio spp. on microplastic particles

Researchers tested whether marine microplastics carry potentially pathogenic Vibrio bacteria, finding Vibrio species on microplastic surfaces in seawater, raising concerns about plastics as vehicles for transporting harmful bacteria in marine environments.

2016 Marine Environmental Research 888 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics accumulate priority antibiotic-resistant pathogens: Evidence from the riverine plastisphere

Researchers placed microplastics in river water and found they accumulated more antibiotic-resistant bacteria than natural sand particles, including dangerous pathogens like E. coli and Klebsiella. Most of the bacteria isolated from the plastic surfaces were multi-drug resistant and carried virulence traits like biofilm formation. This suggests microplastics in waterways may act as rafts for spreading antibiotic resistance through the environment.

2023 Environmental Pollution 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Do microplastics promote the attachment of antimicrobial resistant pathogens?

Researchers examined whether microplastics promote the attachment and persistence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) pathogens, finding that microplastics in aquatic environments frequently co-occur with AMR bacteria and antimicrobial residues, and may facilitate the spread of resistant pathogens.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview

Researchers reviewed the link between microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments, finding that microplastic surfaces host unique bacterial communities enriched in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the resistance genes they can share with other microbes. The close packing of bacteria in these plastic-surface biofilms may accelerate the spread of drug-resistant pathogens through drinking water sources, though the full health implications remain poorly understood.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 31 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on the effect of micro- and nano-plastics pollution on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance

This review highlights how microplastics serve as breeding grounds for antimicrobial resistance genes, examining the overlooked interaction between plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance that poses combined threats to environmental and human health.

2022 Chemosphere 34 citations
Article Tier 2

[Research progress on the effect of estuary microplastics on antibiotic resistance genes].

This review summarizes research on how microplastics in estuarine environments influence the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), focusing on the role of biofilms that form on plastic surfaces. Microplastic biofilms selectively enrich ARG-carrying bacteria and facilitate horizontal gene transfer, increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance dissemination in ecologically and humanly important estuarine zones.

2024 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Bacterial biofilms colonizing plastics in estuarine waters, with an emphasis on Vibrio spp. and their antibacterial resistance

Scientists characterized bacterial biofilms colonizing plastic debris in estuarine waters, finding that plastics host distinct communities including Vibrio species with elevated antibiotic resistance compared to surrounding water.

2020 PLoS ONE 104 citations