Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Legal Analysis of the Prevention of Marine Microplastics Pollution

This legal analysis examines international law frameworks governing marine microplastic pollution prevention, identifying obstacles including enforcement difficulties, weak jurisdictional clarity, and insufficient coordination among existing treaty regimes, while noting growing attention to microplastics in UN General Assembly resolutions and calling for stronger multilateral legal mechanisms.

2022 Law and Economy
Article Tier 2

International Law and Regulation of Marine Microplastics: Current Situation, Problems, and Development

This study evaluated the current international legal framework governing marine microplastic pollution and identified significant gaps in regulatory coverage. Researchers found that existing global and regional legal instruments lack the specificity and enforcement mechanisms needed to effectively address microplastic contamination. The study offers recommendations for strengthening international law to better regulate the sources and impacts of marine microplastic pollution.

2024 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Penanggulangan Pencemaran Sampah Plastik Di Laut Berdasarkan Hukum Internasional

This Indonesian-language paper reviews international law frameworks for addressing marine plastic pollution, noting that approximately 80% of solid marine debris is plastic. The study discusses how international legal instruments can be strengthened to address the management of plastic waste that becomes marine microplastics.

2020 Jurnal IUS Kajian Hukum dan Keadilan 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Degradation and Legal Accountability: Strengthening India’s Response to Pollution and Climate Crisis

Not relevant to microplastics — this appears to be a legal and policy paper about environmental degradation and accountability in India, with an abstract that inconsistently describes a study on waste management education among women; it does not present original microplastic research.

2026 International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology
Article Tier 2

Challenges for Regulation and Management of Microplastic in Environment and Proposed Changes

This review examines failures in international law and national regulations to adequately address microplastic pollution in water bodies, arguing that recent treaty negotiations have been insufficient and proposing regulatory changes to better manage microplastics in the environment.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in Oceans

This review provides an overview of microplastic pollution in the world's oceans, covering sources, distribution patterns, ecological impacts, and the challenges of monitoring and remediation at global scale. The authors emphasize the urgent need for international policy coordination and improved waste management.

2024 Practice, progress, and proficiency in sustainability
Article Tier 2

Fish Don't Litter in Your House: Is International Law the Solution to the Plastic Pollution Problem?

This legal analysis examines whether existing international law is adequate to address ocean plastic pollution, critiquing current binding and non-binding environmental agreements and proposing improvements. Stronger international legal frameworks are seen as essential for reducing the global plastic waste that breaks down into microplastics in the world's oceans.

2020 Pace international law review 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Governance Strategies for Mitigating Microplastic Pollution in the Marine Environment: A Review

This review assessed the sources, spread, and impacts of microplastic pollution in marine environments and evaluated existing governance strategies for addressing the problem. Researchers found significant gaps in management approaches, including limited community involvement in monitoring and a lack of standardized mitigation strategies for coastal areas. The study calls for stronger policy interventions, more citizen science initiatives, and coordinated international efforts to reduce microplastic pollution in the oceans.

2021 Microplastics 146 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental implications of microplastic pollution in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Researchers assessed microplastic concentrations, distribution, and characteristics across the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, finding widespread contamination with significant spatial variation and identifying environmental implications for marine ecosystems in this understudied region.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine Plastic Pollution in the South Pacific

This review examines marine plastic pollution in the South Pacific, tracing the history of mass plastic production and the accumulation of debris in island nations and surrounding waters. It discusses the ecological threats and calls for international cooperation to address plastic pollution in this remote and vulnerable region.

2019 ResearchSPAce (Bath Spa University)
Article Tier 2

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Pacific Islands Plastic Pollution Policy Frameworks

A desktop policy gap analysis across 52 documents from 10 Pacific Island nations found substantial weaknesses in plastic pollution governance, including poor vertical and horizontal policy integration and limited access to current science on microplastics and human health.

2021 Sustainability 42 citations
Article Tier 2

International Legal Systems in Tackling the Marine Plastic Pollution: A Critical Analysis of UNCLOS and MARPOL

This legal analysis examines how two major international agreements, UNCLOS and MARPOL, address marine plastic pollution and identifies significant gaps in their ability to reduce it. The existing laws lack enforceable requirements for reducing land-based plastic waste and have uneven enforcement of rules for ship-based discharges. The paper proposes strengthening international law to promote a circular economy approach, which matters because marine plastic breaks down into microplastics that enter the seafood supply.

2025 Water 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Legislation and Policy on Pollution Prevention and the Control of Marine Microplastics

This review analyses international legislation and policies targeting marine microplastic pollution, finding that most existing regulations focus narrowly on microbeads while failing to address other microplastic types, and identifies three systemic dilemmas that impede more comprehensive regulatory frameworks.

2022 Water 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing the international regulation of plastic pollution beyond the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on marine litter and microplastics

This legal paper reviews international frameworks relevant to plastic pollution and argues for a binding global agreement specifically targeting plastic pollution, beyond existing resolutions. A comprehensive international treaty is increasingly seen as necessary to meaningfully reduce plastic pollution, including microplastics.

2018 Review of European Comparative & International Environmental Law 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Explore the Impact of Marine Plastic Pollution and Countermeasures

This paper reviewed the scope of marine plastic pollution, its distribution across ocean ecosystems, and its socioeconomic effects on coastal communities, finding that existing international agreements and waste management efforts remain insufficient to address the scale of the problem.

2025 MATEC Web of Conferences
Article Tier 2

Legal Approaches to Reduce Plastic Marine Pollution: Challenges and Global Governance

This review examined legal approaches to reducing marine plastic pollution and found that while international frameworks like the International Maritime Organization's MARPOL Annex V and regional agreements provide useful foundations, significant governance gaps and enforcement challenges remain in addressing the global scale of marine plastic contamination.

2021 ANNALS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PERSPECTIVE 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Presence of microplastics in water, sediments and fish species in an urban coastal environment of Fiji, a Pacific small island developing state

Researchers conducted the first assessment of microplastic levels in surface water, sediments, and fish from the urban coastal environment of Suva, Fiji. The study confirmed the presence of microplastics across all three matrices in this Pacific small island developing state, and evaluated contributions from local sources including wastewater, highlighting that microplastic pollution affects even remote island nations.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 175 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics: A Review of Policies and Responses

This critical review assembled current knowledge on policies and regulatory responses to plastic pollution globally, including legislative measures, economic instruments, and voluntary commitments. The authors identify a gap between scientific evidence and policy action and call for stronger, more coordinated international governance of plastic pollution.

2022 Microplastics 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Responsibility and Allocation for Environmental Damage Caused by Marine Plastic

Despite its title referencing marine plastic pollution and environmental damage, this paper is primarily a legal analysis of international treaty negotiations over plastic pollution responsibility — not a scientific study of microplastic pollution itself. It examines how national interests and industrial lobbying have stalled the International Plastics Convention and discusses frameworks for allocating environmental liability, and is not directly relevant to microplastic science or human health impacts.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Environmental Rule of Law for Oceans

This chapter surveys the legal principles and frameworks that govern ocean protection, including rules addressing microplastic pollution, noise, and chemical contamination. It argues that effective ocean governance requires strengthening the rule of environmental law at both national and international levels.

2023 Cambridge University Press eBooks 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Prevailing Directives Regarding Microplastic Pollution

This review examines prevailing regulations and directives governing microplastic pollution, which enters land and water environments through inadequate plastic waste management and urban wastewater discharge. The authors analyze gaps in current policy frameworks and assess the effectiveness of existing global and regional legislative approaches.

2024
Article Tier 2

International Water Law’s Role in Addressing the Problem of Marine Plastic Pollution: A Vital Piece in a Complex Puzzle!

This legal analysis examined the role of international water law in addressing marine plastic pollution, arguing that existing water governance frameworks have largely overlooked plastics as a water resource management problem. The author advocates for integrating plastic pollution controls into international water law instruments.

2022 Chinese Journal of Environmental Law 14 citations
Article Tier 2

International treaties, national laws, and best legal practices for addressing plastic pollution in the oceans

This thesis examines plastic pollution in the world's oceans through the lens of international treaties, national laws, and social dynamics, evaluating the effectiveness of existing legal frameworks and best practices for addressing the growing crisis of marine plastic contamination.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics contamination in pearl-farming lagoons of French Polynesia

Microplastic contamination was documented in pearl-farming lagoons of French Polynesia, establishing a pollution baseline for these economically important tropical ecosystems and identifying local aquaculture activities as a contributing source.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 58 citations