Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Toxic effects of microplastic and nanoplastic on the reproduction of teleost fish in aquatic environments

This review summarizes research on how microplastics and nanoplastics harm the reproductive systems of fish, covering effects on fertility, sperm quality, egg development, and offspring abnormalities. The tiny plastic particles enter fish through their digestive tract, gills, and skin, causing oxidative damage that disrupts reproduction at the molecular and cellular level. Since fish are a major protein source for humans, reproductive damage to fish populations could affect both food security and the transfer of microplastics through the food chain.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 13 citations
Article Tier 2

The invisible Threat: Assessing the reproductive and transgenerational impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on fish

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics can cross biological barriers in fish, accumulate in reproductive organs, and cause damage that passes down to offspring who were never directly exposed. The findings raise concerns about the long-term effects of plastic pollution on aquatic food chains, since fish that humans consume may have accumulated microplastics that affected their development and reproductive health.

2024 Environment International 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Threats of nano/microplastics to reproduction and offspring: Potential mechanisms and perspectives

This review summarized the evidence on how nano- and microplastics threaten reproduction and offspring health across multiple species, including fish, invertebrates, and mammals. The authors outlined potential mechanisms by which these plastic particles disrupt endocrine function, gonadal development, and embryonic development.

2024 Journal of Toxicological Studies 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Nanoplastics on the Quality of Fish Sperm: A Review

This review synthesized evidence on how nanoplastics in aquatic environments affect fish sperm quality and reproductive function. The authors found that nanoplastic exposure impairs sperm motility, viability, and DNA integrity across multiple fish species, with implications for fish population health in increasingly contaminated water bodies.

2025 Animals
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the threat: Microplastics and nano-plastics' impact on reproductive viability across ecosystems

This review summarizes research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect reproduction across many species, from aquatic invertebrates to mammals including humans. In males, exposure leads to testicular damage, lower sperm quality, and hormone disruption; in females, it causes ovarian and uterine problems, inflammation, and reduced fertility. The evidence also shows these reproductive harms can be passed to offspring, raising serious concerns about long-term effects on human fertility.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 44 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Effects of Virgin Micro- and Nanoplastics on Fish: Trends, Meta-Analysis, and Perspectives

This meta-analysis pools data from many studies on how micro- and nanoplastics affect fish, finding evidence of harmful effects on growth, reproduction, and behavior. Since fish are a major protein source for billions of people, understanding how plastic pollution affects fish health has direct implications for human nutrition and food safety.

2020 Environmental Science & Technology 236 citations
Article Tier 2

Reproductive toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics

This review summarizes existing research on how micro- and nanoplastics harm reproduction across many species, from marine invertebrates to mammals. The particles can cause oxidative stress and hormone disruption, leading to reduced fertility, abnormal embryo development, and toxic effects that pass to offspring. The findings raise concerns that human reproductive health could be similarly affected given our increasing exposure to these particles.

2023 Environment International 101 citations
Article Tier 2

Biotransport and toxic effects of micro- and nanoplastics in fish model and their potential risk to humans: A review

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics enter fish through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, causing damage to multiple organ systems including the brain, heart, and reproductive organs. The particles trigger harmful cellular responses such as oxidative stress, DNA damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The study emphasizes that these pollutants can also reach humans through the food chain, highlighting the need for strategies to reduce plastic contamination in aquatic environments.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic toxicity in fish: A potential review on sources, impacts, and solution

This review summarizes research on how microplastics affect fish health, covering sources of contamination, physical damage, hormonal disruption, and behavioral changes. Microplastics accumulate in fish tissues and can concentrate up the food chain, with potential toxic effects passing on to humans who eat contaminated seafood. The authors discuss possible solutions including better waste management, biodegradable alternatives, and advanced water treatment.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental toxicology of microplastic particles on fish: A review

This review summarizes how microplastics harm fish through physical damage, inflammation, oxidative stress, immune suppression, genetic damage, and reproductive disruption. These effects matter for human health because toxic substances accumulate and concentrate as they move up the food chain from fish to the people who eat them.

2024 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of microplastics and nanoplastics: invisible killers of female fertility and offspring health

This review summarizes research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect female fertility across multiple species, from reproductive failure to developmental problems in offspring. The tiny particles can infiltrate the body through food, air, and skin, accumulating in reproductive tissues where they disrupt hormones and damage eggs. While animal studies cannot be directly applied to humans, the consistent findings across species raise serious concerns about the potential impact of microplastic exposure on women's reproductive health.

2023 Frontiers in Physiology 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of microplastic accumulation in aquatic environment: Physiological, eco-toxicological, immunological, and neurotoxic effects

This review summarizes how microplastics build up in fish and other aquatic life, causing damage to their immune systems, nervous systems, and overall health. When fish eat microplastics, the particles move up the food chain and can eventually reach humans through seafood consumption. The authors also discuss strategies for removing microplastics from water and reducing plastic pollution.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics Prevalence, Food Web Interactions, and Toxicity Assessment in Aquatic Organisms: A Review

This review examines the prevalence of micro- and nanoplastics across aquatic environments and their documented toxic effects on organisms ranging from plankton to fish, including DNA damage, reproductive harm, and neurotoxicity. Researchers found clear evidence that these particles transfer through aquatic food webs and can ultimately reach humans through seafood consumption. The study calls for more research into how microplastics carrying multiple contaminants cause combined toxic effects in marine organisms.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 164 citations
Article Tier 2

Threats of Microplastic Pollution on Fishes and its Implications on Human Health (Review Article)

This review summarizes research from 2010 to 2023 on microplastic contamination in fish and its potential implications for human health. Researchers found that microplastics are ingested by fish across diverse aquatic environments, with particles accumulating in the gastrointestinal tract and other tissues. The study highlights concerns that microplastic-contaminated seafood may represent a pathway for human exposure to both the plastic particles and associated chemical pollutants.

2024 Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries 3 citations
Article Tier 2

From gonads to generations: Mechanistic insights into reproductive disruption by polystyrene nanoplastics and co-contaminants in fish

This review synthesizes current research on how polystyrene nanoplastics impair reproductive health in fish, including disruption of gonad structure, hormone levels, and gene regulation along the reproductive axis. Researchers found that nanoplastics can cause oxidative stress and inflammation in reproductive tissues and may even affect offspring development. The findings raise concerns about the long-term effects of nanoplastic pollution on fish populations and aquatic ecosystem health.

2025 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological effects of emerging pollutants (nanomaterials and microplastics) on fish biology

This review compiles current knowledge on how emerging pollutants including nanomaterials and microplastics affect fish biology, covering impacts on physiology, behavior, and molecular function. Researchers highlight that advanced methods like genomics and micro-CT imaging are revealing new details about how these pollutants damage fish at the cellular and tissue level. The study underscores the growing threat these contaminants pose to aquatic ecosystems and the fish species within them.

2025 Animal Reports 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the Effects of Microplastics on Freshwater Fish

This review examines the growing body of research on how microplastics affect freshwater fish, documenting evidence of ingestion, tissue damage, immune system impairment, and gastrointestinal obstruction across multiple species. Researchers highlight that microplastics from personal care products and degraded plastic goods are accumulating in freshwater ecosystems at concerning rates. The study warns that combined with existing threats like overfishing and habitat loss, microplastic pollution could accelerate population declines in vulnerable fish species.

2024 International Journal of Nature and Life Sciences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic insights into microplastic-induced reproductive toxicity in aquatic organisms: A comprehensive review

This review summarizes how microplastics cause reproductive harm in aquatic organisms by disrupting hormones, triggering oxidative stress, and interfering with cell death pathways. These effects lead to reduced fertility, abnormal egg and sperm development, and changes that can pass to future generations. Since microplastics accumulate through the food chain, these reproductive effects in aquatic life could have broader implications for ecosystem health and the seafood that humans consume.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Invisible Invaders: Ecotoxicological Impacts of Nano‐ and Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems

This review synthesises ecotoxicological research on nano- and microplastics (NMPs) in aquatic environments, covering how particle size, surface chemistry, and chemical additives increase bioavailability and cellular uptake. It documents effects across trophic levels from phytoplankton to fish and highlights trophic transfer as an escalating concern.

2025 Advanced Sustainable Systems
Article Tier 2

The Challenge of Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystem: A Review of Current Consensus and Future Trends of the Effect on the Fish

This review synthesizes research on how microplastics affect aquatic ecosystems, covering ingestion by marine animals, trophic transfer up the food chain, and the chemicals that microplastics carry. The findings highlight that microplastic contamination is now widespread enough to threaten marine biodiversity and food security for populations that rely on seafood.

2023 BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS eBooks
Article Tier 2

Exposure to microplastics impairs fish's major behaviors. A novel threat to aquatic ecosystem

This review synthesises evidence on how microplastic exposure alters key behaviours in fish including feeding, reproduction, predator avoidance, and social interaction. It identifies neurological disruption, chemical co-toxicity, and gut effects as primary mechanisms, and highlights exposure to realistic environmental concentrations as an ongoing knowledge gap.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Plastics
Article Tier 2

Microplastics bioaccumulation in fish: Its potential toxic effects on hematology, immune response, neurotoxicity, oxidative stress, growth, and reproductive dysfunction

This review finds that microplastics accumulate primarily in the guts and gills of fish before spreading to other tissues through the bloodstream, causing a cascade of harmful effects including blood changes, immune suppression, nerve damage, and reproductive problems. The severity of harm depends on the size and dose of particles and how long the fish are exposed, with implications for the safety of fish consumed by humans.

2024 Toxicology Reports 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Reproductive Dysfunction in Animals

This research review summarizes studies showing that tiny plastic particles called microplastics can build up in animals' reproductive organs and harm their ability to have healthy offspring. The plastic particles cause damage that leads to poor sperm and egg quality, hormone problems, and birth defects in various animals from fish to mammals. While this research focused on animals, it raises concerns about potential fertility effects in humans since we're also exposed to microplastics through food, water, and air.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis of the effects of microplastic on fish: Insights into growth, survival, reproduction, oxidative stress, and gut microbiota diversity

A meta-analysis of 3,757 biological endpoints from 85 studies found that microplastic exposure significantly inhibits fish growth, survival, and reproduction while increasing oxidative damage, but does not significantly alter gut microbiota diversity. The severity of toxic effects depends on microplastic type, size, concentration, exposure pathway, and the fish's life stage.

2024 Water Research 41 citations