Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Illustrating a Species Sensitivity Distribution for Nano- and Microplastic Particles Using Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling

Researchers developed a Bayesian hierarchical model to construct species sensitivity distributions for nano- and microplastic particles, deriving hazardous concentration thresholds to support environmental risk assessment of plastic pollution.

2022 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding hazardous concentrations of microplastics in fresh water using non-traditional toxicity data

Researchers developed hazard concentration thresholds for microplastics in freshwater using non-traditional toxicity data, accounting for environmentally relevant sizes, shapes, and polymer types to provide more realistic governance standards.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of potential ecological risk for microplastic particles

Researchers applied an ecological risk assessment framework to evaluate the hazard posed by microplastic particles across multiple environmental compartments, using species sensitivity distributions and environmental concentration data. The assessment highlighted specific particle types and size ranges that present the greatest ecological risk.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Estimating species sensitivity distributions for microplastics by quantitatively considering particle characteristics using a recently created ecotoxicity database

Researchers estimated species sensitivity distributions for microplastics using Bayesian modeling that accounts for particle characteristics such as size, shape, and polymer type. The study suggests that quantitatively considering these microplastic properties yields more accurate environmental risk assessments than traditional approaches that treat all microplastics as equivalent.

2023 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Water environmental capacity of estuarine microplastics capped by species sensitivity threshold

Researchers calculated water environmental capacity limits for microplastics in estuaries using species sensitivity distributions, establishing ecologically protective threshold concentrations that could inform regulatory standards for MP levels in these biologically rich transition zones between rivers and seas.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Bayesian species sensitivity distribution modeling for microplastic particles: integrating particle characteristics and intra-species variation

Researchers applied hierarchical Bayesian modeling to develop species sensitivity distributions for microplastics, incorporating particle size, shape, and censored effect data across up to 33 species, finding that smaller particles and fiber shapes are associated with lower chronic no-effect concentrations and estimating hazardous concentrations spanning several orders of magnitude.

2026 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Article Tier 2

Integrating species sensitivity distributions and toxicity thresholds: A probabilistic risk assessment of microplastics in Yazhou Bay, South China Sea

Researchers assessed microplastic abundance and ecological risk in Yazhou Bay, South China Sea, finding surface water concentrations of 3,437 n/m³ with a modeled estimate reaching 241,000 n/m³ when accounting for smaller particle sizes. Species sensitivity distribution analysis identified significant ecological risk to marine organisms at detected concentrations.

2025 Emerging contaminants
Article Tier 2

Study on water quality criteria and ecological risk assessment of microplastics in China’s surface waters

Researchers derived water quality criteria for microplastics in Chinese surface waters using species sensitivity distribution analysis across aquatic toxicity data. The resulting criteria values provide regulatory benchmarks for protecting aquatic organisms from microplastic contamination in freshwater and marine environments.

2022 Human and Ecological Risk Assessment An International Journal 11 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

A Meta-analysis of Ecotoxicological Hazard Data for Nanoplastics in Marine and Freshwater Systems

This meta-analysis assessed the environmental hazard of nanoplastics (extremely tiny plastic particles) in freshwater and marine systems. By building species sensitivity distributions from available toxicity data, it found that nanoplastics can harm aquatic organisms at relatively low concentrations, highlighting the need for better environmental safety thresholds.

2020 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of potential ecological risk for microplastic particles

Researchers developed a framework for assessing the ecological risk of microplastic particles, incorporating particle characteristics, environmental concentrations, and species sensitivity data. The assessment identified conditions under which current environmental microplastic levels pose significant risk to aquatic organisms.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Microplastics could be marginally more hazardous than natural suspended solids – A meta-analysis

Species sensitivity distributions constructed from harmonized toxicity data suggest microplastics may be marginally more hazardous to aquatic organisms than natural suspended sediments, though high uncertainty prevents definitive conclusions. The lack of comparable experimental studies and dose-dependent data was a major limitation.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Systematic assessment of the mechanisms and risks of micro- and nanoplastic particle exposure in marine invertebrates

Researchers systematically evaluated microplastic and nanoplastic toxicity across diverse marine invertebrate species using data from the ToMEx database. The study constructed species sensitivity distributions and found that nanoplastics generally posed greater hazards than microplastics, with sea urchins and filter-feeding organisms among the most sensitive species, providing ecologically relevant thresholds for risk assessment.

2026 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Article Tier 2

A probabilistic risk framework for microplastics integrating uncertainty across toxicological and environmental variability: Development and application to marine and freshwater ecosystems

Researchers developed a new probabilistic risk assessment framework for microplastics that accounts for uncertainty in how laboratory toxicity data translates to real environmental conditions. Using Monte Carlo simulation and an enhanced species sensitivity distribution model, they found that uncertainty from particle-trait alignments can drive threshold variability by up to two orders of magnitude. The framework highlights that current risk assessments may underestimate hazards and identifies key research needs for improving microplastic environmental safety thresholds.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Soil-dwelling species-based biomarker as a sensitivity-risk measure of terrestrial ecosystems response to microplastics: A dose–response modeling approach

A dose-response modeling approach was applied to data from soil-dwelling organisms to assess the relative sensitivity of terrestrial ecosystems to microplastic contamination, producing species sensitivity distributions as a risk metric. The analysis revealed that certain soil invertebrates are particularly vulnerable even at relatively low microplastic concentrations.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 13 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis of the hazards of microplastics in freshwaters using species sensitivity distributions

This meta-analysis built species sensitivity distributions for microplastics in freshwater and found that predicted no-effect concentrations for pristine microplastics were lower than for weathered ones, suggesting lab studies with new plastics may overestimate real-world hazards. The research highlights that most ecotoxicological studies use pristine microplastics at concentrations far exceeding environmental levels, complicating ecological risk assessment.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Probabilistic environmental risk assessment of microplastics in marine habitats

A probabilistic environmental risk assessment for marine microplastics — using measured concentration data and species sensitivity distributions — found low risk ratios overall but identified hotspot water bodies (harbors, coastal inlets) where MP concentrations approached or exceeded effect thresholds.

2020 Aquatic Toxicology 80 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential threat of microplastics to humans: toxicity prediction modeling by small data analysis

Researchers developed a toxicity prediction model for microplastics using small data analysis techniques, enabling the anticipation of varying toxic effects depending on microplastic types and compositions found in nature.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Use of Interspecies Correlation Estimation (ICE) Models to Derive Water Quality Criteria of Microplastics for Protecting Aquatic Organisms

Researchers applied Interspecies Correlation Estimation (ICE) models alongside Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) methods to derive water quality criteria for microplastics in freshwater, addressing the challenge of limited aquatic toxicity datasets. The approach enabled derivation of protective threshold concentrations for a broader range of species than direct testing data alone would allow.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated toxicokinetic/toxicodynamic assessment modeling reveals at-risk scleractinian corals under extensive microplastics impacts

An integrated toxicokinetic/toxicodynamic modeling approach was applied to quantify microplastic-coral interaction dynamics across multiple scleractinian coral species, identifying species-specific vulnerability thresholds and predicting which coral species are most at risk under current microplastic pollution levels.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Current and potential risks of microplastics in global surface waters

Researchers assessed the current and projected risk of floating microplastics in marine and freshwater ecosystems globally by comparing field occurrence concentrations to ecotoxicity thresholds using probability distributions that account for size mismatches between sampling and toxicity studies. Results estimated that 37% of marine environments already exceed conservative risk thresholds protective of 95% of species, with this fraction projected to rise to 47.4% by 2040 under a business-as-usual scenario.

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

Analyzing species sensitivity distribution of evidently edible microplastics for freshwater biota

Researchers developed a new framework for assessing the ecological risks of microplastics to freshwater organisms by focusing on species that are known to actually ingest them. The study found that current risk assessment methods may underestimate the danger to freshwater ecosystems and that species known to eat microplastics showed different sensitivity patterns than the broader population of test organisms.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring a health effect sensitivity distribution method for deriving microplastic toxicity thresholds: Application to microplastic risk assessment of school-aged children in Pudong, Shanghai

Researchers derived the first gender-specific human toxicity thresholds for microplastics using a novel health effect sensitivity distribution method, finding that females may be more sensitive than males. In a dietary risk assessment of children in Shanghai, the study found that about 14% of children exceeded the safety threshold, with higher prevalence among girls and urban residents.

2026 Food and Chemical Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Species sensitivity distributions of microplastics based on toxicity endpoints and particle characteristics: Implications of assessing ecological risk in Tai Lake

Researchers used species sensitivity distributions to assess the ecological risk of microplastics in Tai Lake, China, finding that fiber-shaped particles and PVC plastics posed the greatest threat. Fish were identified as the most sensitive group compared to crustaceans and mollusks, and particles in the 100 to 1,000 micrometer range showed the highest toxicity. The study provides a framework for evaluating which types and sizes of microplastics pose the greatest ecological concern in freshwater lakes.

2024 Environmental Pollution 6 citations
Review Tier 2

Micro/nanoplastics effects on organisms: A review focusing on ‘dose’

This critical review examined published dose-response data for microplastic effects on organisms, finding that the vast majority of studies used concentrations far exceeding measured environmental levels and calling for greater focus on realistic exposure scenarios to produce ecologically meaningful hazard assessments.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 146 citations