Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Developmental Toxicity of Microplastic Leachates on Marine Larvae

Chemical leachates from microplastics — the chemicals that wash off plastic surfaces — caused developmental abnormalities in marine sea urchin and bryozoan larvae at environmentally relevant concentrations. The findings suggest that chemical leaching from plastics may be as harmful as the particles themselves for marine organisms in early life stages.

2020 Figshare 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic leachate-induced toxicity during sea urchin embryonic development: Insights into the molecular pathways affected by PVC

Researchers found that chemical leachates from PVC microplastics disrupted sea urchin embryonic development, revealing molecular pathway alterations in skeletal formation and stress responses that highlight a previously underexplored route of developmental ecotoxicity.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 34 citations
Article Tier 2

The effect of chronic microplastic exposure on the growth, biochemical responses, and histological changes of the juvenile sea cucumber Holothuria scabra

Researchers exposed juvenile sea cucumbers to polymethylmethacrylate microplastics over 60 days and observed significant negative effects on growth, biochemical responses, and tissue structure. The study found dose-dependent impacts, with higher microplastic concentrations causing greater reductions in weight gain and more pronounced histological damage to the animals' organs.

2025 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Leachate from microplastics impairs larval development in brown mussels

Researchers investigated the toxic effects of chemical leachate from microplastics on brown mussel larvae, rather than direct ingestion effects. The study found that substances leaching from microplastic particles impaired larval development, indicating that microplastics can cause harm even without being physically consumed by marine organisms.

2016 Water Research 308 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of PET microplastics on the growth, digestive enzymes, and intestinal flora of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Researchers studied how PET microplastics of different sizes and concentrations affect sea cucumbers over a 28-day period. They found that microplastic exposure disrupted digestive enzyme activity and altered the composition of gut bacteria in the animals. The study suggests that microplastic pollution in marine environments could impair the health and digestion of important seafloor organisms even at environmentally relevant levels.

2023 Marine Environmental Research 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of microplastic toxicity to embryonic development of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)

Researchers assessed the toxicity of both virgin and beach-stranded plastic pellets to sea urchin embryo development. The study found that chemical substances leaching from microplastics into surrounding water caused developmental abnormalities, indicating that microplastics can release harmful compounds that affect marine organisms even without direct ingestion.

2015 Marine Pollution Bulletin 386 citations
Article Tier 2

Single and combined effects of microplastics and cadmium on the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Researchers examined the individual and combined toxic effects of cadmium and microplastics on sea cucumbers. The study found that cadmium was the primary driver of negative effects including reduced growth, digestive enzyme suppression, and disruption of gut microbiota, but the presence of microplastics increased cadmium's toxicity when both pollutants were present at high concentrations.

2023 Marine Environmental Research 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Existence of microplastics in the edible part of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Researchers demonstrated that microplastics can transfer into the edible body wall of sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus), entering through the outer surface and potentially posing a threat to human health through seafood consumption.

2021 Chemosphere 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioaccumulation of functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka, 1867) and their toxic effects on oxidative stress, energy metabolism and mitochondrial pathway

This study investigated how different types of polystyrene nanoplastics accumulate in sea cucumbers and affect their health. Researchers found that nanoplastics built up in the animals' tissues and caused oxidative stress, disrupted energy metabolism, and damaged mitochondrial function. The findings suggest that the surface chemistry and size of nanoplastics influence how toxic they are to marine organisms.

2023 Environmental Pollution 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycled polyvinyl chloride microplastics: investigation of environmentally relevant concentrations on toxicity in adult zebrafish

Researchers investigated the toxicity of recycled PVC microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations in adult zebrafish, finding that these particles release chemicals that cause measurable toxic effects in exposed organisms.

2023 Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 6 citations
Article Tier 2

New insights into the impact of leachates from in-field collected plastics on aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates

Researchers tested chemical leachates from different types of beach-collected plastics on a range of marine organisms and found that fishing nets, hard plastic containers, and trawling rubber were the most toxic. The plastics released over 30 chemical additives, with some causing death or developmental problems in crustaceans, sea urchins, jellyfish, and fish larvae. This study highlights that microplastic pollution harms marine life not just through physical ingestion but also through the toxic chemicals plastics release into the water.

2024 Environmental Pollution 14 citations
Clinical Trial Tier 1

Adverse effects of dietary virgin (nano)microplastics on growth performance, immune response, and resistance to ammonia stress and pathogen challenge in juvenile sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka)

Dietary polystyrene nano- and microplastics significantly reduced growth in juvenile sea cucumbers, caused oxidative stress, and suppressed immune and ammonia detoxification responses, with 100 nm nanoplastics proving more toxic than 20 µm microplastics in a size-dependent manner.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 60 citations
Article Tier 2

A Glow before Darkness: Toxicity of Glitter Particles to Marine Invertebrates

Researchers evaluated the toxicity of glitter microplastic particles on marine invertebrate embryos, finding that both green and white glitter types caused developmental abnormalities in sea urchins and mussels, partly due to chemical leachates.

2023 Toxics 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanism underlying the toxicity of the microplastic fibre transfer in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

Researchers investigated how microplastic fibers enter and move through sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus), finding that fibers ingested via the respiratory tree entered the coelomic fluid and triggered immune cell responses, and that fiber characteristics — particularly length — determined the severity of tissue damage.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Evidence of size-dependent toxicity of polystyrene nano- and microplastics in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka, 1867) during the intestinal regeneration

Sea cucumbers exposed to polystyrene particles of different sizes for 30 days showed that nanoplastics (80 nm) accumulated more in intestinal tissue and caused greater harm than larger microplastics. The nanoplastics disrupted cell growth, immune function, and triggered oxidative damage through different biological pathways than the larger particles. Since sea cucumbers are a harvested seafood, this raises concerns about nanoplastic contamination in marine food sources.

2024 Environmental Pollution 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics leachate may play a more important role than microplastics in inhibiting microalga Chlorella vulgaris growth at cellular and molecular levels

Researchers found that chemical compounds leaching from aged microplastics may be more harmful to algae than the microplastic particles themselves. UV-weathered polyethylene and PVC released substances that inhibited algae growth, caused oxidative stress, and altered gene expression more severely than direct particle exposure. The study suggests that the chemicals released by degrading microplastics deserve more attention as a source of aquatic toxicity.

2023 Environmental Pollution 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Leachates of micronized plastic toys provoke embryotoxic effects upon sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Researchers tested the toxicity of micronized PVC from colored plastic toys on sea urchin embryos. They found that while virgin PVC polymer was not toxic, the chemicals leaching from colored plastic products caused developmental arrest and morphological abnormalities in the embryos. Different colored plastics showed different levels of toxicity, likely due to varying heavy metal content in the coloring agents, highlighting that plastic additives rather than the polymer itself drive toxicity.

2019 Environmental Pollution 198 citations
Article Tier 2

Secondary PVC microplastics are more toxic than primary PVC microplastics to Oryzias melastigma embryos

Researchers compared the toxicity of weathered secondary PVC microplastics to pristine primary particles using marine fish embryos. They found that the secondary microplastics caused earlier hatching, more developmental abnormalities, and greater oxidative stress than the primary ones. The study demonstrates that the irregular, partially degraded microplastics found in the ocean are likely more harmful to marine life than the smooth manufactured particles typically used in laboratory tests.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 116 citations
Article Tier 2

Plasticiser leaching from polyvinyl chloride microplastics and the implications for environmental risk assessment

Researchers measured the leaching of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and bisphenol A (BPA) from polyvinyl chloride microplastics under simulated marine conditions, finding that both plasticizers leached in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. These findings are important for environmental risk assessments of PVC microplastics, which represent a major fraction of ocean plastic pollution.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 17 citations
Article Tier 2

What are the toxic components of microplastics? Investigating the overlooked role of particles vs chemical leachates as microplastic toxicity drivers

Researchers disentangled the toxicological roles of car tire rubber (CTR) particles versus their chemical leachates by exposing early life stages of Atlantic cod to pre-leached CTR particles, 7-day leachate, and pristine CTR, finding that leachate and pristine CTR significantly reduced hatching success and increased mortality while pre-leached particles had no significant effects.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)