Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Heavy Metals in Poultry Chicken and Human Health Threat: A Mini Review

This paper is not about microplastics. It reviews the bioaccumulation of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury) in poultry chickens through contaminated feed and environment, and the resulting health risks to humans who consume the meat. The study focuses on food safety concerns related to heavy metal contamination with no connection to microplastic pollution.

2023 Middle East Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging insights into the impacts of heavy metals exposure on health, reproductive and productive performance of livestock

This review examines how heavy metals like lead, mercury, and cadmium accumulate in livestock through contaminated feed and water, causing oxidative stress, organ damage, reproductive problems, and reduced productivity. While focused on livestock rather than microplastics, the paper is relevant because microplastics can carry and concentrate heavy metals, potentially making their combined effects on the food chain even worse.

2024 Frontiers in Pharmacology 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in poultry: Sources, bioaccumulation and human health consequences

This review examines how microplastics enter and accumulate in poultry through contaminated feed, water, litter, and farm equipment. Researchers found that ingested microplastics can accumulate in birds' gastrointestinal tracts, livers, kidneys, and muscle tissues, disrupting metabolic, immune, and reproductive functions and potentially impairing growth and meat quality. The study highlights that contaminated poultry products may serve as a route of microplastic transmission to human consumers.

2026 Poultry Science
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastic intake via poultry products: Environmental toxicity and human health

This review examines how microplastics enter the human diet through poultry products like chicken meat and eggs. Microplastics from contaminated feed, water, and farm environments accumulate in poultry tissues and are then passed to consumers. The study highlights that this food chain transfer represents an underappreciated pathway of human exposure, with potential risks including inflammation, gut disruption, and accumulation of toxic chemicals carried by the plastic particles.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources, effects and present perspectives of heavy metals contamination: soil, plants and human food chain

This review summarizes how heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic contaminate soil, get absorbed by crops, and enter the human food chain. Heavy metals at high levels can damage plant growth and accumulate in food at concentrations unsafe for human consumption. This is relevant to microplastics research because microplastics in soil can bind and transport heavy metals, potentially increasing the amount that ends up in the food we eat.

2023 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Harmful impacts of microplastic pollution on poultry and biodegradation techniques using microorganisms for consumer health protection: A review

This review examines how microplastic pollution affects poultry health and food safety, finding that microplastics have been detected in chicken meat from supermarkets and open markets. Evidence indicates that microplastics can damage vital organs in poultry, reduce egg production, and accumulate in edible tissues. The authors also review biodegradation techniques using microorganisms as a potential strategy for reducing microplastic contamination in the food supply.

2024 Poultry Science 5 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of important heavy metals toxicity with special emphasis on nephrotoxicity and its management in cattle

This review summarizes how heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and cadmium damage kidneys in cattle, building up in the body and food chain over time. Even low doses cause oxidative stress and organ damage that worsens with prolonged exposure. While focused on cattle, the findings are relevant to microplastics research because microplastics can absorb and transport these same heavy metals into animals and humans through contaminated food and water.

2023 Frontiers in Veterinary Science 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions and effects of microplastics with heavy metals in aquatic and terrestrial environments

This review explores how microplastics absorb toxic heavy metals from the environment and what happens when organisms ingest these contaminated particles. In the acidic conditions of an animal's digestive system, metals can separate from the plastic and accumulate in body tissues. Since heavy metals can concentrate on microplastics and then transfer up the food chain, this combination poses a compounded health risk to wildlife and potentially to humans who eat contaminated seafood.

2021 Environmental Pollution 546 citations
Article Tier 2

An insight into the ecological risks and mitigation of heavy metal pollution in aquatic sediments and marine ecosystems

This review examines heavy metal pollution in aquatic sediments and marine ecosystems, covering contamination sources, ecological risks, and mitigation strategies. The study highlights the deterioration of aquatic zones due to rising pollution from urbanization and industrialization, and discusses how pollutants including microplastics interact with heavy metals to affect biogeochemical cycling and the food chain.

2026 Frontiers in Bacteriology
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-mediated environmental behavior of metal contaminants: mechanism and implication

This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals across water, soil, and air environments, acting as carriers that concentrate and transport toxic metals. Researchers found that microplastics can increase the bioavailability and toxicity of metal contaminants to living organisms. The study highlights major gaps in current analytical methods and calls for better tools to understand these complex pollutant interactions.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 8 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Interaction of Microplastics and Heavy Metals on Aquatic Organisms : A Review

This systematic review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in waterways, finding that plastic particles absorb toxic metals and then release them inside organisms that ingest them. This combination increases the toxicity of both pollutants, leading to DNA damage, tissue changes, and reproductive problems in aquatic life, with potential consequences for human health through the food chain.

2025 Environmental and Agriculture Management 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of polyethylene microplastics exposure on the, growth performance, reproductive performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of quails

Researchers fed quails different levels of polyethylene microplastics and found that exposure harmed their growth, reproduction, and gut health. The microplastics reduced antioxidant defenses and disrupted the balance of beneficial bacteria in the birds' intestines. Since poultry is a major food source for people, microplastic contamination in farm animals raises concerns about indirect human exposure through the food chain.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Birds and plastic pollution: recent advances

This review summarizes how plastic pollution affects birds across both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, covering ingestion, entanglement, and chemical exposure from macro- and microplastics. Researchers found that hundreds of bird species have accumulated plastic in their tissues, with effects ranging from physical injury to hormonal disruption and reproductive harm. The study positions birds as valuable indicator species for monitoring the broader environmental impact of plastic pollution.

2021 Avian Research 140 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of heavy metal concentration and their relationship in beef sold in markets

A study measured lead, cadmium, and arsenic concentrations in beef muscle, kidney, and liver from markets in Ghana. Heavy metals can adsorb to microplastics in the environment and accumulate in livestock, highlighting pathways through which plastic pollution may contribute to contaminated meat.

2023 Cornous Biology 2 citations
Review Tier 2

Heavy Metal Pollution in Coastal Environments: Ecological Implications and Management Strategies: A Review

This review examines heavy metal pollution in coastal environments, covering sources like industrial runoff and agriculture, ecological impacts, and cleanup strategies. While focused on heavy metals rather than microplastics, it is relevant because microplastics often carry heavy metals on their surface, potentially increasing human exposure to these toxic substances through the food chain.

2025 Sustainability 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Co-Contaminants (Microplastics and Others) on Heavy Metal/Metalloid Toxicity and Accumulation in Plants

This review examines how microplastics act as co-contaminants alongside heavy metals and metalloids in agricultural soils, influencing their toxicity and uptake by plants. Researchers found that the presence of microplastics can alter how metals like cadmium, arsenic, and lead accumulate in plant tissues, with implications for crop safety and agricultural productivity.

2026 International Journal of Environment and Climate Change
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as a vehicle of heavy metals in aquatic environments: A review of adsorption factors, mechanisms, and biological effects

This review summarizes how microplastics in water can absorb and carry toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium, making them more dangerous to aquatic life than either pollutant alone. Environmental factors such as water acidity, salinity, and organic matter influence how much metal sticks to microplastic surfaces. Since contaminated seafood is a major source of human exposure, understanding these interactions is important for assessing health risks.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 385 citations
Article Tier 2

Coexistence of microplastics and heavy metals in soil: Occurrence, transport, key interactions and effect on plants

This review examines how microplastics and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic interact in soil, often creating combined toxic effects on plants that differ from either pollutant alone. These interactions are relevant to human health because contaminated crops can transfer both microplastics and heavy metals to people through the food supply.

2024 Environmental Research 57 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Microplastics on the Mobility, Bioavailability, and Toxicity of Heavy Metals: A Review

This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in the environment, potentially influencing the metals' mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity to living organisms. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb heavy metals and transport them to new locations, but the interactions depend on the type of plastic, metal, and environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastics acting as carriers for toxic metals represents an underappreciated environmental and health risk.

2021 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 115 citations
Article Tier 2

A Retrospection on Mercury Contamination, Bioaccumulation, and Toxicity in Diverse Environments: Current Insights and Future Prospects

This review examines mercury contamination in the environment, its accumulation in the food chain, and its toxic effects on living organisms. Mercury exposure through contaminated crops and seafood can cause cancer, genetic damage, and disruption of enzymes and proteins in the body. While focused on mercury rather than microplastics, the research is relevant because microplastics can absorb and transport mercury and other heavy metals into organisms.

2023 Sustainability 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Adsorption Behavior of Heavy Metals onto the MPs and Their Impact

This review examines how microplastics adsorb heavy metals from soil and aquatic environments and how this adsorption affects the transport, bioavailability, and toxicity of both contaminants. The authors synthesize evidence showing that microplastics act as effective carriers for heavy metal transport through freshwater and marine systems, amplifying the ecological hazard of metal contamination.

2024 ACS symposium series 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of microplastics with heavy metals in soil: Mechanisms, influencing factors and biological effects

This review summarizes how microplastics and heavy metals interact in soil, where microplastics can absorb and carry toxic metals through the food chain and into the human body. Aging and weathering of microplastics changes their surface properties, making them better at picking up heavy metals, which raises concerns about combined exposure through contaminated crops and water.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 96 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution

This review summarizes the current state of microplastic pollution across water, soil, air, and food, highlighting their ability to carry other toxins like heavy metals and PCBs. The authors note that microplastics accumulate in the food web, moving from the environment into agricultural products and eventually into the human body. The review emphasizes that a unified, comprehensive approach to studying microplastics across all environmental sources is needed to fully understand the health risks.

2025 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Gut dysbiosis: Nutritional causes and risk prevention in poultry, with reference to other animals

This review examines the causes and consequences of gut dysbiosis in poultry and other animals, identifying microplastics as one of several environmental pollutants that can disrupt gastrointestinal microbial communities. Researchers describe how reduced microbial diversity leads to inflammation, compromised gut barriers, and disorders affecting multiple organ systems. The study highlights that microplastics, along with heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants, contribute to the growing challenge of maintaining healthy gut microbiomes in animal populations.

2025 South African Journal of Animal Science 1 citations