Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes and their effects on the aquaculture environments

This review explores the relationship between microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes in aquaculture environments. Researchers found that microplastics can serve as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive and exchange resistance genes, potentially accelerating the spread of antibiotic resistance in fish farms and surrounding waterways.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 312 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the nexus: Microplastics, antibiotics, and ARGs interactions, threats and control in aquaculture – A review

This review examines how microplastics, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes interact in aquaculture environments, where all three contaminants frequently co-occur. Researchers found that microplastics can absorb antibiotics and serve as surfaces where resistant bacteria thrive, potentially amplifying the spread of antibiotic resistance. The study emphasizes the need for better management strategies to control these combined pollutants in fish farming operations.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Are microplastics in aquaculture an undeniable driver in accelerating the spread of antibiotic resistance genes?

This review examines how microplastics in aquaculture environments may accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes by serving as surfaces where resistant bacteria can reproduce and exchange genetic material. The study suggests that the combination of plastic fishing gear debris and long-term antibiotic misuse in aquaculture creates conditions that threaten both ecosystem balance and food safety, though further research is needed to fully understand the scope of these effects.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Enrichment of Antibiotic Resistance Genes on Plastic Waste in Aquatic Ecosystems, Aquatic Animals, and Fishery Products

This review examines how plastic waste in water creates surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive and share resistance genes with each other. Microplastics in rivers, oceans, and fish farms were consistently found to harbor more antibiotic resistance genes than natural materials like rocks or sand. Since fish and shellfish can accumulate these microplastic-associated resistant bacteria, there is a risk that drug-resistant infections could reach humans through the seafood supply chain.

2025 Antibiotics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of microplastics on antibiotic resistance genes, metal resistance genes, and bacterial community in aquaculture environment

Researchers discovered that microplastics in fish farming environments carry significantly higher levels of antibiotic resistance genes and disease-causing bacteria like Brucella and Pseudomonas compared to surrounding water. This means microplastics may act as floating platforms that help spread antibiotic-resistant infections through aquaculture, potentially reaching humans who consume the seafood.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in recirculating aquaculture system

Microplastics in a recirculating aquaculture system were found to alter the distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in biofilms and water, with higher ARG diversity detected on microplastic surfaces than in surrounding water. This suggests that microplastics in fish farming operations could serve as reservoirs and vectors for spreading antibiotic resistance.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 198 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of Microplastics with Antibiotics in Aquatic Environment: Distribution, Adsorption, and Toxicity

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in waterways, finding that microplastics can absorb antibiotics from the water and change their availability and toxicity to aquatic organisms. Critically, microplastics also provide surfaces where antibiotic resistance genes can accumulate and spread among bacteria. This is concerning for human health because it means microplastics in water could be accelerating the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology 415 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic Resistance Gene Enrichment on Plastic Wastes in Aquatic Ecosystems and Fishery Products

This review examined how plastic waste in aquatic environments enriches antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) through plastisphere biofilms, with implications for fishery product safety. Microplastic-associated biofilms concentrate ARG-carrying bacteria, increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance transmission through fish and other seafood consumed by humans.

2025 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

Interactions and associated resistance development mechanisms between microplastics, antibiotics and heavy metals in the aquaculture environment

This review explores how microplastics, antibiotics, and heavy metals interact in aquaculture environments to promote antibiotic resistance. Researchers found that microplastics can serve as carriers for both antibiotics and metals, creating hotspots where bacteria are more likely to develop resistance genes. The study underscores the compounding ecological and human health risks when these three types of pollutants co-exist in fish farming settings.

2021 Reviews in Aquaculture 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Their Role in the Maintenance and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Marine Ecosystems

This review examines the role of microplastics in maintaining and spreading antibiotic resistance genes in marine ecosystems, synthesizing evidence that plastic pollution in aquatic environments creates reservoirs for antimicrobial resistant bacteria and facilitates horizontal gene transfer.

2022 Antibiot Khimioter = Antibiotics and Chemotherapy 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Biofilm formation on microplastics and interactions with antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes and pathogens in aquatic environment

This review explains how microplastics in waterways develop bacterial biofilms on their surfaces that can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria and help spread antibiotic resistance genes to new environments. This is concerning for human health because these resistant microbes could eventually reach people through drinking water or seafood consumption.

2024 Eco-Environment & Health 63 citations
Article Tier 2

The nexus of microplastics, food and antimicrobial resistance in the context of aquatic environment: Interdisciplinary linkages of pathways

This review examines how microplastics in aquatic environments serve as surfaces where bacteria can grow, share antibiotic resistance genes, and then enter the food chain through contaminated seafood. The combination of microplastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance creates a compounding threat, as resistant bacteria riding on plastic particles can survive water treatment and reach humans. The authors call for interdisciplinary research connecting environmental science and public health to address this growing risk.

2025 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics are a hotspot for antibiotic resistance genes: Progress and perspective

This review examines growing evidence that microplastics serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. Researchers found that microplastics selectively accumulate antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes on their surfaces across wastewater, aquatic, and terrestrial environments. The dense bacterial communities and concentrated pollutants on microplastic surfaces create favorable conditions for the spread and evolution of antibiotic resistance, raising concerns about potential risks to human health.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 244 citations
Article Tier 2

On the Generation, Impact and Removal of Antibiotic Resistance in the Water Environment

This review explains how antibiotic resistance develops and spreads through water environments — including rivers, groundwater, and wastewater. The findings are relevant to microplastics because plastic particles in water are known to accumulate antibiotic-resistant bacteria, potentially accelerating the spread of drug resistance through aquatic systems.

2023 BIO Web of Conferences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistant bacteria colonising microplastics in the aquatic environment: An emerging challenge

Researchers reviewed how microplastics in aquatic environments act as surfaces where antibiotic-resistant bacteria can grow and swap resistance genes with each other, raising concern that contaminated seafood and water could transfer these hard-to-treat bacteria to humans.

2024 Discover Sustainability 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Aquatic Ecosystems: a Review

A review of 30 studies found antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) widely distributed across aquatic ecosystems — in surface water, groundwater, wastewater, and notably on plastic and microplastic debris in these environments. Microplastics appear to provide favorable surfaces for the growth and exchange of resistant bacteria, making plastic pollution a potential vector for spreading antibiotic resistance. The findings highlight an understudied intersection between microplastic contamination and the global antibiotic resistance crisis.

2023 Borneo AKademika
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-associated pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in environment

This review examines how microplastics in the environment act as surfaces for disease-causing bacteria and antibiotic-resistant microbes to colonize and spread. Researchers found that microplastics can carry pathogens and facilitate the transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes between bacteria in water systems. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution may be contributing to the growing global challenge of antibiotic resistance.

2021 Chemosphere 175 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Antibiotics in Aquatic Environments: A Review of Their Interactions and Ecotoxicological Implications

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact when they meet in water, and what that means for ecosystems and health. Antibiotics can attach to microplastic surfaces through chemical bonds, and the microplastics can then carry these drugs through the environment, potentially spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria. While the combined threat to fish and other aquatic life needs more study, the findings raise concerns about how microplastics help move antibiotic resistance through water systems.

2024 Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview

Researchers reviewed the link between microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments, finding that microplastic surfaces host unique bacterial communities enriched in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the resistance genes they can share with other microbes. The close packing of bacteria in these plastic-surface biofilms may accelerate the spread of drug-resistant pathogens through drinking water sources, though the full health implications remain poorly understood.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes as rising threats: Their interaction represents an urgent environmental concern

This review examines how microplastics interact with antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment, creating a combined pollution threat. Microplastics can absorb antibiotics onto their surface and serve as platforms where bacteria exchange resistance genes. This interaction could accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance, making infections harder to treat and posing a growing public health risk.

2025 Current Research in Microbial Sciences 6 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on the effect of micro- and nano-plastics pollution on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance

This review highlights how microplastics serve as breeding grounds for antimicrobial resistance genes, examining the overlooked interaction between plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance that poses combined threats to environmental and human health.

2022 Chemosphere 34 citations
Article Tier 2

The Microplastic-Antibiotic Resistance Connection

This review examined the link between microplastic pollution and antibiotic resistance, finding that microplastic surfaces in the environment selectively enrich antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, creating hotspots that may amplify the spread of resistance far beyond clinical settings.

2021 Environmental contamination remediation and management 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction between microplastic biofilm formation and antibiotics: Effect of microplastic biofilm and its driving mechanisms on antibiotic resistance gene

This review explores how microplastics in water environments develop biofilms that interact with antibiotics in concerning ways. Researchers found that biofilm-coated microplastics can enhance the adsorption of antibiotics and serve as hotspots for antibiotic resistance genes. The study highlights the risk that microplastic biofilms could accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance through aquatic ecosystems.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 117 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Originated from cultivated oysters and estuarine waters

This study detected antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in oysters and estuarine waters, raising concerns about how aquatic environments serve as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance that can reach humans through seafood consumption. The findings are relevant to microplastic research because microplastics are known to harbor and concentrate antibiotic resistance genes on their surfaces.

2021