Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in the marine environment: Sources, impacts, and degradation.

This review summarizes existing research on microplastic pollution in the ocean, covering sources, effects on marine life, and degradation. Microplastics harm marine organisms across the food chain, from plankton to fish, affecting their growth, reproduction, immune systems, and behavior. Since humans consume many of these marine species, the widespread contamination raises concerns about microplastic exposure through seafood.

2025 Journal of Advanced Veterinary and Animal Research 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The Effects of Ocean Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecology

This review describes how plastic waste accumulates in the oceans, breaks down into microplastics under sunlight and saltwater, and enters food chains as fish and shellfish mistake particles for food. It summarises the scale of the problem — plastic makes up roughly 70% of ocean pollutants and is linked to the deaths of millions of seabirds and marine animals annually. The paper serves as a broad overview of how ocean plastic pollution threatens marine ecology and, through seafood consumption, human health.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

An overview of microplastic in marine waters: Sources, abundance, characteristics and negative effects on various marine organisms

This review summarizes existing research on microplastic pollution in the world's oceans, covering where microplastics come from, how abundant they are, and their harmful effects on marine life from tiny plankton to sea turtles and seabirds. Microplastics have been found in organisms at every level of the ocean food chain, with the most common types being polyethylene and polypropylene fragments and fibers. The widespread contamination of marine life raises direct concerns for human health, since many of these organisms end up as seafood on our plates.

2024 Desalination and Water Treatment 57 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Ocean: Understanding the Damage of Overconsumption of Single-use Plastics

This educational paper reviews the scale of single-use plastic pollution and explains how plastics fragment into microplastics in ocean environments through sun, wind, and wave action. It uses widely-cited statistics to communicate the urgency of reducing plastic consumption, particularly single-use plastic bottles.

2020 ScholarSpace (University of Hawaii at Manoa)
Article Tier 2

The Effects of Plastic and Microplastic Waste on the Marine Environment and the Ocean

This review summarizes the scale of plastic pollution in the world's oceans, where nearly 280 million tons of plastic are produced annually and much of it ends up in marine environments, affecting at least 267 species. Microplastics enter the marine food chain when sea creatures ingest them, ultimately reaching humans through seafood consumption, with potential health consequences that add to the economic and ecological damage.

2025 European Journal of Environment and Earth Sciences 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of plastics and microplastics in the marine environment

This thesis reviewed how plastics and microplastics enter, move through, and accumulate in marine environments, examining sources, transport pathways, and long-term fate. Understanding the ocean's plastic burden is essential for predicting ecological and human health risks.

2023
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics pollution on human health and aquatic life: a review

This review summarizes how microplastics enter the environment from sources like plastic pellets, cosmetics, and the breakdown of larger plastics through UV light and weathering. Researchers describe how these tiny particles accumulate in oceans primarily from land-based human activities and transfer through the food chain from one organism to another. Evidence indicates that microplastic exposure in aquatic organisms can cause tissue damage, oxidative stress, and disruptions to normal biological processes.

2025 Polymer International 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Micro and Nano Plastics on Ocean Environment

This review examines the impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on ocean environments, covering their sources, fragmentation from larger plastic debris, effects on marine species across the food chain from plankton to fish, and implications for ocean ecosystem health.

2024
Article Tier 2

Effects of marine microplastic on marine life and the food webs – A detailed review

This review provides a comprehensive look at microplastic pollution in marine environments, covering sources, impacts on marine life, and risks to human health through the seafood supply chain. Microplastics cause physical harm like gut blockages in marine animals and can carry toxic chemicals that accumulate up the food chain. The authors emphasize that with global plastic production still rising, urgent policy action and better waste management are needed to protect both ocean ecosystems and human health.

2024 Marine Ecology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and its Impact on Oceanic Environment

This review examines the impact of microplastics on oceanic ecosystems, covering the mechanisms by which they harm aquatic life through ingestion and entanglement, and discusses potential strategies for reducing contamination. It emphasizes that continuous plastic production combined with poor waste management is driving an escalating ocean pollution crisis.

2018 Research & Reviews: A Journal of Biotechnology
Article Tier 2

Understanding microplastic pollution of marine ecosystem: a review

This review summarizes the current understanding of microplastic pollution in oceans, covering where they come from, how they spread, and their harmful effects on marine life and potentially human health. Microplastics are found throughout the ocean -- from surface waters to deep sediments -- and can transfer toxic chemicals to organisms that consume them. The authors highlight that significant gaps remain in detection methods and understanding the full scope of how marine microplastics affect the food chain that leads to our plates.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 113 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in our oceans and marine health

This general review examined the scale of microplastic ocean contamination and its risks to marine life and human health, covering ingestion pathways, food web transfer, and the current regulatory landscape. The authors argue that public education, plastic use reduction, and stronger waste governance are essential to preventing further marine contamination.

2019 OpenEdition (OpenEdition) 110 citations
Article Tier 2

Future aspects of micro-plastics and their management

This review covers the main types of plastic pollution and their fragmentation into microplastics that accumulate in marine environments. The authors argue that recycling, reuse, and community-level prevention strategies are essential for reducing plastic waste reaching the ocean.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as contaminants in marine environment.

This review summarizes the sources, distribution, and environmental impacts of microplastics in the marine environment, covering how they enter the ocean, where they accumulate, and what harms they cause to marine organisms. It also discusses the potential for microplastics to transfer up the food chain to humans through seafood.

2021 Sustainability Agri Food and Environmental Research 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in the marine environment: A review

This review covers the full scope of microplastic pollution in the ocean, from sources and distribution to effects on marine life and potential solutions. Microplastics have been found in marine organisms at every level of the food chain, raising concerns about human exposure through seafood. The authors emphasize that global plastic production continues to rise, making better waste management and policy action urgent.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic in the Marine Environment

This review examines the presence, sources, distribution, and ecological effects of microplastics in marine environments, arguing that the pervasive use of plastics in modern society and poor waste management have made ocean microplastic pollution a critical global issue.

2023 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Review of Impacts on Aquatic Animals

This review synthesizes research on microplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems, tracing how approximately 8 million tons of plastic waste enters oceans annually and fragments into particles that are ingested by marine organisms. The study highlights that microplastics can transfer through food webs to humans via contaminated seafood, with potential implications for human health.

2025 Annals of Animal Science 1 citations
Review Tier 2

Micro Plastics in The Marine Environment: A Review of Their Effects on Marine Organisms and Ecosystems

This review examines the effects of microplastics on marine organisms and ecosystems, summarizing evidence for MP ingestion across trophic levels, physical and chemical harm to marine life, and the pathways through which marine MP pollution threatens biodiversity and fisheries.

2025 International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering Management & Applied Science
Article Tier 2

The Contribution of Microplastics to Marine Pollution

This review examines the contribution of microplastics to marine pollution, covering the pathways by which plastic particles enter ocean systems, their distribution across ocean basins, effects on marine life, and the challenges of reducing the flow of plastic into the sea.

2025 International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology
Article Tier 2

Marine microplastics

This review discusses the devastating effects of marine microplastics on ocean ecosystems, covering physical harm to organisms, chemical contamination, and ecological disruption across trophic levels. It serves as an accessible summary for communicating the scale and severity of the marine microplastic pollution problem.

2017 Current Biology 38 citations
Article Tier 2

The Effects of Improper Waste Disposal on Marine Life: Why Does it Matter and How can We Prevent It?

This review outlined how improperly disposed plastic waste enters the ocean, breaks into microplastics that harbor toxicants like BPA and POPs, and harms marine life from sea turtles to filter feeders, with cascading effects on food safety and human health.

2025 Murray State's Digital Commons (Murray State University)
Article Tier 2

Research on the Influence of Microplastics on Marine Life

This paper reviews the sources, types, and distribution of microplastics in marine environments and their influence on marine organisms. The study discusses how incompletely decomposed plastic products form microplastics in the ocean, posing threats to marine life through ingestion and contamination across multiple trophic levels.

2021 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science 86 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Pollution in Oceans: a Review

This review examines plastic pollution in the world's oceans, covering sources, distribution pathways, ecological impacts, and the current state of scientific understanding of marine plastic contamination.

2024 Indian Journal of Scientific Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics pollution in the marine environment: A review of sources, impacts and mitigation

This review summarizes how millions of tons of plastic waste enter the oceans each year and break into microplastics that absorb pollutants, heavy metals, and chemical additives. These contaminated particles pose risks to human health when they enter the food chain through seafood consumption.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 69 citations