Papers

61,005 results
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Meta Analysis Tier 1

Hazards of microplastics exposure to liver function in fishes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This meta-analysis found that microplastic exposure significantly impairs fish liver function, elevating key liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP, LDH) and triggering oxidative stress markers in liver tissue. The toxicological mechanisms include inflammation, apoptosis, and metabolic disruption, raising concerns about the health of fish populations in microplastic-contaminated waters and the safety of fish as a human food source.

2024 Marine Environmental Research 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Field validated biomarker (ValidBIO) based assessment of impacts of various pollutants in water

This review examines field-validated biomarker approaches for monitoring water pollution, showing that enzymatic activity changes in fish exposed to heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics, and persistent organic pollutants serve as sensitive and reliable indicators of aquatic contamination across diverse environments.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Heavy Metals and Pesticide Contamination on Aquatic Environment and Fish Health: Challenges and Bioremediation Strategies

This review examines the impact of heavy metals and pesticide contamination on aquatic environments and fish health, with attention to how microplastics interact with these traditional pollutants. The authors discuss how pollution from industrialization affects fish physiology and disrupts ecosystem balance. The study highlights bioremediation approaches as sustainable strategies for addressing contaminated aquatic environments.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Impact of Heavy Metals and Pesticide Contamination on Aquatic Environment and Fish Health: Challenges and Bioremediation Strategies

This review examines the impact of heavy metals and pesticide contamination on aquatic environments and fish health, including the role of microplastics as co-contaminants. The authors discuss how industrialization has increased pollutant levels in water systems, affecting fish physiology and ecosystem balance. The study highlights bioremediation strategies as promising approaches for cleaning up contaminated aquatic environments.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Effects Of Microplastics On Fish Physiology

This review examines how microplastic exposure affects fish physiology, covering accumulation patterns in different tissues, effects on organ function including liver and gill damage, antioxidant responses, and potential reproductive health consequences from both solo and combined contaminant exposures.

2025 Spectrum of Emerging Sciences
Article Tier 2

Hepatic multi-level responses to polyethylene microplastics in Lateolabrax maculatus: Insights from transcriptomics, antioxidant enzyme activity, and histopathology

Researchers exposed spotted sea bass to diets containing polyethylene microplastics for 45 days and found multiple levels of liver damage, including altered gene expression, reduced antioxidant enzyme activity, and visible tissue changes. A subsequent depuration period showed partial but incomplete recovery. The study suggests that chronic microplastic exposure through contaminated feed may pose significant risks to liver health in commercially farmed fish species.

2026 Aquaculture Reports
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics and chrysene pollution: Potential new triggers for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatitis, insights from juvenile Siniperca chuatsi

Researchers exposed juvenile mandarin fish to nanoplastics and the pollutant chrysene, both individually and in combination, and examined the effects on liver health. They found that the combined exposure caused more severe liver damage than either contaminant alone, triggering fat accumulation and inflammatory responses in liver tissue. The study suggests that the interaction between nanoplastics and other environmental pollutants may amplify harmful effects on fish liver function.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Metal load and oxidative stress driven by organotin compounds on rainbow trout

Researchers injected rainbow trout with two forms of tributyltin — a toxic antifouling chemical once widely used in marine paints and now banned — and found that both compounds caused oxidative stress and altered antioxidant defenses in the liver within days. The findings confirm that tributyltin residues still present in aquatic environments pose ongoing ecotoxicological risks to freshwater fish.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingested plastic transfers hazardous chemicals to fish and induces hepatic stress

Researchers fed fish polyethylene plastic fragments collected from the ocean — which had absorbed surrounding pollutants — and found the fish bioaccumulated toxic chemicals and developed liver damage. The study demonstrates that ingested marine plastic acts as a delivery vehicle for harmful contaminants, compounding the health risks of plastic pollution in seafood.

2013 Scientific Reports 1860 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Contaminants in Fish Products: Food Safety Issues and Remediation Strategies

This review provides an overview of environmental contaminants found in fish products, including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and microplastics, and their risks to human health through seafood consumption. The combined presence of multiple contaminants in fish can create compounding toxic effects that are greater than any single pollutant alone. The authors recommend better monitoring and cleanup strategies, including bioremediation, to protect both marine ecosystems and the people who eat seafood.

2024 Foods 10 citations
Article Tier 2

The influence of ecological factors in the modulation of pollution biomarkers of two small pelagic marine fish

Researchers examined how ecological factors such as body condition, sex, and season modulate pollution biomarker responses in two small pelagic fish species, finding that biological variability must be accounted for when using hepatic biomarkers to assess marine contamination levels.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioaccumulation and Bioremediation of Heavy Metals in Fishes—A Review

This review summarizes how heavy metals accumulate in fish tissues through contaminated water and enter the human food chain, posing serious public health concerns. The paper discusses bioremediation techniques using microorganisms and other methods to remove heavy metals from aquatic environments, which is relevant because microplastics can carry and concentrate these same toxic metals.

2023 Toxics 161 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Systematic Review of Microplastic Characterization Methods and Associated Toxicological Outcomes in Fish

This systematic review evaluated methods used to identify microplastics and their health effects in fish. The findings showed that microplastic exposure causes liver and gill damage, behavioral changes, and oxidative stress in fish, which matters for human health because contaminated fish is a common part of our diet.

2025 Environmental Research and Planetary Health
Article Tier 2

Drenched in microplastic environment: Physiological and metabolic disruptions in fish

This literature review synthesized studies on the physiological and metabolic disruptions microplastics cause in fish, finding impacts across multiple organ systems including the liver, gut, gills, and reproductive organs depending on particle type and exposure duration.

2025 International Journal of Biology Sciences
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fishes and their living environments surrounding a plastic production area

Fish living near a plastic manufacturing facility in China had 10 to 30 times more microplastics in their environment and bodies than fish from a nearby reference reservoir, and fish from the industrial area showed signs of liver damage including histopathological lesions. The study provides evidence linking proximity to plastic production to measurable health effects in wild fish.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 123 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics in freshwater systems: A review on occurrence, environmental effects, and methods for microplastics detection

This review summarizes the current understanding of microplastic contamination in freshwater systems, from sources like wastewater treatment plants to their effects on aquatic life. Researchers note that microplastics can carry toxic chemicals and have been shown to cause intestinal damage and metabolic changes in fish. The paper highlights that freshwater microplastic pollution is a significant and growing concern that warrants more research attention.

2017 Water Research 2136 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an Emerging Threat to the Freshwater Fishes: a Review

This review examines microplastics as an emerging threat to freshwater fishes, covering their sources from cosmetics and plastic debris fragmentation, routes of entry including wastewater treatment plants, and documented toxic effects on fish physiology and behavior.

2022 International Journal of Biological Innovations 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic contamination: Impact on zebrafish liver metabolism and implications for aquatic environmental health

Zebrafish exposed to polystyrene nanoparticles for 28 days showed significant disruptions in liver metabolism, including altered fat processing, signs of inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage. Notably, at lower doses the liver's detox enzymes appeared to break down the nanoplastics themselves, while higher doses overwhelmed these defenses and caused more severe injury.

2024 Environment International 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Aquatic Environments and Their Toxicological Implications for Fish

This review summarizes research on microplastic occurrence in freshwater and marine environments and the toxicological risks they pose to fish, examining both direct physical effects and the role of plastics as vectors for chemical pollutants. The authors highlight that freshwater fish are particularly vulnerable given the high loads of microplastics in rivers receiving wastewater.

2016 InTech eBooks 61 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Potential toxicity of microplastics on vertebrate liver: A systematic review and meta–analysis

This meta-analysis of 118 studies found that microplastics damage vertebrate livers by inducing oxidative stress and intracellular toxicity, altering biotransformation processes, and disrupting lipid metabolism. Organisms at earlier life stages, exposed to smaller particles, and for longer durations showed the greatest liver damage, with catalase, GST, reactive oxygen species, and alkaline phosphatase levels progressively increasing with microplastic concentration.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Aquatic pollution and its effects on fish health

Laboratory and field experiments in Bihar, India examined how plastic microbeads, pesticides, mercury, crude oil, and pharmaceuticals affect fish health, finding organ damage, reproductive failure, and elevated mortality across multiple pollutant types.

2025 International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies
Article Tier 2

Impact of Pollution and Toxic Stress on Fish Health: Mechanisms, Consequences, and Mitigation Strategies

This review examined the many ways pollution and toxic substances harm fish health, including through disrupted metabolism, hormonal imbalances, weakened immune systems, and reproductive problems. The study highlights that pollutants enter fish through water, food, and sediment, and discusses mitigation strategies for protecting fish populations and the broader aquatic ecosystems they support.

2024 UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics induce toxic effects in fish: Bioaccumulation, hematological parameters and antioxidant responses

Researchers exposed juvenile fish to polyamide microplastics and found the particles accumulated primarily in the intestine, gills, and liver, causing reduced blood oxygen-carrying capacity, liver stress, and disrupted antioxidant defenses. These findings matter because fish are an important food source for humans, and microplastic accumulation in fish tissues could transfer these contaminants to people through their diet.

2025 Chemosphere 16 citations