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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Recovery from microplastic-induced marine deoxygenation may take centuries
ClearZooplankton grazing of microplastic can accelerate global loss of ocean oxygen
Researchers modeled the effect of zooplankton microplastic ingestion on ocean oxygen levels, finding that reduced zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton due to plastic consumption could decrease export of organic carbon to depth, leading to lower oxygen consumption by deep-water bacteria and counterintuitively reducing oxygen loss in some scenarios.
Would the Oceans Become Toxic to Humanity Due to Use and Mismanagement of Plastics?
Researchers developed a model to estimate when microplastic accumulation could make oceans broadly toxic to humans and marine life. The study suggests that under current discharge growth rates, ocean microplastic levels could reach toxic thresholds between 2398 and 2456, though reducing emissions could delay this significantly.
A mass budget and box model of global plastics cycling, degradation and dispersal in the land-ocean-atmosphere system
Researchers built a global computer model tracking how 8,300 million metric tons of plastic produced since 1950 cycles through land, ocean, and atmosphere as it fragments into microplastics over time. Their modeling shows that even eliminating all new plastic releases from 2025 onward would still leave small microplastics cycling through the environment for millennia, because of the enormous stockpile of plastic waste already accumulated on land.
Global environmental plastic dispersal under OECD policy scenarios toward 2060
Using a global computer model, researchers simulated how plastic pollution will spread through land, ocean, and atmosphere under different policy scenarios through 2060. Even with strong policy action, microplastics already in the environment will continue to circulate for centuries because existing plastic slowly breaks into smaller pieces. The study estimated the total marine plastic pool at 263 million tons, showing that preventing new pollution is critical but will not quickly solve the microplastic problem already in our ecosystems.
Long-term aging and degradation of microplastic particles: Comparing in situ oceanic and experimental weathering patterns
Researchers weathered polypropylene and polyethylene pellets in sunlight and seawater for three years and compared chemical bond changes via FTIR spectroscopy to particles collected from North Pacific ocean gyres, estimating that most gyre plastics have been at sea for more than 18 months — consistent with ocean circulation residence-time models.
Slow biological microplastics removal under ocean pollution phase-out trajectories
Modeling and observation of biological microplastic removal from the ocean surface -- through incorporation into marine snow and fecal pellets that sink -- suggests this process is too slow to meaningfully offset continued plastic pollution inputs.
Model exploration of microplastic effects on zooplankton grazing reveal potential impacts on the global carbon cycle
Researchers used a global ocean model to explore how microplastics could affect zooplankton grazing and, in turn, the ocean's carbon cycle. The study suggests that while microplastic impacts on zooplankton remain concentrated in about 10% of the ocean surface, heavily contaminated areas like subtropical gyres could see meaningful shifts in biological carbon export to the deep ocean over the coming decades.
Abundance of non-conservative microplastics in the upper ocean from 1957 to 2066
A combination of numerical modeling and transoceanic microplastic surveys from 1957 to 2015 was used to project Pacific Ocean microplastic abundance through 2066, showing ongoing accumulation particularly in the North Pacific as a result of removal processes (sinking, fragmentation) being slower than inputs. The study demonstrates that ocean microplastic levels will continue to rise under current emission trajectories.
The impact of nanoplastics on marine dissolved organic matter assembly
Researchers found that even trace concentrations of nanoplastics (10 ppb) significantly accelerate the spontaneous assembly of dissolved organic matter into particles in seawater, driven by hydrophobic interactions — a finding that could have far-reaching consequences for the ocean's largest carbon pool.
Environmental toxicology of marine microplastic pollution
This review summarized a decade of research on the environmental toxicology of marine microplastic pollution across different ocean organisms and trophic levels. Researchers found that microplastics can accumulate in marine life from phytoplankton to fish, causing molecular, metabolic, and physiological harm. The study emphasizes that understanding these toxic effects is essential for assessing the broader ecological risks of plastic pollution in ocean environments.
Risk assessment of microplastics in the ocean: Modelling approach and first conclusions
Ocean microplastic concentrations are projected to increase 50-fold by 2100, and while average open-ocean levels may remain below the derived safe threshold of 6,650 particles/m³, heavily polluted coastal and benthic zones are expected to exceed safe concentrations in the second half of this century.
A mass budget and box model of global plastics cycling, degradation and dispersal in the land-ocean-atmosphere system.
Researchers developed a global mass budget and box model tracking plastic cycling across terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric reservoirs from 1950 to 2015, incorporating historical production data, fragmentation, and transport dynamics for macroplastics, large microplastics, and small microplastics. The model estimated that the deep ocean (82 Tg) and shelf sediments (116 Tg) represent major plastic reservoirs, and that even maximum feasible reduction scenarios would result in approximately 4-fold increases in atmospheric and aquatic microplastic exposure by 2050 due to legacy plastics already in circulation.
Constraining zooplankton exposure to microplastic at the global scale: results from a new coupled physical-biogeochemical model (NEMO/PISCES-PLASTIC)
Researchers used a global coupled physical-biogeochemical ocean model (NEMO/PISCES-PLASTIC) to estimate zooplankton exposure to microplastics across all oceanic regions and depth layers, simulating realistic nutrient and plankton cycling alongside a 3D microplastic transport module. The model enabled global-scale quantification of microplastic concentrations in zooplankton habitat zones, addressing the difficulty of direct in situ measurement and the largely unknown population-level impacts of microplastic ingestion on marine food webs.
Estimation of the age of polyethylene microplastics collected from oceans: Application to the western North Pacific Ocean
Scientists developed a method to estimate how long polyethylene microplastics have been floating in the ocean by measuring their chemical degradation level and matching it to UV exposure data. They applied this technique to samples from the western North Pacific and estimated ages ranging from months to years. Knowing the age of ocean microplastics helps researchers trace where plastic pollution originates and how far ocean currents carry it.
Modelled broad-scale shifts on seafloor ecosystem functioning due to microplastic impacts on bioturbation
Model simulations incorporating experimental bioturbation data found that broad-scale reductions in seafloor bioturbation caused by microplastic impacts on marine invertebrates could significantly alter nutrient cycling in marine sediments at ecosystem scales.
Global Modeled Sinking Characteristics of Biofouled Microplastic
Researchers developed a global model of microplastic biofouling and sinking using satellite oceanographic data to estimate where and when buoyant plastic particles sink out of the surface ocean, finding that sinking timescales ranged from days in tropical waters to months in high-latitude regions depending on temperature and productivity.
First long-term evidence of microplastic pollution in the deep subtropical Northeast Atlantic
Researchers found microplastic particles in all 110 sediment trap samples collected over a 12-year period from 2,000-meter depths in the Northeast Atlantic, establishing the deep ocean as a long-term sink for microplastics with fluxes increasing over time.
Modelled broad-scale shifts on seafloor ecosystem functioning due to microplastic effects on bioturbation
This study modelled how microplastic contamination of marine sediments affects bioturbation — the mixing of sediment by bottom-dwelling organisms — and the cascading effects on seafloor ecosystem functions like nutrient cycling. The model predicts that in MP-contaminated sediments, organic matter accumulates in the oxygen-rich zone, stimulating aerobic respiration by around 18%. These results suggest microplastics can reshape fundamental biogeochemical processes in seafloor ecosystems at broad scales, with implications for ocean carbon and nutrient cycling.
Microplastics Pollution
This review summarizes the current state of knowledge about microplastic pollution in marine ecosystems, covering sources, distribution, and ecological impacts. The study emphasizes that plastics are virtually indestructible in the environment and that microplastics are now ubiquitous in ocean food chains.
Microplastics and microbial interactions in marine environments: A critical review on biogeochemical cycling and ecological impacts
This review integrated bibliometric analysis of 2015-2025 literature with mechanistic synthesis to examine how marine microplastic pollution affects ecosystems through physicochemical and biological processes, highlighting the multifaceted interactions between microplastics and microbial communities.