Papers

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Article Tier 2

Photoaging Exacerbates Nanoplastic Phytotoxicity and Differentially Activates Defense Mechanisms in Wild versus Cultivated Maize

Researchers compared the phytotoxicity of pristine versus photoaged polystyrene nanoplastics in cultivated maize and its wild progenitor, finding that photoaging greatly amplified toxicity and that wild maize activated stronger defense responses than cultivated varieties.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Photoaged polystyrene nanoplastics exposure results in reproductive toxicity due to oxidative damage in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers exposed the roundworm C. elegans to polystyrene nanoplastics that had been aged by sunlight, simulating real-world environmental conditions. The study found that these weathered nanoplastics caused more severe reproductive harm than pristine particles, primarily through increased oxidative stress, suggesting that aging makes plastic particles more toxic to living organisms.

2024 Environmental Pollution 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoparticles induce concerted response of plant defense mechanisms in plant cells

Researchers exposed plant cell cultures from wheat, barley, carrot, and tomato to polystyrene nanoparticles and found that the plastic particles triggered oxidative stress responses across all species. The defense mechanisms activated varied by plant species, exposure duration, and nanoplastic concentration, with tomato cells appearing most susceptible to damage. The study demonstrates that nanoplastics can induce chain reactions in plant defense systems, raising concerns about the impact of plastic pollution on crop health.

2023 Scientific Reports 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Natural Aging IntensifiesMicroplastic Phytotoxicityin Brassica chinensis

Researchers compared pristine and artificially aged polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics applied to pak choi (Brassica chinensis) in soil over 45 days. Aged MPs with oxidised surfaces caused stronger phytotoxicity than pristine MPs, reducing plant biomass and disrupting soil enzyme activity, demonstrating that environmental weathering worsens MP impacts on crops.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Physiological Toxicity and Antioxidant Mechanism of Photoaging Microplastics on Pisum sativum L. Seedlings

Researchers tested the toxicity of pristine and photoaged microplastics made of four different polymers (PS, PA, PE, PET) on pea seedlings. The study found that photoaged microplastics caused more harm to root growth than pristine ones, generated reactive oxygen species that worsened oxidative stress, and disrupted nutrient transport in plant tissues. These findings suggest that environmental weathering of microplastics increases their toxicity to plants through enhanced oxidative damage.

2023 Toxics 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular mechanisms of toxicity and detoxification in rice (Oryza sativa L.) exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics affect rice seedlings at the molecular level. They found that nanoplastic exposure significantly reduced root and shoot growth by over 50%, while triggering oxidative stress and activating genes related to both toxicity and defense responses. The study provides new insights into how crop plants respond to nanoplastic contamination at the genetic and physiological level.

2023 Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Alleviation ofNanoplastic Stress in Rice: Evidencefrom Biochemical, Cytological, Physiological, and Transcriptome Analysis

Researchers investigated nanoplastic stress responses and mitigation strategies in two rice cultivars through biochemical, cytological, physiological, and transcriptome analyses, testing whether molybdenum oxide nanoparticles could alleviate toxicity via heteroaggregation with nanoplastics. Results confirmed nMo reduced oxidative damage markers and that the wild-derived cultivar S18 maintained better physiological function under combined nMo and nanoplastic treatment than cultivated rice.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Natural Aging Intensifies Microplastic Phytotoxicity in Brassica chinensis

Researchers compared the effects of pristine and naturally aged polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics on Chinese cabbage growth and soil health over a 45-day experiment. They found that aged microplastics with oxidized surfaces caused significantly more plant damage, reducing biomass and chlorophyll content more than their pristine counterparts. The study suggests that as microplastics weather in agricultural soils, they may become increasingly harmful to crops.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Alleviation ofNanoplastic Stress in Rice: Evidencefrom Biochemical, Cytological, Physiological, and Transcriptome Analysis

Researchers used biochemical, cytological, physiological, and transcriptomic analyses to investigate nanoplastic stress in two rice cultivars and the mitigating effect of molybdenum oxide nanoparticles (nMo), finding that nMo heteroaggregates with nanoplastics and reduces oxidative stress markers including H2O2 and MDA by 9-19%. The wild-derived cultivar S18 showed superior cellular protection compared to cultivated MeiXiangZhan, suggesting genetic variation in nanoplastic tolerance.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Particle size-dependent biomolecular footprints of interactive microplastics in maize

Researchers tested how five common types of microplastics at different particle sizes affect maize seedlings at the molecular and physiological level. The study found that smaller microplastic particles (75-150 micrometers) caused more cellular damage than larger ones, disrupting cell membranes, reducing photosynthetic pigments, and triggering stress responses. Mixtures of multiple plastic types were especially harmful, suggesting that real-world combinations of microplastic pollution may pose greater risks to crops than individual plastic types.

2021 Environmental Pollution 110 citations
Article Tier 2

Physiobiochemical and transcriptional responses of tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L.) to different doses of polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers examined how different concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics affect tobacco plant growth at both the physiological and molecular levels. They found that higher doses caused oxidative stress, reduced photosynthesis, and triggered significant changes in gene expression related to stress responses. The study reveals that nanoplastic toxicity in plants is dose-dependent and involves complex molecular mechanisms beyond simple physical damage.

2024 Industrial Crops and Products 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the effects of aging on the combined toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics and chlordane against Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers studied how environmental aging of polystyrene nanoplastics changes their combined toxicity with the pesticide chlordane in roundworms. They found that photo-aging altered the physical and chemical properties of the nanoplastics, which in turn modified how the two contaminants interacted and their joint toxic effects. The study highlights that the environmental weathering of plastic particles can significantly change how they interact with other pollutants.

2024 Journal of Environmental Sciences 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution and Biological Response of Nanoplastics in Constructed Wetland Microcosms: Mechanistic Insights into the Role of Photoaging

This study looked at how sunlight aging changes the behavior of nanoplastics in wetland ecosystems. Researchers found that sun-aged nanoplastics accumulated differently in plants, water, and soil compared to fresh ones, and caused stronger biological responses in wetland organisms, suggesting that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may be more harmful than previously thought.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic insights into polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) mediated imbalance of redox homeostasis and disruption of antioxidant defense system leading to oxidative stress in black mustard (Brassica nigra L.)

Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics affect black mustard seedlings and found that exposure led to reduced plant height, lower biomass, and damaged cell membranes. The nanoplastics disrupted the plants' antioxidant defense systems, causing an imbalance in their ability to manage oxidative stress. The study highlights that nanoplastic pollution in soil could pose a meaningful threat to crop growth and plant health.

2025 Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Route-Specific Phytotoxicity: Foliar Polystyrene Nanoplastics Inhibit Rice Photosynthesis

Researchers compared root versus foliar exposure routes for polystyrene nanoplastics in rice plants and found that foliar exposure caused far more sustained damage to photosynthesis. The nanoplastics accumulated in leaves and co-localized with chloroplasts, leading to dramatic reductions in photosynthetic pigments, ATP production, and carbon fixation. The study suggests that airborne nanoplastic deposition on crop leaves may represent an underappreciated route of agricultural harm.

2026 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the impacts of photolysis-induced aging microplastics on enhanced immunotoxicity and nephrotoxicity

Researchers compared the toxicity of pristine and sun-aged polyethylene and PET microplastics on kidney cells and immune cells and found that aged particles were up to 40 percent more toxic. The increased harm was attributed to environmentally persistent free radicals that form on plastic surfaces during UV exposure, which amplify oxidative stress inside cells. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the real environment may pose greater health risks than the pristine particles typically used in laboratory studies.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the adverse Impacts of Nano-scale Carbon Exposure on Nitrogen Metabolism during Early Seedling Establishment in Zea mays L. Roots

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it examines how nano-scale carbon materials affect nitrogen metabolism and root development in early maize seedlings.

2023
Article Tier 2

Antagonistic effect of polystyrene nanoplastics on cadmium toxicity to maize (Zea mays L.)

Researchers studied the combined effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and cadmium on maize plants and found that nanoplastics actually reduced cadmium toxicity. The study suggests that nanoplastics can adsorb cadmium and limit its uptake by plant roots, though both contaminants individually reduced plant growth and triggered oxidative stress responses.

2022 Chemosphere 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil-applied polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) remain cortically confined but trigger systemic oxidative and metabolic disruption in Zea mays L. seedlings

Researchers studied how soil-applied polystyrene nanoplastics affect maize seedlings across a range of concentrations. The study found that while the nanoparticles remained confined to root surface tissues and did not penetrate deeper vascular tissue, they still triggered systemic oxidative stress and widespread metabolic disruption in shoots, suggesting that root-localized stress can cascade into whole-plant effects.

2026 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Effects of photoaged polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics on the extracellular aggregation and intracellular accumulation of ZnO nanoparticles to algae

When microplastics weather in the environment under UV sunlight, they become more chemically reactive and change how they interact with other pollutants. This study found that photoaged polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics had a stronger ability to bind zinc oxide nanoparticles than fresh plastic, and that this enhanced binding altered how the zinc nanoparticles affected green algae — generally reducing zinc uptake into algal cells but increasing overall ecological risk. The findings highlight that the environmental "aging" of microplastics is not merely cosmetic — it fundamentally changes their behavior as carriers of other toxic substances in aquatic ecosystems.

2025 Journal of Environmental Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) on the physiology and molecular metabolism of corn (Zea mays L.) seedlings

Researchers exposed corn seedlings to polystyrene nanoplastics of different sizes and measured effects on plant growth, photosynthesis, and molecular metabolism. They found that the nanoplastics accumulated in roots and disrupted antioxidant enzyme systems and metabolic pathways, though photosynthesis was relatively unaffected. The study suggests that nanoplastic contamination in agricultural soils could subtly impair crop development at the molecular level.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 134 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene-based microplastics amplifies inflammatory response in macrophages

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight exposure for just three hours triggered stronger inflammatory responses and DNA damage in immune cells than fresh microplastics, even at very low concentrations. The aging process changed the particles' surface properties, making them more biologically reactive. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests their actual health impact may be greater than lab studies using pristine particles indicate.

2024 Chemosphere 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Photo-oxidation of Micro- and Nanoplastics: Physical, Chemical, and Biological Effects in Environments

This review examines how sunlight breaks down micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, changing their surface properties and making them interact differently with pollutants and living organisms. Sun-aged plastic particles can become more toxic to aquatic life and affect soil microbe communities, but many questions remain about these processes under real-world conditions.

2024 Environmental Science & Technology 178 citations
Article Tier 2

Plants oxidative response to nanoplastic

This review summarized how plants respond to nanoplastic exposure through oxidative stress mechanisms, covering effects on seed germination, root growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidant enzyme activity. Nanoplastics posed greater risks than larger microplastics due to cellular uptake and interference with plant biochemical processes.

2022 Frontiers in Plant Science 61 citations