Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Evidence on the effectiveness of mosses for biomonitoring of microplastics in fresh water environment

Sphagnum moss was tested as a biomonitor for microplastic pollution in freshwater, and the moss successfully intercepted and retained plastic particles including fibers and fragments from stream water. The study establishes mosses as practical, low-cost biomonitoring tools for tracking microplastic contamination in freshwater environments.

2018 Chemosphere 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the devitalized aquatic moss Fontinalis antipyretica: From laboratory to field conditions

Devitalized aquatic moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) was tested as a passive sampler for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in river water, both in the lab and at 22 field sites in Spain. The moss effectively accumulated PAHs from the water, offering a low-cost biological tool for monitoring these pollutants—which also adsorb onto microplastics—in freshwater environments.

2021 Journal of Environmental Quality 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Determination of atmospherically deposited microplastics in moss samples

Researchers developed and evaluated methods for detecting atmospherically deposited microplastics in moss samples, adapting established moss biomonitoring frameworks used for heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants to enable both particle-based and mass-based microplastic analysis.

2024
Article Tier 2

Moss as a biomonitor for the atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic microfibres

Researchers used moss (Bryophyta) as a passive biomonitor to track atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic microfibres, finding that moss samples from various locations accumulated synthetic fibres reflecting local sources of airborne plastic contamination. The study establishes moss monitoring as a practical method for assessing microplastic atmospheric deposition without active collection equipment.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential Role of Mosses in Evaluating Airborne Microplastic Deposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems

This review examines the potential of mosses to serve as cost-effective biomonitors for tracking airborne microplastic deposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Preliminary studies indicate that mosses accumulate higher concentrations of microplastics than lichens, likely due to their physical structure. The study outlines steps needed to develop a standardized, reliable methodology for using mosses to monitor airborne microplastic pollution across both inhabited and remote regions.

2026 Journal of Xenobiotics
Article Tier 2

The Use of Mosses in Biomonitoring of Air Pollution in the Terrestrial Environment: A Review

This paper is not about microplastics; it reviews the use of mosses as biomonitors for air pollution by metals and organic compounds.

2023 Ochrona Srodowiska i Zasobów Naturalnych - Environmental Protection and Natural Resources 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Monitoring moss reveals widespread deposition of airborne microplastics across the UK – practical lessons and recommendations

Researchers evaluated the use of moss as a biomonitor for atmospheric microplastic deposition across the UK, drawing on established protocols for monitoring metals and nutrients in mosses. The study demonstrated that moss biomonitoring is practical for large-scale spatial surveys and provided recommendations for standardized collection, processing, and quantification methods.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Persistent organic pollutants in moss samples from Germany

Researchers analyzed moss samples from Germany for both microplastics and persistent organic pollutants to assess atmospheric deposition. Mosses act as passive collectors of airborne contaminants, and the study documents widespread co-exposure to plastic particles and legacy chemicals in terrestrial ecosystems.

2023
Article Tier 2

Sensing the interaction of living organisms with microplastics by microscopy methods

Researchers investigated how living photosynthetic organisms interact with microplastics using fluorescence microscopy methods, testing fluorescently labelled custom microplastics alongside naturally occurring polyethylene particles from Rhine river suspended matter against moss samples. They found that endogenous chlorophyll fluorescence was sensitive to microplastic presence and could serve as a biosensing signal to assess microplastic interactions with aquatic photosynthetic life.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Biomonitoring of Airborne Microplastic Deposition in Semi-Natural and Rural Sites Using the Moss Hypnum cupressiforme

Researchers demonstrated that the native moss Hypnum cupressiforme can serve as a biomonitor of atmospheric microplastic deposition, detecting synthetic fibers and fragments at semi-natural and rural sites in southern Italy and revealing that airborne microplastic contamination extends well beyond urban areas.

2023 Plants 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Their Impact on Moss Ecosystem Functions: A Comprehensive Review

This review examines the comprehensive impacts of microplastic pollution on moss ecosystem functions, synthesising evidence on how pervasive plastic particles affect terrestrial and aquatic moss communities and the ecological services they provide.

2024
Article Tier 2

First evidence of microplastics in a freshwater river and their relationship to water quality

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in a freshwater river used for recreational purposes and found a significant relationship between microplastic abundance and water physicochemical quality parameters, along with the presence of three organic compounds, providing evidence that microplastic pollution and water quality are closely linked.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

Determination of atmospherically deposited microplastics in moss: Method development and performance evaluation

German researchers developed a new method called µPEEL to extract microplastics from moss samples for atmospheric deposition monitoring, enabling both particle-count (Raman) and mass-based (thermal desorption GC-MS) analysis while avoiding harsh chemicals. The method outperformed conventional Fenton reagent digestion on environmental greenness and data quality metrics. Mosses are already used to monitor atmospheric heavy metals and nitrogen, and this work expands their utility to tracking airborne microplastic fallout.

2023 Green Analytical Chemistry 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparison of Lichens and Mosses as Biomonitors of Airborne Microplastics

Researchers compared lichens and mosses as biomonitors for airborne microplastics, finding that both organisms effectively capture and accumulate atmospheric microplastic particles, offering a simpler alternative to traditional labor-intensive sampling methods.

2023 Atmosphere 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in river water: occurrence, weathering, and adsorption behaviour

Researchers examined microplastics in river water, characterizing their occurrence, degree of weathering, and capacity to adsorb co-contaminants. The study highlights microplastics as vectors that can transport and re-release other pollutants in freshwater systems.

2025 Environmental Science Water Research & Technology
Article Tier 2

Moss, Lichens and Phytobenthos Bioindicators of Pollution

This review discusses the use of mosses, lichens, and aquatic algae as biomonitors of heavy metal pollution in air and water, covering both monitoring techniques and recent case studies. It is focused on heavy metal monitoring rather than microplastics specifically, but biomonitoring methods discussed are relevant to broader environmental pollution assessment.

2020 Open Access Journal of Waste Management & Xenobiotics 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Moss Bags as Biomonitors of Atmospheric Microplastic Deposition in Urban Environments

Researchers tested moss bags as a biomonitoring tool for measuring atmospheric microplastic deposition across an urban gradient in southern Ontario, Canada. They found that moss bags effectively captured microplastics, with higher deposition in more urbanized areas. The study demonstrates that moss-based monitoring is a practical, low-cost method for tracking airborne microplastic pollution in cities.

2023 Biology 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of the air quality in an industrial zone using active moss biomonitoring

This paper is not relevant to microplastics — it uses moss-bag biomonitoring to assess heavy metal air pollution near a metallurgical industrial facility in Tula, Russia.

2023 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Association between microplastics and biofilm: a new perspective for monitoring microplastics in urban rivers

Researchers reviewed the use of biofilms as a monitoring matrix for microplastics in urban rivers, drawing on literature about microplastic occurrence in Brazilian rivers and biofilm-associated adsorption of emerging contaminants in freshwater. The study argues that biofilm analysis offers a complementary perspective to water and sediment monitoring because biofilms accumulate pollutants over days, providing an integrated signal of microplastic exposure in the water column.

2025 Revista Brasileira de Ciências Ambientais
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in aquatic environments with special emphasis on riverine systems: Current understanding and way forward

This review examines microplastic pollution in freshwater riverine systems, which serve as a critical link between terrestrial and marine environments. Researchers found that rivers are significantly contaminated with microplastics of varying sizes and morphologies, and that these particles can exhibit variable toxicity to aquatic organisms, highlighting the need for more research on freshwater microplastic impacts.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 83 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic patterns in riverine waters and leaf litter: Leaf bag technique to investigate the microplastic accumulation trends in lotic ecosystems

A study of a river in northeastern Italy found microplastic concentrations in the water were highest during low-flow periods, and that leaf bag traps placed in the river accurately tracked these patterns — showing wastewater discharge points were key hotspots of contamination. The findings suggest that maintaining higher river flows helps dilute and transport microplastics downstream, and that the leaf bag method is a practical new tool for monitoring plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems.

2023 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The retention of plastic particles by macrophytes in the Amazon River, Brazil

Researchers investigated whether aquatic macrophytes in the Amazon River system retain floating plastic particles, measuring the accumulation of plastic debris in plant biomass along riverbanks. The study suggests that riparian macrophytes may act as a natural but limited sink for plastic litter.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics meet micropollutants in a central european river stream: Adsorption of pollutants to microplastics under environmentally relevant conditions

Researchers investigated how microplastics adsorb organic micropollutants in a Central European river under real-world conditions. They found that aged microplastics showed higher adsorption capacity for contaminants compared to pristine ones, and that the type of plastic material influenced which pollutants were absorbed. The findings suggest that microplastics in rivers can act as carriers for harmful chemicals, potentially spreading contamination through aquatic ecosystems.

2024 Environmental Pollution 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics retention by reeds in freshwater environment

Researchers sampled microplastics in sediment and plant tissue from reed beds in a freshwater environment, finding that reeds retained significantly more microplastics than adjacent open water sediments, suggesting that emergent vegetation may act as a natural microplastic sink.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 122 citations