Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution and amphibian health: Complex physiological effects of different microplastic types on juvenile Glandirana rugosa

Researchers studied how polypropylene and polyethylene microplastics affect juvenile frogs and found significantly higher mortality rates in microplastic-exposed groups. The frogs showed elevated stress hormones, signs of oxidative damage, and elongated intestines, suggesting their bodies were trying to adapt to the particles. The study highlights that microplastics pose both physical and chemical risks to amphibians, which may contribute to population declines.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Differential effects of microplastic exposure on anuran tadpoles: A still underrated threat to amphibian conservation?

Researchers found that microplastic exposure affects amphibian tadpoles differently depending on the species, with Italian agile frog tadpoles showing reduced survival at high concentrations while green toad tadpoles were more resilient.

2022 Environmental Pollution 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Uptake, accumulation and elimination of polystyrene microspheres in tadpoles of Xenopus tropicalis

Researchers exposed frog tadpoles to polystyrene microspheres and tracked uptake and elimination, finding that tadpoles readily ingested particles that accumulated in the gut and were gradually eliminated, with implications for amphibian exposure in plastic-contaminated ponds.

2016 Chemosphere 141 citations
Article Tier 2

Life on both environment in semi-aquatic frogs: Impact of aquatic microplastic (MP) from MP enrichment to growth, immune function and physiological stress

Researchers exposed juvenile black-spotted pond frogs to different concentrations of microplastics in water to study effects after metamorphosis. They found that microplastics accumulated primarily in the digestive tract and caused reduced growth, increased stress markers, and weakened immune function at higher concentrations. The study suggests that microplastic pollution in freshwater habitats could pose significant health risks to amphibians during vulnerable life stages.

2024 Chemosphere 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Life in plastic, it's not fantastic: Sublethal effects of polyethylene microplastics ingestion throughout amphibian metamorphosis

African clawed frogs exposed to polyethylene microplastics throughout metamorphosis showed sublethal effects including reduced body condition and altered development timing, raising concerns that microplastic pollution may threaten amphibian populations already facing global decline.

2023 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastics altered cellular responses, physiology, behaviour, and regeneration of planarians feeding on contaminated prey

Researchers found that planarians feeding on microplastic-contaminated prey showed altered behavior, impaired physiology, and reduced regeneration capacity, demonstrating that microplastics can transfer through freshwater food chains and harm predatory invertebrates.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion of polyethylene terephthalate microplastic water contaminants by Xenopus laevis tadpoles negatively affects their resistance to ranavirus infection and antiviral immunity

Tadpoles exposed to PET microplastics, the type of plastic found in water bottles, accumulated the particles in their intestines, liver, and kidneys within days. Even at low concentrations, the microplastics weakened the tadpoles' immune defenses, making them significantly more vulnerable to viral infection. While this is an animal study, it raises concerns that microplastic exposure could similarly compromise immune function in other organisms, including humans.

2024 Environmental Pollution 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Similarity of Microplastic Characteristics between Amphibian Larvae and Their Aquatic Environment

Researchers compared microplastic characteristics in amphibian larvae with those in their surrounding aquatic environment, finding similarities in size distribution and polymer types that confirm direct ingestion from water, providing a new bioindicator approach for freshwater microplastic monitoring.

2024 Animals 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Oral exposure to polyethylene microplastics exacerbates the effects of a Western-style diet on the digestive tract of adult male mice

Researchers investigated how oral exposure to polyethylene microplastics interacts with a Western-style diet to affect the digestive tract of mice over 90 days. The study found that microplastics exacerbated diet-related intestinal disruption, suggesting that dietary context plays an important role in determining the health impact of microplastic ingestion.

2026 Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Article Tier 2

Unveiling the gut’s plastic predicament: How micro- and nano-plastics drive distinct toxicological pathways in Enchytraeus crypticus

Researchers exposed the soil invertebrate Enchytraeus crypticus to environmentally relevant concentrations of polystyrene microplastics (50 µm) and nanoplastics (100 nm), finding that nanoplastics caused greater gut microenvironment disruption and more severe biotoxicity than microplastics, acting through distinct mechanistic pathways.

2025 Environment International
Article Tier 2

Microplastic exposure across trophic levels: effects on the host–microbiota of freshwater organisms

Researchers examined how microplastic exposure across trophic levels affects the gut microbiota of freshwater organisms, finding that microplastics alter microbial community composition and that effects can transfer through food web interactions.

2022 Environmental Microbiome 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Immunological impacts of exposure to microplastic water contaminants during early development in Xenopus 2357

Researchers used Xenopus frogs—whose immune system parallels key human features—to study how early developmental microplastic exposure affects immune system development, finding disruption of both innate and adaptive immune components with potential relevance to human susceptibility to infection.

2025 The Journal of Immunology
Article Tier 2

Life in plastic, it's not fantastic: Sublethal effects of polyethylene microplastics ingestion throughout amphibian metamorphosis

Researchers investigated the effects of polyethylene microplastic ingestion across amphibian metamorphosis in African clawed frogs, finding sublethal impacts on growth, development, and metabolic rate that were influenced by life stage and rearing temperature.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion of microplastics by silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) larvae: Quantification of ingestion and assessment of microbiota dysbiosis

Researchers quantitatively investigated how silver carp larvae ingest, accumulate, and excrete microplastics of different sizes for the first time. The study found that smaller microplastics were ingested more readily and excreted quickly, while larger particles tended to accumulate in the intestine, and the presence of food increased uptake of large microplastics. The ingested microplastics also altered intestinal microflora diversity, potentially affecting immune and metabolic functions in the fish.

2023 Aquatic Toxicology 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to microplastics impairs digestive performance, stimulates immune response and induces microbiota dysbiosis in the gut of juvenile guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

Researchers exposed juvenile guppies to polystyrene microplastics at two concentrations for 28 days and examined impacts on their digestive systems. The study found that microplastic exposure impaired digestive enzyme activity, stimulated intestinal immune responses, and disrupted the gut microbiota community, suggesting that microplastics can compromise intestinal health in freshwater fish.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 253 citations
Article Tier 2

Species-specific effects of long-term microplastic exposure on the population growth of nematodes, with a focus on microplastic ingestion

Scientists conducted long-term microplastic exposure experiments on freshwater nematode species and found species-specific effects on population growth, with ingestion rates and harm varying substantially across species despite identical exposure conditions.

2020 Ecological Indicators 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Variation in microplastic characteristics among amphibian larvae: a comparative study across different species and the influence of human activity

Scientists examined microplastics inside amphibian larvae from 10 species and found plastic particles in all of them, with blue fibers being the most common type. Larger larvae tended to contain longer plastic fragments, and there was a relationship between human activity levels near habitats and the characteristics of the plastics found. This study shows that microplastic contamination has penetrated freshwater food webs, affecting animals during their most vulnerable developmental stages.

2024 Scientific Reports 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics impair amphibian survival, body condition and function

Tadpoles of the common midwife toad were exposed to polystyrene microspheres at varying concentrations in microcosms, with microplastics reducing feeding, impairing body condition, and showing dose-dependent ingestion of particles. The study provides rare evidence that microplastics harm amphibians, a group already facing global population declines.

2019 Chemosphere 121 citations
Article Tier 2

Euryhaline fish larvae ingest more microplastic particles in seawater than in freshwater

Researchers found that euryhaline fish larvae ingested significantly more microplastic particles in seawater than in freshwater, likely due to physiological differences in drinking rates, with implications for understanding marine fish contamination.

2023 Scientific Reports 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Size matters either way: Differently-sized microplastics affect amphibian host and symbiotic microbiota discriminately

Researchers exposed toad tadpoles to two sizes of polystyrene microplastics and found both caused growth delays, but through different mechanisms. Larger particles disrupted gut bacteria, while smaller ones triggered stronger gene expression changes in tissues related to brain function and energy metabolism. The study suggests microplastic size matters for how toxicity manifests in amphibians.

2023 Environmental Pollution 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Can short exposure to polyethylene microplastics change tadpoles’ behavior? A study conducted with neotropical tadpole species belonging to order anura (Physalaemus cuvieri)

Researchers exposed Physalaemus cuvieri tadpoles to polyethylene microplastics for 7 days and found altered locomotion behavior — reduced activity and increased erratic swimming — suggesting that short-term microplastic exposure can impair motor behavior in amphibians.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 83 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on growth and development of Rana latastei tadpoles: A mesocosm study

Mesocosm experiments exposing Rana latastei tadpoles to a mixture of PVC and HDPE microplastics found developmental delays and reduced survival, providing more ecologically realistic estimates of MP toxicity than laboratory-only studies.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics did not affect body growth and swimming activity in Xenopus laevis tadpoles

Xenopus laevis tadpoles exposed to polystyrene microplastics at ecologically relevant concentrations showed no significant effects on body growth or swimming activity. The results suggest that short-term microplastic exposure may not impair basic performance in amphibian larvae, though longer-term or higher-dose effects remain to be investigated.

2018 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Microplastics on the Growth and the Intestinal Microbiota Composition of Brine Shrimp

Researchers exposed brine shrimp to polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics and found that both types significantly reduced growth rates, with body length decreasing by 15-18%. The study also revealed that microplastic ingestion altered the gut microbiota composition, increasing microbial diversity and shifting the balance of key bacterial groups in the shrimp intestines.

2021 Frontiers in Microbiology 52 citations