Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic toxicity towards freshwater organisms

This systematic review covers nanoplastic toxicity toward freshwater organisms, examining both conventional and bioplastic nanoplastics, and finds that size, shape, and surface chemistry all influence toxicity across a range of invertebrate and vertebrate freshwater species.

2022 Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Building the Bridge From Aquatic Nanotoxicology to Safety by Design Silver Nanoparticles

This review examined the nanotoxicology of silver nanoparticles in aquatic environments, synthesizing findings on their environmental behavior and biological effects to help bridge the gap between hazard assessment and safety-by-design approaches for engineered nanomaterials.

2022 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic Roles of Microplastics in the Phototransformation of Silver Ions in Aquatic Environments

This study found that polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver ions into silver nanoparticles (Ag0, Ag2O, Ag2S) under natural and UV light irradiation, acting as reactive surfaces that alter silver speciation and potentially increase its bioavailability in aquatic systems.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicokinetics and bioaccumulation of silver sulfide nanoparticles in benthic invertebrates in an indoor stream mesocosm

Researchers used an indoor stream mesocosm to compare bioaccumulation of silver sulfide nanoparticles versus dissolved silver nitrate in three freshwater invertebrates, finding that while ionic silver accumulated 1.5–11 times more readily, nanoparticulate silver was still bioavailable, and that single-species lab tests poorly predicted accumulation in the more complex multi-species system.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicological Effects of Nanomaterials on the Aquatic Biota

This review examines the toxicological effects of nanomaterials on aquatic organisms, covering engineered nanomaterials used in industrial applications and their entry into aquatic environments through wastewater and runoff. The review synthesizes evidence on how nanomaterial properties such as size, surface chemistry, and composition determine their bioavailability, uptake, and toxicity across diverse aquatic biota.

2022 Materials research foundations 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Differentially Shaped Silver Nanoparticles with Increasingly Complex Hydrophobic Thiol Surface Coatings in Small-Scale Laboratory Microcosms

Researchers tested how differently shaped silver nanoparticles with various surface coatings affected small ecosystems containing algae, bacteria, crustaceans, and fish embryos. They found that both particle shape and surface chemistry influenced how toxic the nanoparticles were to different organisms. The study suggests that the physical characteristics of engineered nanoparticles play an important role in determining their environmental impact.

2024 Nanomaterials 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of interactions between natural organic matter and aquatic organism degradation products on the transformation and dissolution of cobalt and nickel-based nanoparticles in synthetic freshwater

The dissolution and surface transformation of cobalt and nickel-based nanoparticles in the presence of natural organic matter and biological degradation products were characterized, showing that these interactions significantly alter nanoparticle behavior and toxicity. The findings underscore the importance of environmental matrix composition in nanoparticle risk assessment.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Invisible Invaders: Ecotoxicological Impacts of Nano‐ and Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems

This review synthesises ecotoxicological research on nano- and microplastics (NMPs) in aquatic environments, covering how particle size, surface chemistry, and chemical additives increase bioavailability and cellular uptake. It documents effects across trophic levels from phytoplankton to fish and highlights trophic transfer as an escalating concern.

2025 Advanced Sustainable Systems
Article Tier 2

A holistic approach to assess the toxic behaviour of emerging nanomaterials in aquatic system

Not relevant to microplastics — this book chapter reviews how emerging nanomaterials behave at nano-bio-eco interfaces, discussing toxicity, fate, and exposure potential in aquatic systems without a specific focus on plastic particles.

2023 IWA Publishing eBooks 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Weathered Microplastics Induce Silver Nanoparticle Formation

Researchers found that weathered polystyrene microplastics can photochemically reduce dissolved silver ions to metallic silver nanoparticles in both freshwater and sand matrices under solar irradiation, revealing a previously unknown mechanism by which microplastics alter the chemical speciation of co-occurring metal contaminants.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic Rolesof Microplastics in the Phototransformationof Silver Ions in Aquatic Environments

Researchers investigated the mechanistic role of polystyrene microplastics in the phototransformation of silver ions (Ag+) in aquatic environments, finding that Ag-based nanoparticles ranging from 21.0-177.0 nm formed from Ag+ in the presence of PS microplastics after both natural light and UV irradiation. Using single-particle ICP-MS (sp-ICP-MS), they revealed that microplastics act as a photoreductive substrate that accelerates silver ion conversion to nanoparticles, potentially altering silver toxicity and bioavailability in aquatic systems.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Characterization, occurrence, environmental behaviors, and risks of nanoplastics in the aquatic environment: Current status and future perspectives

This review characterized the occurrence, environmental behavior, and toxicity of nanoplastics in aquatic systems, noting that their small size gives them unique properties — including higher surface reactivity and greater bioavailability — that make them potentially more hazardous than larger microplastics, while also harder to detect.

2021 Fundamental Research 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the interaction of microplastic with silver nanoparticles in natural surface water

Researchers co-exposed three common microplastics — polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene — with silver nanoparticles in natural freshwater and brackish water, finding that their interaction altered the environmental behavior and fate of both contaminants. The results suggest that combined pollution from microplastics and nanomaterials produces effects distinct from either pollutant alone.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Research progress of nanoplastics in freshwater

This review summarized the environmental fate, extraction methods, characterization techniques, and biological effects of nanoplastics in freshwater systems, noting that NPs' small size, high surface area, and cell-penetrating ability make them potentially more harmful than microplastics despite being less studied.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 99 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Potential toxicity of nanoplastics to fish and aquatic invertebrates: Current understanding, mechanistic interpretation, and meta-analysis

Nanoplastics significantly reduced survival, behavior, and reproduction of fish and aquatic invertebrates by 56%, 24%, and 36% respectively, while increasing oxidative stress by 72% and decreasing antioxidant defenses by 24%, with effects influenced by particle size, functional groups, and concentration.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics sunlight-induce oxidative dissolution, chemical transformation and toxicity enhancement of silver nanoparticles

Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics can induce sunlight-driven oxidative dissolution and chemical transformation of silver nanoparticles, enhancing their toxicity and revealing important implications for how co-occurring pollutants interact in the environment.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Metal sorption onto nanoscale plastic debris and trojan horse effects in Daphnia magna: Role of dissolved organic matter

Researchers tested whether nanoscale plastic particles act as a "Trojan horse" by carrying toxic silver ions into water fleas (Daphnia magna), finding that the plastic-silver combination was indeed toxic even when neither substance alone caused harm — but dissolved organic matter (naturally present in rivers and lakes) largely blocked this effect. This suggests the Trojan horse risk from nanoplastics may be lower in natural freshwater environments than lab conditions imply.

2020 Water Research 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro-Nano Plastics in Aquatic Environments: Associated Health Impacts and Mitigation Strategies

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments are biologically transferred up the food chain, covering the factors that influence particle bioavailability, accumulation in organisms, and trophic transfer — with implications for both aquatic ecosystem health and human dietary exposure.

2025
Article Tier 2

Functional silver-based nanomaterials affecting zebrafish development: the adverse outcomes in relation to the nanoparticle physical and chemical structure

Researchers investigated how silver-based nanoparticles with different physical and chemical properties affect zebrafish embryo development. They found that nanoparticles coated with the polymer hydroxyethyl cellulose, combined with small particle size and a positive surface charge, showed increased biological reactivity toward the embryos. The study highlights how the design and surface chemistry of nanomaterials can significantly influence their toxicity to aquatic organisms.

2024 Environmental Science Nano 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of polystyrene microplastics in sunlight-mediated transformation of silver in aquatic environments: Mechanisms, kinetics and toxicity

Researchers investigated how UV-aged polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver in sunlit aquatic environments, finding that reactive oxygen species generated during MP photo-oxidation both reduced and re-oxidized silver, altering its speciation and toxicity to aquatic organisms.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparative study of the sensitivity of two freshwater gastropods, Lymnaea stagnalis and Planorbarius corneus, to silver nanoparticles: bioaccumulation and toxicity

Researchers exposed two freshwater snail species to silver nanoparticles and found both accumulated the metal in their bodies, but one species built up significantly higher levels than the other due to its more active behavior, with damage showing up mainly as oxidative stress in the blood — suggesting species biology strongly shapes nanoparticle toxicity.

2022 Environmental Pollution 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of long-term exposure to silver nanoparticles on the structure and function of microplastic biofilms in eutrophic water

Long-term exposure to silver nanoparticles altered the structure and function of microbial biofilms on microplastics in eutrophic water, with nanoparticles suppressing biofilm biomass, changing community composition, and reducing metabolic activity, raising concerns about combined pollutant effects in urban aquatic systems.

2021 Environmental Research 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Review of Ecotoxicological Effects, Exposure Pathways and Trophic Transfer Risks

This review synthesises evidence on the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics in marine, freshwater, and estuarine environments, covering ingestion, bioaccumulation, trophic transfer, and physiological harms across aquatic fauna. It identifies chemical co-contamination and particle size as key modulators of toxicity.

2025 UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Article Tier 2

Toxic Effects and Mechanisms of Silver and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Zebrafish Embryos in Aquatic Ecosystems

Researchers tested the toxic effects of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles on zebrafish embryos in natural water environments. They found that both nanoparticle types caused acute toxicity, increased oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy, though toxicity was lower in natural water compared to pure water due to environmental interactions. The study suggests that the complex components in natural water may transform nanoparticles in ways that reduce but do not eliminate their harmful effects on aquatic organisms.

2022 Nanomaterials 51 citations