Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Evaluation of the migration behaviour of microplastics as emerging pollutants in freshwater environments

This review summarized how microplastics move through freshwater environments like rivers and lakes, including processes like sinking, floating, being carried by currents, and resuspending from sediments. The study highlights that a microplastic particle's journey depends on its physical properties, water chemistry, and biological interactions, and that understanding these movements is essential for predicting contamination risks.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in freshwater systems: Dynamic behaviour and transport processes

This review examines how microplastics move through freshwater systems like rivers and lakes on their way to the ocean. The behavior of these particles, including whether they sink, float, or clump together, depends on their size, shape, and density, which constantly change as the plastics weather and interact with organisms. Understanding these transport processes is critical because freshwater systems are a major pathway for microplastic pollution that eventually affects drinking water and aquatic food sources.

2024 Resources Conservation and Recycling 165 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro-plastics in Aquatic Environment: Source, Fate, Emerging Threats, and Regulatory Effort

This review covers sources, distribution, and threats of microplastics in aquatic environments, tracing their movement through rivers, estuaries, lakes, and oceans and their accumulation in sediments and the food chain. The paper also reviews emerging policy frameworks aimed at reducing plastic pollution, providing a broad overview of the microplastic problem in water systems.

2023 International Journal of Environment and Climate Change 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic and Microplastic in the Environment

This review summarizes the sources, pathways, analytical methods, and distribution of microplastics in freshwater environments, emphasizing that rivers and lakes are major conduits transferring plastic pollution from terrestrial sources to the oceans.

2022 27 citations
Article Tier 2

The Complex Dynamics of Microplastic Migration through Different Aquatic Environments: Subsidies for a Better Understanding of Its Environmental Dispersion

This review explores how microplastics move through different aquatic environments, from rivers and lakes to estuaries and oceans, focusing on the physical properties that drive their transport. Researchers found that factors like particle density, size, shape, and biofouling all influence where microplastics accumulate and how far they travel. Understanding these migration dynamics is essential for predicting contamination patterns and designing effective cleanup strategies.

2023 Microplastics 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants: Challenges in Inland Aquatic Food Web

This review examines microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems like rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, finding that these particles accumulate through the food chain from plankton to fish. Since humans eat freshwater fish, microplastic contamination in inland waters represents a direct pathway for human exposure that has received less research attention than ocean pollution.

2025 Water 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Critical Review of Sources, Transport Mechanisms and Ecotoxicological Risks

This review provides a broad overview of microplastic pollution in rivers, oceans, and other aquatic environments, covering where these particles come from, how they move through water systems, and the harm they can cause. Evidence indicates that microplastics accumulate toxins and disrupt growth, feeding, and reproduction in aquatic species, with potential consequences for human health through seafood and drinking water. The authors stress the need for better global monitoring, stronger waste management systems, and development of eco-friendly plastic alternatives.

2025 Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology 2 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Microplastic contamination, an emerging threat to the freshwater environment: a systematic review

Researchers systematically reviewed the spread of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems — rivers, lakes, and streams — documenting their sources, how they move through water, the damage they cause to aquatic organisms, and the methods used to detect them. Their review serves as a baseline reference for future research and calls for improved waste management to protect freshwater environments from ongoing microplastic contamination.

2024 ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH 98 citations
Article Tier 2

Riverine microplastics and their interaction with freshwater fish

This paper reviews how microplastics enter river systems, how they move through waterways, and the risks they pose to freshwater fish. Researchers found that fish ingest microplastics that can accumulate in organs and carry toxic chemicals absorbed from the water. The review highlights that river fish, an important food source for many communities, face growing exposure to microplastics from urban runoff, wastewater, and agricultural sources.

2023 Water Biology and Security 39 citations
Article Tier 2

The Environmental Fate of Microplastics

This review examines the environmental fate of microplastics as a class of micropollutants, tracing how they enter soils, lakes, oceans, and rivers and how their persistence makes them particularly difficult to address.

2024 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, Fate and Fluxes of Plastics and Microplastics in Terrestrial and Freshwater Ecosystems

This review examines the occurrence, transport pathways, and fate of plastics and microplastics in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems globally, synthesizing evidence that these systems are both sources and sinks and that microplastics cycle between compartments in complex ways.

2020 Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Behavior of Microplastics in Inland Waters: Aggregation, Settlement, and Transport

This review examined how microplastics aggregate, settle, and are transported horizontally in inland waters, covering the influence of particle properties (size, density, shape) and environmental factors (microorganisms, hydraulic conditions, sediment characteristics) on their fate.

2021 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 154 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review of Processes and Models for the Export of Microplastics From Terrestrial to Aquatic Systems

This review examines models and processes that control how microplastics move from land into rivers, lakes, and oceans. Understanding these transport pathways is essential for predicting where microplastics accumulate and developing strategies to stop them from reaching water sources. The research could help protect human health by informing better land management and waste reduction policies.

2025 Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Pollution: A Brief Review of Its Source and Abundance in Different Aquatic Ecosystems

This review summarizes what is known about microplastic sources and abundance across different aquatic ecosystems including rivers, lakes, and oceans. Researchers found that microplastics are pervasive across all water environments, with concentrations influenced by nearby human activities and pollution sources. The study identifies key pathways through which microplastics enter aquatic habitats and calls for standardized monitoring methods to better track contamination levels.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 143 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources, Occurrence, and Analysis of Microplastics in Freshwater Environments

This review summarizes current knowledge on microplastic sources and occurrence in freshwater environments, noting that freshwater systems are major conduits delivering microplastics to the ocean. The review highlights that freshwater microplastic research lags far behind marine studies despite rivers and lakes being primary pollution pathways.

2022 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Microplastics as Contaminants in Freshwater Ecosystems and Human Food Chain

This review examines the impacts of microplastics on freshwater ecosystems and human food chains, tracing how plastic particles enter rivers and lakes, accumulate in fish and invertebrates, and transfer to humans through consumption of contaminated freshwater species.

2025
Article Tier 2

Environmental fate and impacts of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems: a review

This review summarizes the sources, movement, and environmental fate of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems. Researchers found that most microplastics in water eventually settle into sediment, and that organisms across the food web ingest these particles, raising concerns about potential health effects that require further study.

2021 RSC Advances 228 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources, Fate, and Impact of Microplastics in Aquatic Environment

This review summarizes the sources, transport pathways, fate, and ecological impacts of microplastics in aquatic environments, noting that coastal areas have the highest concentrations but that microplastics sink and accumulate in deep sediments after fragmentation. The pervasive contamination of aquatic ecosystems poses threats to marine biota and food webs that ultimately affect human health.

2020 IntechOpen eBooks 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in aquatic environments: a growing, unresolved concern

This review examines the origins, behavior, fate, and ecological effects of microplastics in aquatic environments. It synthesizes current research showing that microplastics are ubiquitous in rivers, lakes, and oceans, where they harm organisms and accumulate in food webs, raising ongoing concerns about ecosystem health and food safety.

2023 Chemistry of the Total Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring bioaccumulation patterns and ecological risks of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems

This review comprehensively examined microplastic bioaccumulation and ecological risk in aquatic ecosystems, covering sources, environmental pathways, and the risks microplastics pose to organisms across trophic levels in rivers, lakes, and marine environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Making waves: Unraveling microplastic deposition in rivers through the lens of sedimentary processes

Researchers examined how sedimentary processes in rivers control where microplastics are deposited and how long they remain buried. They reviewed existing work on water-sediment exchange of microplastic particles and identified key gaps in understanding deposition dynamics. The study highlights that rivers serve as major pathways for transporting microplastics from land to oceans, and that sediment processes play a critical role in determining their fate.

2024 Water Research 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, determination and environmental fate of microplastics in aquatic system

This review examines the occurrence, detection methods, and environmental fate of microplastics across aquatic systems worldwide. Researchers synthesize evidence showing microplastics are ubiquitous in rivers, lakes, and oceans, and highlight the need for standardized monitoring and better understanding of long-term ecological impacts.

2020 HKBU Institutional Repository (Hong Kong Baptist University)
Article Tier 2

Natural Factors of Microplastics Distribution and Migration in Water: A Review

This review examines how natural factors like rainfall, wind, sunlight, aquatic organisms, and water geography affect where microplastics end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans. Understanding these movement patterns is important for predicting which water sources are most contaminated and where human exposure through drinking water or seafood is likely highest.

2024 Water 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Migration and Transformation of Microplastics

This review traces the full journey of microplastics through the environment, from their origins to how they move through water, soil, and air. Researchers examined how properties like particle size, shape, density, and surface chemistry influence where microplastics end up and how far they travel. The study highlights that during transport, microplastics can release toxic additives and carry other pollutants, posing risks to both ecosystems and human health.

2025 4 citations