Papers

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Article Tier 2

Polystyrene\nNanoplastics Inhibit the Transformation\nof Tetrabromobisphenol A by the Bacterium Rhodococcus jostii

This study found that polystyrene nanoplastics interfere with a bacterium's ability to break down tetrabromobisphenol A, a common flame retardant and environmental contaminant. Nanoplastics adsorbed the chemical onto their surface, reducing its bioavailability, while also causing oxidative stress in the bacteria and disrupting the enzymes needed for biodegradation.

2021 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene\nNanoplastics Inhibit the Transformation\nof Tetrabromobisphenol A by the Bacterium Rhodococcus jostii

This study found that polystyrene nanoplastics interfere with a bacterium's ability to break down tetrabromobisphenol A, a common flame retardant and environmental contaminant. Nanoplastics adsorbed the chemical onto their surface, reducing its bioavailability, while also causing oxidative stress in the bacteria and disrupting the enzymes needed for biodegradation.

2021 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene Nanoplastics Inhibit the Transformation of Tetrabromobisphenol A by the Bacterium Rhodococcus jostii

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics can inhibit the bacterial transformation of the flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A in a concentration-dependent manner, both by adsorbing the pollutant and by inducing oxidative stress in the bacterium Rhodococcus jostii.

2021 ACS Nano 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the influence of polystyrene microplastics on the bio-degradation behavior of tetrabromobisphenol A in soil

Researchers investigated how aged polystyrene microplastics affect the breakdown of the flame retardant TBBPA in soil. The study found that aged microplastics slowed TBBPA degradation by about 22%, reduced beneficial soil enzyme activity, and shifted microbial communities, suggesting that weathered microplastics may worsen soil contamination problems.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoparticles induce biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoparticles caused the common bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa to form thicker biofilms and become more resistant to antibiotics. The nanoplastics damaged bacterial cell membranes and triggered a stress response, prompting the bacteria to produce more protective biofilm as a defense mechanism. This is concerning for human health because it suggests nanoplastic pollution could make disease-causing bacteria harder to treat with existing antibiotics.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics foster Escherichia coli O157:H7 growth and antibiotic resistance with a stimulating effect on metabolism

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics promoted the growth and antibiotic resistance of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 by stimulating bacterial metabolism, raising concerns about increased contamination risks in aquatic environments.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behaviors and bioavailability of tetrabromobisphenol A in the presence of polystyrene microplastic in soil: Effect of microplastics aging

Researchers studied how aging changes the ability of polystyrene microplastics to absorb and release a flame retardant chemical called TBBPA in soil. They found that aged microplastics had a greater capacity to adsorb the chemical but also released it more readily, increasing the bioavailability of this toxic compound to soil organisms. The study reveals that as microplastics weather in the environment, they may actually become more effective carriers of harmful chemicals into the food chain.

2023 Environmental Pollution 73 citations
Article Tier 2

Association of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) with micro/nano-plastics: A review of recent findings on ecotoxicological and health impacts

This review examines how tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), a widely used flame retardant found in plastic products, binds to micro and nanoplastics in the environment. When TBBPA hitches a ride on microplastics, the combined effect on organisms and ecosystems is often worse than either contaminant alone. Since TBBPA is an additive in many plastic products, the findings highlight how microplastics can carry harmful chemicals directly into the body.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of unmodified and amine-functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics on nitrogen removal by Pseudomonas stutzeri: strain characteristics, extracellular polymers, and transcriptomics

Researchers investigated how two types of polystyrene nanoplastics — plain and amine-modified — affect the ability of bacteria to remove nitrogen from water, a process important for wastewater treatment. The amine-coated nanoplastics were found to be more disruptive than unmodified ones, altering the bacteria's cell surface, extracellular proteins, and gene expression. This matters because nanoplastics entering wastewater systems could undermine the biological processes that keep treated water safe to release into the environment.

2025 Environmental Science Nano 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene and polytetrafluoroethylene nanoplastics affect probiotic bacterial characteristics and penetrate their cellular membrane

This study found that polystyrene and PTFE nanoplastics damage the membranes and viability of probiotic bacteria in ways that differ by particle surface chemistry and bacterial strain. Since gut microbiome stability depends on these beneficial bacteria, this research suggests that nanoplastic ingestion could undermine the health benefits of probiotics and more broadly disrupt the gut microbial community.

2026 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Pseudomonas Stutzeri may alter the environmental fate of polystyrene nanoplastics by trapping them with increasing extracellular polymers

Researchers found that the denitrifying bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri physically traps polystyrene nanoplastics within secreted extracellular polymers, which impairs bacterial growth and nitrogen removal gene expression while altering the particles' environmental fate and dispersal.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics impacts on Thiobacillus denitrificans: Effects of size and dissolved organic matter

Researchers found that 100 nm polystyrene nanoplastics inhibited growth and denitrification ability of Thiobacillus denitrificans more than 350 nm particles, and that dissolved organic matter modulated nanoplastic bioavailability and toxicity in sewage systems.

2023 Environmental Pollution 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Size-dependent influences of nanoplastics on microbial consortium differentially inhibiting 2, 4-dichlorophenol biodegradation

Researchers investigated how different sizes of polystyrene nanoplastics affect microbial communities responsible for breaking down the pollutant 2,4-dichlorophenol in wastewater. They found that smaller nanoplastics caused greater disruption to the microbial consortium, significantly reducing its ability to biodegrade the chemical contaminant. The study suggests that nanoplastic pollution in wastewater systems could interfere with the natural biological processes used to clean up other pollutants.

2023 Water Research 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of polystyrene nanoplastics on the biodegradation of a polyhydroxyalkanoate and its associated biofilm

Lab experiments in natural seawater found that polystyrene nanoplastics do not significantly slow the biodegradation of a compostable bioplastic (PHA), but they do become physically trapped inside the microbial biofilm that forms on the plastic surface, suggesting marine biofilms act as temporary holding zones for nanoplastics. At lower nanoplastic concentrations, microbial diversity within biofilms was higher, indicating even modest nanoplastic levels can subtly reshape the communities of microbes responsible for breaking down plastic in the ocean.

2026 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

Sorption of tetrabromobisphenol A onto microplastics: Behavior, mechanisms, and the effects of sorbent and environmental factors

The sorption of the flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA) onto four types of microplastics — polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride — was studied in aqueous environments. Results revealed that polymer type, surface area, and hydrophobic interactions were key factors controlling how much TBBPA accumulates on microplastic surfaces.

2021 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of the bacterial community that degrades phenanthrene sorbed to polystyrene nanoplastics using DNA-based stable isotope probing

Researchers used DNA-based stable isotope probing to identify marine bacteria that can break down chemical pollutants sorbed onto polystyrene nanoplastics. They found that specific bacterial taxa in coastal seawater could degrade phenanthrene, a common petrochemical, when it was attached to plastic particle surfaces. The study reveals that the microbial communities colonizing ocean plastics may play an active role in processing harmful chemicals that accumulate on these particles.

2024 Scientific Reports 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Detrimental effects of individual versus combined exposure to tetrabromobisphenol A and polystyrene nanoplastics in fish cell lines

Researchers tested how combined exposure to the flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A and polystyrene nanoparticles affects freshwater fish cells. They found that co-exposure to even low concentrations of both pollutants caused subtle changes in cell viability and generated oxidative DNA damage. The study suggests that the interaction between nanoplastics and chemical pollutants in aquatic environments may pose compounding risks to fish health.

2023 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Binding of Tetrabromobisphenol A and S to Human Serum Albumin Is Weakened by Coexisting Nanoplastics and Environmental Kosmotropes

Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with human serum albumin and brominated flame retardants (TBBPA and TBBPS) under various conditions. The study found that while the protein helped disperse nanoplastics alone, adding flame retardants promoted aggregate formation, with environmental salt conditions further influencing these interactions. These findings suggest that the behavior of nanoplastics and co-occurring pollutants in both biological and natural water systems may be more complex than previously understood.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Polystyrene Nanoplastics on Fisheries Biology and Prospective Remediation Approaches in Aquatic Ecosystems

This review examines how polystyrene nanoplastics affect fish biology, including physiology, behavior, and reproductive health. The study highlights that nanoplastics cause oxidative stress, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and bioaccumulation in fish species, and that these effects can be amplified when nanoplastics interact with other environmental stressors such as pesticides and heavy metals.

2025 Indus journal of bioscience research. 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Distinct responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 exposed to different levels of polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers examined the molecular mechanisms by which polystyrene nanoplastics affect Pseudomonas aeruginosa, finding dose-dependent responses in growth, metabolism, and virulence gene expression that reveal how nanoplastics interact with environmentally relevant bacteria.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 36 citations
Article Tier 2

The combined toxicity of polystyrene nano/micro-plastics and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) on HepG2 cells

This study found that polystyrene nanoplastics and microplastics made a common flame retardant chemical (TPHP) more toxic to human liver cells than the chemical alone. The nanoplastics absorbed the flame retardant and delivered it to cells, causing increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and cell death. Smaller nanoplastics caused more harm than larger microplastics, suggesting that as plastics break down into smaller pieces, their ability to carry toxic chemicals into human cells increases.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the interaction mechanism of ofloxacin and functionalized nano-polystyrene.

This study investigated how the antibiotic ofloxacin interacts with functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics, finding that surface charge and functional groups on the nanoplastics strongly influenced binding strength and mechanisms. The results improve understanding of how nanoplastics can act as carriers for antibiotics in the environment, potentially altering their fate and biological effects.

2023 Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy
Article Tier 2

Dose-Dependent Responses of Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter sp. to Micron-Sized Polystyrene Microplastics

Researchers exposed E. coli and Acinetobacter sp. to 1,040 nm polystyrene microplastics across a range of concentrations and assessed growth, oxidative stress, membrane integrity, and biofilm formation. Both species showed concentration-dependent decreases in growth and cell viability, increased oxidative stress markers, impaired membrane integrity, and enhanced biofilm formation, demonstrating microplastic toxicity to environmental and human-associated bacteria.

2025 Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Does triclosan adsorption on polystyrene nanoplastics modify the toxicity of single contaminants?

Researchers investigated whether triclosan adsorption onto polystyrene nanoplastics modifies the toxicity of each contaminant individually, using a multi-tiered approach to assess how nanoplastic carrier effects alter the combined hazard of this common antimicrobial agent in aquatic environments.

2020 Environmental Science Nano 27 citations