Papers

20 results
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Meta Analysis Tier 1

Effects of microplastics on the toxicity of co-existing pollutants to fish: A meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of 1,380 biological endpoints from 55 studies found that microplastics in co-existing pollutant solutions significantly increased toxicity to fish beyond what the pollutants caused alone, particularly elevating immune system damage, metabolic disruption, and oxidative stress. The effect depended on fish life stage and microplastic size, but not on pollutant or polymer type.

2023 Water Research 81 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Unlocking the combined impact of microplastics and emerging contaminants on fish: A review and meta-analysis

This meta-analysis found that combined exposure to microplastics and emerging contaminants adversely affects fish reproduction, development, and neurotoxicity beyond what either pollutant causes alone. Microplastics with higher adsorption capacities led to more severe outcomes by concentrating and delivering co-contaminants, though exposure duration did not correlate with oxidative stress levels.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of microplastics and emerging contaminants: Mechanisms of interactions, bioaccumulation and combined toxicity to aquatic organisms

This review summarizes how microplastics interact with other emerging contaminants in water, finding that microplastics can absorb pollutants at concentrations up to a million times higher than surrounding water and carry them into living organisms. The combined toxicity of microplastics plus these hitchhiking chemicals is often greater than either alone, and these pollutants can reach humans through the food chain.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicology of microplastics in water ecosystems and aquatic organisms: A review of synergistic and antagonistic effects of microplastics on other xenobiotics

This review examines the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, focusing on how they interact with other pollutants like heavy metals, organic contaminants, and pathogens. The study highlights that microplastics can adsorb and transport these pollutants through synergistic or antagonistic interactions, leading to oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and reproductive impairment in exposed organisms, with potential for biomagnification up the food chain.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 1 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Meta-analysis unravels the complex combined toxicity of microplastics and antibiotics in aquatic ecosystems

A meta-analysis of 730 datasets found that microplastics amplify antibiotic accumulation in aquatic organisms and worsen effects on growth, development, and immune function, but paradoxically appear to mitigate reproductive toxicity from antibiotics. The impact depends on biological response pathway, microplastic concentration, antibiotic properties, and exposure time, with an inverse relationship between antibiotic toxicity and both microplastic concentration and exposure duration.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicological interactions of microplastics/nanoplastics and environmental contaminants: Current knowledge and future perspectives

This review examines how the combined presence of micro- and nanoplastics with other environmental contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals affects toxicity. Researchers found that plastic particles can alter the bioavailability and toxic effects of co-occurring pollutants, sometimes increasing harm to organisms, which complicates environmental risk assessment.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 501 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on the combined toxicological effects of microplastics and their attached pollutants

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for other environmental pollutants — including heavy metals and persistent organic chemicals — and how these combinations produce toxic effects in organisms that are more severe than either contaminant alone. The findings highlight a complex, layered toxicity problem that affects microbes, invertebrates, and vertebrates across marine and terrestrial environments.

2025 Emerging contaminants 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and associated emerging contaminants in the environment: Analysis, sorption mechanisms and effects of co-exposure

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for other environmental pollutants — including antibiotics, PFAS, and triclosan — absorbing them from surrounding water and potentially delivering higher doses to organisms that ingest the plastic, with combined toxicity effects that can be either amplified or reduced depending on the combination.

2022 Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry 151 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive effects of micro/nanoplastics and nanomaterials/pharmaceuticals: Their ecotoxicological consequences in the aquatic systems

Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics interact with co-occurring nanomaterials and pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments, finding that plastics act as vectors that can either amplify or attenuate the bioavailability and toxicity of these contaminants depending on species, trophic level, and environmental conditions.

2021 Aquatic Toxicology 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic human health risks of microplastics and co-contaminants: A quantitative risk assessment in water

This study calculated the combined health risks of ingesting microplastics along with the toxic chemicals they carry, including heavy metals and plastic additives, and found that the combined hazard is far greater than from microplastics alone. Children face especially high risk, and the interaction between microplastics and co-contaminants creates synergistic effects that standard risk assessments may significantly underestimate.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-occurrence of microplastics and organic/inorganic contaminants in organisms living in aquatic ecosystems: A review

This review examines studies that measured both microplastics and chemical pollutants (organic and inorganic) in aquatic organisms at the same time. A positive correlation was found between microplastic levels and certain pollutants in organisms, suggesting microplastics may help transport contaminants into living things. The findings raise concerns that seafood contaminated with microplastics could also carry higher levels of toxic chemicals into the human diet.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors for environmental contaminants in the food chain: Assessing the combined toxicological effects and bioavailability

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics act as carriers for environmental pollutants including heavy metals, organic chemicals, and microbial agents as they move through food chains. Researchers detail how polymer type, particle size, and environmental conditions influence the binding and release of these contaminants. The study highlights that the combined toxicity of microplastics together with the pollutants they carry may be greater than either would cause alone.

2025 Toxicology Letters 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of Environmental Pollutants with Microplastics: A Critical Review of Sorption Factors, Bioaccumulation and Ecotoxicological Effects

This critical review examines how microplastics interact with and enhance the toxicity of co-occurring environmental pollutants including heavy metals, persistent organic compounds, and pharmaceuticals, synthesizing evidence on sorption mechanisms and combined ecotoxicological effects.

2020 Toxics 313 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aggravate the adverse effects of methylmercury than inorganic mercury on zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Researchers exposed zebrafish embryos to polystyrene microplastics combined with two forms of mercury and found that the microplastics significantly increased the accumulation of methylmercury in the fish. The combination of microplastics and methylmercury caused worse developmental abnormalities, delayed hatching, and greater oxidative stress than either pollutant alone. The study suggests that microplastics can act as carriers for toxic metals, amplifying their harmful effects on aquatic organisms.

2024 Environmental Pollution 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrative Evaluation of the Ecological Hazards by Microplastics and Heavy Metals in Wetland Ecosystem

Researchers conducted an integrative ecological hazard assessment of microplastics combined with heavy metals, evaluating their combined toxicity to aquatic organisms. The study found that co-contamination with heavy metals and microplastics poses greater ecological risk than either pollutant alone.

2023 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure of mercury and microplastics in aquatic food webs: A review of sources, bioaccumulation, and ecotoxicological risks

This review analyzed 92 studies to examine how mercury and microplastics interact when they co-occur in aquatic food webs. Researchers found a strong correlation between mercury levels in water and fish tissues, with some species accumulating extremely high mercury concentrations. The study highlights that the combined presence of these two contaminants may amplify ecological risks beyond what either pollutant poses alone.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics at an environmentally relevant dose enhance mercury toxicity in a marine copepod under multigenerational exposure: Multi-omics perspective

Researchers exposed tiny marine organisms called copepods to microplastics and mercury together across three generations at levels found in the environment. While microplastics alone had little effect, they made mercury much more toxic by increasing how much mercury built up in the organisms' bodies. This study shows that microplastics can act as carriers that amplify the harmful effects of other environmental pollutants, with the damage worsening over generations.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors of chemical contaminants and biological agents in freshwater ecosystems: Current knowledge status and future perspectives

This review examines how microplastics in freshwater ecosystems act as carriers for chemical pollutants and harmful microorganisms. Researchers found that pollutant concentrations on microplastic surfaces can be up to six times higher than in surrounding water, amplifying exposure risks for aquatic life and potentially humans. The findings highlight that microplastics are not just a pollution problem themselves but also a vehicle that spreads other contaminants through the food web.

2023 Environmental Pollution 162 citations
Article Tier 2

Do microplastics mediate the effects of chemicals on aquatic organisms?

This review examined whether microplastics act as vectors for chemical contaminants in aquatic organisms, finding that while chemicals can sorb to microplastics, the evidence for microplastics significantly enhancing chemical toxicity in natural settings remains limited.

2021 Aquatic Toxicology 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics with organic, inorganic and bio-pollutants and the ecotoxicological effects on terrestrial and aquatic organisms

This review systematically examines how microplastics interact with organic pollutants, heavy metals, and biological contaminants in the environment. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb and transport these pollutants, creating complex combinations that may be more toxic to organisms than either pollutant alone. The study highlights the risks these interactions pose to both ecosystem health and human well-being.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 126 citations