Papers

20 results
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Meta Analysis Tier 1

Trophic-level accumulation and transfer of legacy and emerging contaminants in marine biota: meta-analysis of mercury, PCBs, microplastics, PFAS, PAHs

This meta-analysis found that microplastics and PAHs show strong bioaccumulation with increasing trophic level and lifespan in marine species, alongside legacy pollutants like mercury and PCBs. Microplastics displayed clear biomagnification patterns across all trophic levels, highlighting their persistence and potential to disrupt marine food webs over multiple generations.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics and the chemicals they carry transfer through marine food webs from lower to higher trophic levels, and what this means for human health given that people consume marine fish and seafood. It identifies microplastics as a vector for bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in ways that ultimately reach humans.

2018 OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Article Tier 2

Application of marine organisms at multi-trophic level to study the integrated biological responses induced by microplastics through food-chain

Researchers used marine organisms across multiple trophic levels to study how microplastics move and accumulate through the food chain, finding that toxicological effects intensify at higher trophic levels due to bioaccumulation of plastic particles and associated chemical pollutants.

2024
Article Tier 2

Investigating microplastic trophic transfer in marine top predators

Researchers investigated whether microplastics can transfer through the food chain by analyzing the scat of captive grey seals and the wild mackerel they were fed. They found microplastics in about half of the seal scat samples and a third of the fish, with similar particle types in both. The study suggests that trophic transfer is a plausible route for microplastics to move up marine food chains to top predators.

2018 Environmental Pollution 978 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating microplastic trophic transfer in marine top predators

Researchers investigated trophic transfer of microplastics in grey seals by analyzing digestive tracts of wild-caught Atlantic mackerel (fed to captive seals) alongside seal scat. Microplastics were detected in both prey fish and seal scat, providing empirical in natura evidence for trophic transfer in a marine top predator.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Polymer composition of microplastics in marine organisms across trophic levels

Researchers reviewed data from 16 studies to examine which types of microplastics are found in marine organisms across different levels of the food chain. They found that polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate were the most common polymers, with accumulation patterns varying between herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. The study highlights how microplastic contamination is widespread throughout marine food webs, raising concerns about potential transfer to humans through seafood consumption.

2025 BIO Web of Conferences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic accumulation in marine organisms across trophic levels along the west coast of India

This study compared microplastic accumulation across trophic levels — including invertebrates, small fish, and large fish — at two locations along the west coast of a marine region. MP abundance decreased with increasing trophic level, suggesting dilution rather than biomagnification, but species at higher trophic positions still carried measurable contamination.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microplastics in marine organisms: A review and meta-analysis of current data

This meta-analysis reviews current evidence on whether microplastics accumulate and concentrate as they move up the marine food chain. The findings have direct implications for seafood safety, since biomagnification would mean that larger predatory fish consumed by humans could contain higher concentrations of microplastics and their associated chemical additives.

2020 PLoS ONE 571 citations
Article Tier 2

Observing the Effects of Marine Debris Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification

This study examines how marine debris, particularly microplastics and heavy metals, bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through marine food webs, with organisms ingesting microplastics as they move through ocean currents. The review considers the ecological consequences of microplastic ingestion across trophic levels and the implications for food chain safety as humans sit at the top of the marine food web.

2024 Journal of Student Research
Article Tier 2

Ecological impact of microplastic pollution on marine food webs

This review examines how microplastic pollution disrupts marine food webs, tracing the transfer of plastic particles and associated chemicals from plankton through fish to top predators and analyzing the ecological consequences for marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

2025 International Journal of Aquatic Research and Environmental Studies
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics move through marine food webs via trophic transfer and carry chemical contaminants that can accumulate in higher predators, including humans. Researchers found that microplastics readily sorb pollutants from surrounding waters and release them after being ingested by organisms, potentially amplifying toxic effects at each level of the food chain. The study underscores the need for more research on bioaccumulation factors and the implications of seafood-mediated microplastic exposure for human health.

2018 Environment International 1310 citations
Article Tier 2

Kelp forest food webs as hot spots for the accumulation of microplastic and polybrominated diphenyl ether pollutants

Researchers measured microplastic and polybrominated diphenyl ether concentrations across trophic levels in kelp forest food webs, identifying these ecosystems as hotspots for the accumulation of both contaminant classes.

2024 Environmental Research 6 citations
Article Tier 2

What goes in, must come out: Combining scat‐based molecular diet analysis and quantification of ingested microplastics in a marine top predator

By combining molecular diet analysis from seal scat with quantification of ingested microplastics, researchers found that a marine top predator was regularly ingesting plastic particles, with exposure likely mediated through prey species that had themselves ingested plastics. The study demonstrates trophic transfer of microplastics through a food chain to a marine mammal predator.

2019 Methods in Ecology and Evolution 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring transfer of microplastics in the trophic chain: a prey-predator interaction case in the Strait of Messina

Researchers examined the transfer of microplastics across trophic levels in a prey-predator marine food web, tracking particles from prey organisms to predators. The study confirmed trophic transfer of microplastics and found that predators can accumulate higher particle concentrations than their prey.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of DDE, BP-3 and chlorpyrifos from microplastics to tissues in Dicentrarchus labrax

Researchers demonstrated trophic transfer of DDE, BP-3, and chlorpyrifos from contaminated microplastics to European sea bass tissues, providing evidence that microplastics serve as vectors for chemical contaminant bioaccumulation through the food chain.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic in tissue of marine organisms

This review summarizes microplastic detection across various marine organism tissues, cataloging accumulation in fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals and highlighting that ingestion and trophic transfer are widespread across marine food webs.

2024 Concilium
Article Tier 2

Assessment of microplastic bioconcentration, bioaccumulation and biomagnification in a simple coral reef food web

Researchers assessed microplastic bioconcentration, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification across three trophic levels in a coral reef food web, including zooplankton, benthic crustaceans, and reef fish. The study suggests that microplastics accumulate differently depending on species and trophic position, providing important baseline data for understanding ecological risks of microplastic contamination in coral reef ecosystems.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics act as vectors for chemical contaminants through marine food webs, discussing the factors influencing ingestion, the biological impacts of sorbed chemicals, and evidence for trophic transfer across multiple trophic levels. Researchers highlight that existing lab studies use unrealistically high concentrations and that no study has yet tracked microplastic-contaminant transfer from seafood to humans.

2018 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic Transfer of Differentially Hydrophobic Nanoplastics along Marine Food Chains and Related Toxicity

Researchers studied how surface hydrophobicity affects the movement of nanoplastics through a marine food chain from algae to mysids to fish. They found that more hydrophobic nanoplastics accumulated at significantly higher levels in organisms at each stage of the food chain, suggesting that surface properties play an important role in determining how nanoplastics bioaccumulate in marine ecosystems.

2026 ACS Nano
Article Tier 2

Research Progress on the Migration Pathways and Ecological Effects of Microplastics in Marine Food Webs

This paper reviews migration pathways and ecological effects of microplastics within marine food webs, tracing MP movement from primary producers through various trophic levels to apex predators and humans, and synthesizing evidence for biological harm at each stage of trophic transfer.

2025 Advances in Engineering Technology Research