Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Analysis of Popular Social Media Topics Regarding Plastic Pollution

Researchers applied five topic modelling techniques including LDA, HDP, LSI, NMF, and STM to 274,404 plastic pollution-related tweets to identify dominant public discourse themes on social media. The analysis revealed that certain techniques were more effective at capturing topic coherence and prevalence, providing policymakers with tools to understand public opinion and target environmental communication strategies.

2022 Sustainability 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Do Social Media Posts Influence Consumption Behavior towards Plastic Pollution?

Researchers surveyed 213 individuals to assess how social media posts influence consumer behavior toward plastic pollution, finding that information campaigns on social media can shift attitudes and reduce plastic consumption intentions.

2021 Sustainability 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Risk Perception of Plastic Pollution: Importance of Stakeholder Involvement and Citizen Science

Researchers examine how people perceive the risk of plastic pollution and find that eight key factors — including visibility, familiarity, and severity — shape public and policy responses. Greater involvement of citizens and stakeholders in science could improve risk understanding and lead to more effective regulations.

2017 ˜The œhandbook of environmental chemistry 59 citations
Article Tier 2

Beyond climate change? Environmental discourse on the planetary boundaries in Twitter networks

Researchers analyzed social media discussions on Twitter about planetary boundaries beyond climate change, including issues like chemical pollution and microplastics. They found that while climate change dominates environmental discourse online, discussions about other critical environmental boundaries receive significantly less attention. The study suggests that broader public awareness of interconnected environmental threats, including plastic pollution, needs to be cultivated.

2024 Climatic Change 14 citations
Article Tier 2

A Study of marine plastic pollution abatement: A bibliometric analysis on status and development trend

Researchers conducted a bibliometric analysis of marine plastic pollution research using R software, finding that global scientific attention has grown substantially, with microplastics emerging as a central focus spanning both macro- and microscale investigations.

2023 Academic Journal of Environment & Earth Science 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Global perceptions of plastic pollution: The contours and limits of debate

This review analyzed 39 peer-reviewed studies on public perceptions of plastic pollution, finding that research discourse is narrowly focused on marine impacts and single-use plastics while largely ignoring broader plastic pollution contexts relevant to international treaty negotiations.

2023 Cambridge Prisms Plastics 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Information Extraction from Unstructured Data on Microplastics through Text Mining

Researchers used text mining and natural language processing to analyze unstructured news and social media data about microplastic pollution. The approach revealed hidden trends and public concerns that are not always captured in academic literature, offering a new way to track how awareness of microplastics is evolving.

2023 Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The potential contribution of citizen science data in the study of coastal microplastic and mesoplastic distributions

Researchers analyzed citizen science data from the Big Microplastic Survey to assess the potential contribution of volunteer-collected observations to understanding coastal microplastic and mesoplastic distribution patterns, evaluating data quality and spatial coverage relative to conventional scientific monitoring.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

The Contribution of Citizen Scientists to the Monitoring of Marine Litter

Researchers compared 40 citizen science marine litter monitoring studies with 40 professional science studies, finding that citizen science projects have mainly focused on beach surveys and successfully generated large-scale distribution data, while professional studies have contributed more to composition analysis and ecological impact assessment. The review highlights the complementary strengths of both approaches and the value of citizen participation in long-term litter monitoring.

2015 118 citations
Article Tier 2

Media coverage, attention cycles and the governance of plastics pollution

This study analyzes how media coverage and public attention cycles affect governance responses to plastics pollution. Researchers found that heightened media attention has increased public engagement with plastics issues, but the coherence and durability of public pressure remains questionable. The study suggests that policymakers can leverage attention peaks to initiate longer-term reforms, and that reframing plastics as an economic and health issue may help sustain public concern.

2022 Environmental Policy and Governance 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Who worries about microplastics? The relative importance of personal values and individual risk judgements / ¿A quién le preocupan los microplásticos? La importancia relativa de los valores personales y los juicios individuales de riesgo

Researchers surveyed nearly 700 people in Norway to understand what drives public worry about microplastic pollution. They found that personal values and individual risk perceptions were the strongest predictors of concern, more so than demographic factors or general environmental attitudes. The study suggests that communication strategies about microplastic risks should account for how people personally evaluate threats rather than relying solely on scientific information.

2024 PsyEcology Bilingual Journal of Environmental Psychology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

How do humans recognize and face challenges of microplastic pollution in marine environments? A bibliometric analysis

Researchers performed a bibliometric analysis of 1,898 publications on marine microplastics, mapping research growth, collaboration networks, and thematic trends over time, and predicting that future research will increasingly focus on biological effects, human health impacts, and policy-relevant risk characterization.

2021 Environmental Pollution 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Social Media Based Decision Support Model To Solve Indonesian Waste Management Problem: An Improved Version

This study used Twitter data and machine learning sentiment analysis to build a decision support model for waste management policy in Indonesia. Social media data can provide real-time insights into public concerns about plastic waste, complementing traditional environmental monitoring data.

2021 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Using citizen science to understand floating plastic debris distribution and abundance: A case study from the North Cornish coast (United Kingdom).

This citizen science study used a standardized methodology to monitor floating plastic debris off the Cornish coast of the UK, finding microplastic concentrations comparable to or higher than other European coastal regions. The study demonstrates that citizen science can generate useful, standardized data on plastic pollution in coastal waters.

2023 Marine pollution bulletin
Article Tier 2

Campaigning Environmental Conservation During the Pandemic: A Social Media Reception Analysis

This study analyzed how environmental conservation campaigns shifted to social media during COVID-19 lockdowns to maintain public engagement. Social media campaigns about plastic pollution have become important tools for raising awareness of microplastic contamination and motivating policy change.

2021 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research/Advances in social science, education and humanities research 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Bridging the gap between microplastic research and social awareness of microplastic pollution through science communication: A call for action

Researchers examined the gap between scientific knowledge of microplastic pollution and public awareness, calling for improved science communication strategies. The study found that despite an enormous body of research documenting microplastics in soil, water, air, and organisms, effective translation of these findings into public understanding and policy action remains inadequate.

2024 Aquademia 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The emerging issue of microplastics in marine environment: A bibliometric analysis from 2004 to 2020

This bibliometric analysis of marine microplastic research from 2004 to 2020 revealed rapid growth in publications, identified key research themes and collaborations, and highlighted emerging topics including microplastic impacts on marine organisms and human health.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 88 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing a Cleaner Society: Exploring the Impact of Storytelling, Social Media, Humor, and Celebrity Influence in Research Communication for Pollution

This paper explored how storytelling, social media, humor, and celebrity involvement can be used to more effectively communicate environmental pollution threats such as microplastics and biodiversity loss to the public. The review argues that creative and culturally resonant communication strategies are essential for driving behavioral change toward a cleaner society.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Divergent shifts in public ecological attention following the COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers analyzed over a decade of social media data from South Korea to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped public attention to environmental issues including microplastics. The study found that the pandemic acted as a catalyst that restructured how people connect environmental topics, with public discourse around microplastics notably shifting toward more positive sentiment while climate crisis discussions became more negative.

2026 Journal of Ecology and Environment
Article Tier 2

From Ocean to Table: How Public Awareness Shapes the Fight Against Microplastic Pollution

This literature review synthesized global studies on public awareness of microplastic pollution, finding that while scientific knowledge has expanded significantly, public understanding and behavioral change remain limited. The study identified effective communication strategies and policy approaches to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and public action.

2025 Urban Science
Article Tier 2

Exploring the Differences and InfluencingFactors of Public Participation in EnvironmentalProtection Behavior in the Private and PublicSpheres in China

Not relevant to microplastics — this sociological study analyzes factors influencing Chinese citizens' environmental protection behaviors in public and private spheres, using 2013 national survey data.

2023 Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Citizen Science in the Philippines: Coastal biodiversity engagements on a small island

This paper is not directly about microplastics; it surveys public participation in citizen science projects on a small Philippine island, focusing on coastal biodiversity conservation and volunteerism patterns by gender and age.

2024 Journal of Marine and Island Cultures 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Citizen science: A way forward in tackling the plastic pollution crisis during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers called for expanded citizen science participation in plastic pollution monitoring during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that pandemic-related disruptions to formal research programs created critical data gaps that community data collection could help fill for globally informed mitigation strategies.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 56 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Marine microplastic pollution & misinformation in the public sphere: a systematic review

This systematic review examines how scientific findings about marine microplastic pollution are communicated to the public, identifying gaps where misinformation can take hold. Accurate public understanding of microplastic risks matters because it drives consumer choices and policy decisions that affect human health protection.

2024 Discover Oceans 4 citations