Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the environment: Recent developments in characteristic, occurrence, identification and ecological risk

This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution across oceans, freshwater, soil, and the atmosphere, examining their sources, movement patterns, and ecological risks. Researchers found that while coastal environments have been well studied, much less is known about microplastic contamination in terrestrial ecosystems. The study synthesizes data on microplastic toxicity, bioaccumulation in organisms, and environmental fate to support better risk assessment.

2022 Chemosphere 115 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review on occurrence, distribution, environmental impacts and biodegradation of microplastics

This review provides a broad overview of microplastic pollution, covering where these particles come from, how they spread through terrestrial and aquatic environments, and their effects on ecosystems. Researchers found that microplastics are now present in virtually every environment studied worldwide, from deep oceans to mountain soils. The study highlights biodegradation by microorganisms as a promising but still underdeveloped approach for addressing microplastic contamination.

2023 Journal of Environmental Biology 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Sources, Types, and Occurrences of Microplastics in Soil, Water, and Air

This review summarizes the sources, types, and distribution of microplastics found in water bodies, sediments, soil, and air worldwide. Researchers found that microplastic pollution is widespread across all environmental compartments, with significant variation by region and source. The study emphasizes the need for comprehensive waste management strategies to reduce plastic consumption and improve recycling and disposal systems.

2024 Microplastics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging microplastics in the environment: Properties, distributions, and impacts

This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution, covering the most common types of plastics found in the environment, their physical characteristics, and how they are distributed across water, soil, and air. Researchers summarized the potential harmful effects of microplastics on ecosystems and living organisms. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps that still need to be addressed to fully understand the environmental and health risks of these tiny particles.

2022 Chemosphere 116 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic migration and distribution in the terrestrial and aquatic environments: A threat to biotic safety

This review summarizes how microplastics move through and accumulate in both land and water environments worldwide. Microplastics have been found in nearly every environment on Earth, and they can enter microorganisms, plants, animals, and humans through multiple pathways. The review highlights that despite growing evidence of widespread contamination, researchers still do not fully understand how microplastics of different sizes and shapes migrate and what biological damage they cause.

2023 Journal of Environmental Management 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Continental microplastics: Presence, features, and environmental transport pathways

This review mapped the known transport pathways of microplastics across continental environments — air, soil, freshwater, and marine — synthesizing evidence on how particles move between compartments and identifying key gaps in understanding long-range terrestrial transport.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 131 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Environmental occurrences, fate, and impacts of microplastics

Microplastics are distributed across oceans, freshwater, sediments, soils, and the atmosphere, with evidence of bioaccumulation and toxic effects in organisms, though current understanding of their fate, transport, and impacts in terrestrial environments remains far less developed than for marine settings.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 488 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution: Fate, Sources, Transport and Identification

This review summarizes the sources, fate, transport, and identification methods for microplastics in aquatic and terrestrial environments, highlighting their global distribution across all ecosystems and the growing concern for their impacts on marine life, other organisms, and human health.

2023 4 citations
Review Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics in the total environment – A holistic review

This comprehensive review examined how micro- and nanoplastics are distributed across soil, water, air, sediments, and living organisms worldwide. Researchers highlighted that while plastic particles accumulate extensively throughout the environment, the long-term transport, fate, and health impacts of this pollution remain poorly understood. The study calls for more standardized research methods and coordinated global efforts to address the growing challenge of plastic particle contamination.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on the transport of microplastics/nanoplastics in abiotic and biotic compartments

This review synthesizes recent findings on how microplastics and nanoplastics are transported through environmental compartments including water, soil, atmosphere, and biological systems, highlighting key factors that govern their fate and distribution.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 136 citations
Article Tier 2

Current understanding of microplastics in the environment: Occurrence, fate, risks, and what we should do

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic occurrence, environmental fate, and risk across marine, freshwater, and atmospheric compartments, noting that both the physical particles and the chemicals they carry pose hazards. The authors call for a more integrated risk assessment framework that treats microplastics as both a pollutant and a carrier of other pollutants.

2017 Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 262 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling the complex impact of microplastics on environmental health, ecosystems, and humans

This comprehensive review consolidates current knowledge on microplastic pollution across marine, freshwater, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments. Researchers examined sources, transport pathways, impacts on living organisms, sampling techniques, and regulatory challenges, highlighting significant gaps in understanding the full scope of microplastic effects on ecosystems and human well-being.

2026 Journal of Environmental Management
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the environment: Occurrence, perils, and eradication

This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution in various environmental compartments including water, soil, and air. Researchers summarize the sources, transport mechanisms, and potential harmful effects of microplastics on ecosystems and human health. The study also evaluates current eradication and remediation strategies, noting that while several promising approaches exist, no single method can fully address the scale of global microplastic contamination.

2020 Chemical Engineering Journal 293 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in the Environment

This review examines the ubiquitous presence of microplastics as emerging environmental pollutants across all major environmental compartments, synthesizing data on their sources, fates, and concentrations over time and space to characterize the scale of global contamination.

2025
Article Tier 2

Research progresses and prospects of microplasticsin the environment

This review summarised research progress on microplastic detection, sources, distribution, and transport across marine, freshwater, soil, atmospheric, and biological environments, as well as microplastics' role as vectors for co-contaminants. The authors discussed prospects for future research including standardised monitoring methods, ecological risk assessment, and policy implications for microplastic pollution management.

2020 Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) 21 citations
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

Microplastics - ecosystem pollutants

This review summarizes where microplastics have been found across environmental compartments — air, water, soil, and living organisms — and explains how their small size and low density allow them to travel vast distances globally. It underscores that microplastics are now effectively ubiquitous, creating concern about long-term ecological and human health consequences that are still being studied.

2023 Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental source, fate, and toxicity of microplastics

This comprehensive review covers the sources, environmental fate, and toxic effects of microplastics across both aquatic and terrestrial environments. The study highlights that microplastics are now found virtually everywhere on Earth and can harm organisms through physical damage, chemical leaching, and by acting as carriers for other pollutants.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 982 citations
Article Tier 2

Source and Route of Microplastics in Terrestrial, Atmospheric, and Aquatic Environments, and Effects of Microplastics on Organisms

This review summarizes the sources, transport routes, and ecological effects of microplastics across terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic environments, highlighting how trophic transfer through food chains can ultimately lead to human ingestion.

2022 Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental distribution, transport and ecotoxicity of microplastics: A review

This review covers the environmental distribution and transport of microplastics across marine, freshwater, soil, and atmospheric compartments, and analyzes their toxicity to organisms at different trophic levels including potential effects on human health.

2020 Journal of Applied Toxicology 76 citations