Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Interactions between cyanobacteria and emerging contaminants in aqueous environments

A review examined how cyanobacteria interact with emerging contaminants including microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that plastic surfaces can harbor cyanobacterial growth and influence toxin production. The interactions complicate pollution assessment and may amplify ecological risks in nutrient-rich waters.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-occurrence of co-contaminants: Cyanotoxins and microplastics, in soil system and their health impacts on plant – A comprehensive review

This review examined the co-occurrence of cyanotoxins and micro/nanoplastics in soil systems, finding that both contaminants are globally distributed and that their interactions — including plastic acting as a vector for cyanotoxin transport — pose compound risks to plant health and food safety.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the risks of co-exposures in a changing world: A case study of dual monitoring of the biotoxin domoic acid and Vibrio spp. in Pacific oyster

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it examines the co-occurrence of the harmful algal toxin domoic acid and Vibrio bacteria in Pacific oysters in California, focusing on food safety risks from biological rather than plastic contaminants.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Single and combined effects of microplastics and lead on the freshwater algae Microcystis aeruginosa

Researchers tested the individual and combined effects of microplastics and lead (Pb) on the growth, photosynthetic pigments, and antioxidant responses of the freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. They found that microplastics alone inhibited growth while low-dose Pb promoted it, but their combination altered toxicity outcomes in complex ways depending on concentration, indicating that co-exposure risks in freshwater cannot be predicted from single-contaminant studies.

2020 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of toxic and behavioral effects of isolated and combined exposure of cladocerans (Daphnia similis and Moina micrura) to microplastics and cyanobacteria

This Brazilian study assessed the toxic and behavioral effects of cyanobacteria toxins and polymeric particles on cladocerans (Daphnia), two co-occurring contaminants in aquatic environments. Combined exposure produced distinct effects compared to individual exposures, highlighting the ecological complexity of multi-contaminant pollution.

2025 Arca - Repositório Institucional da Fiocruz
Article Tier 2

Toxic effects and metabolic response mechanisms of amino-modified polystyrene nanoplastics and arsenic on Microcystis aeruginosa

Researchers investigated the combined effects of amine-modified polystyrene nanoplastics and arsenic on a common freshwater cyanobacterium. They found that co-exposure intensified cellular stress, disrupted metabolic processes, and promoted the release of harmful toxins beyond what either pollutant caused individually. The findings reveal previously unrecognized risks to freshwater ecosystems when nanoplastics interact with heavy metal contaminants.

2025 Environmental Science Nano 2 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

Synergistic reproductive toxicity of microcystin-LR and polystyrene micro/nano-plastics in male zebrafish.

Male zebrafish exposed to both microcystin-LR and polystyrene micro/nano-plastics showed synergistic reproductive toxicity, with co-exposure more severely impairing sperm quality, testicular structure, and reproductive hormones than either contaminant alone. The study underscored the ecological risk posed by the co-occurrence of cyanotoxins and microplastics in aquatic environments.

2025 Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
Article Tier 2

(Eco)Toxicology of Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins: From Environmental Dynamics to Adverse Effects

This review examines the ecotoxicology of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins, covering the environmental dynamics driving harmful bloom formation under eutrophication and climate change, and the adverse effects of cyanotoxins on aquatic organisms, wildlife, and human health.

2022 Toxics 13 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

Mixed Contaminants: Occurrence, Interactions, Toxicity, Detection, and Remediation

This review examines how mixed environmental contaminants, including microplastics, heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, interact when present together in the environment. The study highlights that pollutant mixtures can produce synergistic toxic effects that are greater than the sum of individual pollutants, making combined contamination a more complex risk than single-pollutant assessments suggest.

2022 Molecules 67 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate, abundance and ecological risks of microcystins in aquatic environment: The implication of microplastics

This review explores how microplastics in water can interact with microcystins, highly toxic compounds produced by harmful algal blooms, by adsorbing and transporting them through aquatic environments. The combination poses increased risks to human health because microplastics can carry these dangerous toxins into drinking water sources and through the food chain.

2024 Water Research 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic effects of microplastics and cyanotoxins on the demography of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus Pallas

Researchers studied the combined effects of polystyrene microplastics and cyanobacterial toxins on the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. They found that while each contaminant alone reduced rotifer survival, reproduction, and feeding, the two together produced significantly stronger adverse effects. The study demonstrates that microplastics and cyanotoxins can act synergistically, amplifying their individual harm to aquatic zooplankton.

2024 Chemosphere 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Risks of Diffusion of Cyanobacteria Toxins in Rivers, Lakes, and Potable Water

This review covers the health risks of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) toxins found in rivers, lakes, and drinking water, which can damage the liver and nervous system in humans. While not directly about microplastics, the research is relevant because microplastics in water can interact with cyanobacteria and their toxins, potentially serving as carriers that concentrate these harmful substances. The paper discusses various water treatment methods for removing cyanotoxins, many of which are also applicable to microplastic removal.

2023 Toxins 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Coexistence of microplastics and heavy metals in soil: Occurrence, transport, key interactions and effect on plants

This review examines how microplastics and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic interact in soil, often creating combined toxic effects on plants that differ from either pollutant alone. These interactions are relevant to human health because contaminated crops can transfer both microplastics and heavy metals to people through the food supply.

2024 Environmental Research 57 citations
Article Tier 2

Complex interactions among temperature, microplastics and cyanobacteria may facilitate cyanobacteria proliferation and microplastic deposition

Researchers investigated how microplastics interact with temperature and nutrient conditions to affect cyanobacterial growth, finding that microplastics can alter cyanobacterial physiology and potentially exacerbate bloom formation under warming conditions.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 15 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

Changes in population fitness and gene co-expression networks reveal the boosted impact of toxic cyanobacteria on Daphnia magna through microplastic exposure

Researchers found that exposing the water flea Daphnia magna to both toxic cyanobacteria and microplastics together produced worse health effects than either stressor alone, reducing population fitness and altering gene expression patterns. The study suggests that as plastic pollution and harmful algal blooms increasingly overlap in lakes and rivers, aquatic organisms may face compounding threats that are greater than the sum of their parts.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Higher toxicity induced by co-exposure of polystyrene microplastics and chloramphenicol to Microcystis aeruginosa: Experimental study and molecular dynamics simulation

Researchers studied what happens when the antibiotic chloramphenicol and polystyrene microplastics are present together in water containing blue-green algae. The study found that the combined exposure was more toxic to the algae than either pollutant alone, disrupting photosynthesis and gene expression. The findings suggest that microplastics and antibiotics may interact in ways that amplify their harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity effects of microplastics and nanoplastics with cadmium on the alga Microcystis aeruginosa

Researchers examined the combined toxicity of microplastics, nanoplastics, and cadmium on the freshwater alga Microcystis aeruginosa. The study found that while cadmium alone was most toxic, the combination of plastics and cadmium produced synergistic harmful effects, with nanoplastics causing greater cadmium release and more severe disruption to algal cell membranes than microplastics.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of secondary PLA nanoplastics on two Cyanobateria: interaction with organic and inorganic contaminants.

Researchers tested the individual and combined effects of secondary polylactic acid (PLA) nanoplastics on two cyanobacteria species, examining interactions with organic and inorganic contaminants to evaluate the ecotoxicological risks posed by biodegradable plastics as they degrade in aquatic environments.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
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

Microcystis aeruginosa's exposure to an antagonism of nanoplastics and MWCNTs: The disorders in cellular and metabolic processes

Researchers examined the combined effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, discovering antagonistic interactions that disrupted cellular and metabolic processes in this freshwater organism.

2021 Chemosphere 34 citations