Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics accumulation and antibiotics contamination in anaerobic membrane bioreactors for municipal wastewater treatment

This study found that when aged PVC microplastics and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin are both present in wastewater treatment systems, they interact to make each other's harmful effects worse. The combination cut treatment efficiency in half and disrupted the microbes needed for wastewater processing, raising concerns about how microplastic pollution could undermine water treatment that protects public health.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-occurrence of microplastics and triclosan inhibited nitrification function and enriched antibiotic resistance genes in nitrifying sludge

Researchers found that co-exposure to four types of microplastics (PE, PS, PVC, and PA) and the antimicrobial agent triclosan inhibited nitrification function and enriched antibiotic resistance genes in nitrifying sludge from wastewater treatment. The combined presence of microplastics and triclosan posed greater risk to biological wastewater treatment performance than either contaminant alone.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 110 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyvinylchloride microplastics on the toxicity of nanoparticles and antibiotics to aerobic granular sludge: Nitrogen removal, microbial community and resistance genes

Researchers examined how PVC microplastics affect wastewater treatment systems that also contain copper oxide nanoparticles and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. They found that low concentrations of microplastics actually reduced some toxic effects of the other pollutants, but higher concentrations worsened nitrogen removal efficiency and increased antibiotic resistance genes. The study highlights the complex ways microplastics can alter the behavior of other contaminants in water treatment.

2023 Environmental Research 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of partial nitrification efficiency as a response to cadmium concentration and microplastic polyvinylchloride abundance during landfill leachate treatment

PVC microplastics and cadmium individually inhibited the bacterial process of ammonia oxidation in wastewater, but in combination at certain concentrations, the PVC particles appeared to partially protect the bacteria. Understanding how microplastics interact with wastewater treatment processes is important because they affect how well sewage plants remove pollutants.

2020 Chemosphere 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Analysis of the Partial Nitrification Process Affected by Polyvinylchloride Microplastics in Treating High-Ammonia Anaerobic Digestates

Researchers found that PVC microplastics at high concentrations inhibited the partial nitrification process used to treat ammonia-rich wastewater from anaerobic digesters. The findings indicate that microplastics accumulating in wastewater treatment systems can interfere with biological nitrogen removal.

2020 ACS Omega 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics shaped performance, microbial ecology and community assembly in simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal process

This study found that polystyrene and PVC microplastics disrupted the performance of wastewater treatment systems designed to remove nitrogen and phosphorus, reducing nitrogen removal by up to 10%. The microplastics altered microbial communities, decreased cooperation between beneficial bacteria, and blocked important biological pathways. Since wastewater treatment is a key barrier against pollution reaching drinking water, microplastic interference with these systems could indirectly increase human exposure to harmful contaminants.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined pollution of tetracyclines and microplastics in the aquatic environment: Insights into the occurrence, interaction mechanisms and effects

This review examines how microplastics and tetracycline antibiotics interact in water environments, since microplastics can absorb and carry antibiotics on their surfaces. Factors like pH, heavy metals, and organic matter in water influence how tightly antibiotics bind to microplastics, and the combined pollution is more harmful to aquatic life than either pollutant alone. This is relevant to human health because these microplastic-antibiotic combinations can enter drinking water supplies and promote antibiotic resistance.

2024 Environmental Research 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Deterioration of sludge characteristics and promotion of antibiotic resistance genes spread with the co-existing of polyvinylchloride microplastics and tetracycline in the sequencing batch reactor

Co-existence of PVC microplastics and tetracycline in sequencing batch reactors treating pharmaceutical wastewater was found to worsen sludge settleability and promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, compounding the treatment challenges in wastewater systems receiving both contaminant types.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Response of wastewater treatment performance and bacterial community to original and aged polyvinyl chloride microplastics in sequencing batch reactors

This study found that PVC microplastics, both fresh and aged, severely harmed wastewater treatment processes by reducing the removal of harmful chemicals like ammonia and organic pollutants. The microplastics shifted the bacterial communities in the treatment system, reducing helpful nitrogen-removing bacteria while promoting other types. This means microplastic contamination of wastewater plants could lead to poorer water treatment quality, allowing more pollutants to reach rivers and drinking water sources.

2025 Bioresource Technology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polyvinyl chloride microplastics and benzylalkyldimethylethyl compounds on system performance, microbial community and resistance genes in sulfur autotrophic denitrification system

Researchers found that PVC microplastics and a common disinfectant chemical in wastewater treatment systems promoted the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, with the disinfectant having an even stronger effect than the microplastics. The microplastic surfaces harbored disease-causing bacteria that carried these resistance genes. This is concerning because wastewater treatment plants could be releasing both microplastics and antibiotic-resistant pathogens into waterways, potentially threatening human health.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-impacts of the microplastic polyamide and sertraline on the denitrification function and microbial community structure in SBRs

Researchers found that combining polyamide microplastics with the antidepressant sertraline in sequencing batch reactors significantly impaired nitrogen removal and disrupted microbial community structure in activated sludge, with stronger negative effects observed when the two pollutants were present simultaneously.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The contamination of microplastics and antibiotics in aquaculture wastewater: Their remediation technologies and interaction effects on their removal

This review paper found that tiny plastic particles (microplastics) and antibiotics in fish farm wastewater interact with each other in ways that make both pollutants harder to remove from water. The plastic bits can soak up antibiotics and change how they break down, while antibiotics can interfere with removing the plastics. This matters because both microplastics and antibiotic pollution can harm human health, so we need better cleanup methods that tackle both problems together.

2026 Marine Pollution Bulletin
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of tetracycline on polyvinyl chloride microplastics in aqueous environments

This study found that PVC microplastics in water can absorb up to 93% of the antibiotic tetracycline under certain conditions. This means microplastics may act as carriers for antibiotics and other pollutants, potentially delivering harmful chemicals into drinking water and the food chain. The findings highlight how microplastics can make other environmental contaminants more dangerous to human health.

2023 Scientific Reports 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic biofilm may shape microbial community enriched with antibiotic resistance genes to enhance nitrogen transformation under antibiotic stress

This study found that biofilms growing on PVC microplastics in water helped remove nitrogen pollutants but also concentrated antibiotic resistance genes, with the same bacteria often carrying both pollution-cleaning and drug-resistance capabilities. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution in waterways could accelerate the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a growing threat to human health.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding and characteristics of coagulation removal of composite pollution of microplastic and norfloxacin during water treatment

The coagulation removal of microplastics and the antibiotic norfloxacin together was studied in a water treatment context, finding that the presence of microplastics altered the coagulation behavior of norfloxacin and that their combined removal was less effective than treating either pollutant alone. The results highlight composite pollution as a challenge for conventional water treatment processes.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic Pollution: Interactions Among Polyethylene, Surfactants, and Antibiotics in an Aquatic Environment

Researchers investigated synergistic pollution effects among polyethylene microplastics, surfactants, and antibiotics in aquatic systems, finding that co-presence enhanced the environmental persistence and bioavailability of antibiotics beyond what microplastics or surfactants caused individually.

2025
Article Tier 2

Sorption of tetracycline antibiotics by microplastics, associated mechanisms, and risk assessments

Researchers systematically investigated how three common microplastic types adsorb tetracycline antibiotics. The study found that polystyrene had the highest adsorption capacity at 178.57 micrograms per gram, followed by PVC and polyethylene, and that PVC and polystyrene strongly retained the antibiotics with minimal desorption, raising concerns about compound pollution from microplastic-antibiotic combinations in the environment.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

The occurence of pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants in wastewater treatment plant in the aspect of interaction with microplastics

Researchers analysed the occurrence of antibiotics, virucidal, and fungicidal pharmaceuticals in raw and treated sewage at a wastewater treatment plant in southern Poland, examining their removal efficiency and potential interactions with microplastics present in the effluent. The study found that pharmaceutical micropollutants persisted through treatment to varying degrees, raising concerns about combined contamination pathways when microplastics act as co-vectors for these compounds.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-effects of silver nanoparticles and microplastics on nitrifying microorganisms from wastewater treatment plants and their activities

This study investigated how silver nanoparticles and microplastics — two emerging contaminants — together affect the bacteria responsible for removing ammonia in wastewater treatment. High concentrations of silver nanoparticles inhibited ammonia oxidation, and the combination with microplastics altered bacterial community composition, raising concerns about wastewater treatment performance.

2022
Article Tier 2

Characterization of microplastics and their interaction with antibiotics in wastewater

Researchers characterized microplastics in wastewater and investigated their interactions with antibiotics, examining how microplastic surfaces adsorb antibiotic compounds and the implications for antibiotic transport and dissemination in wastewater treatment systems.

2025 e_Buah
Article Tier 2

Effect evaluation of microplastics on activated sludge nitrification and denitrification

Researchers found that microplastics entering wastewater treatment plants interfere with the nitrification and denitrification processes carried out by activated sludge microbes, potentially reducing the effectiveness of nutrient removal in sewage treatment. This effect could undermine water quality if microplastic loads in wastewater continue to increase.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 172 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic interference influences Pseudomonas fluorescens in denitrification efficiency of wastewater treatment

Researchers investigated how microplastics interfere with Pseudomonas fluorescens activity in denitrification processes at wastewater treatment plants, finding that microplastic contamination disrupted microbial performance and could compromise nitrogen removal from wastewater.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effect of polytetrafluoroethylene nanoplastics on combined inhibition of ciprofloxacin and bivalent copper on nitrogen removal, sludge activity and microbial community in sequencing batch reactor

Researchers examined how polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanoplastics modify the combined toxicity of ciprofloxacin and bivalent copper on nitrogen removal in a sequencing batch reactor, finding that PTFE nanoplastics adsorbed both contaminants and enhanced their joint inhibition of nitrification and denitrification, reducing ammonia nitrogen elimination and altering the sludge microbial community.

2022 Bioresource Technology 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of polyethylene microplastics on the nitrogen removal and bacterial community in sequencing batch reactor at different hydraulic retention times

Researchers examined how polyethylene microplastics affect nitrogen removal performance in biological wastewater treatment at different hydraulic retention times. The study found that the presence of microplastics amplified the negative effects of shortened treatment times on nitrogen removal efficiency and altered bacterial communities and enzyme levels involved in nitrification and denitrification, offering new insights into how microplastics interfere with wastewater treatment processes.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 7 citations