Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of microplastics in commercial fish from a natural estuarine environment

Researchers examined the gastrointestinal tracts of commercial fish caught from a natural estuarine environment and found microplastics in a significant proportion of individuals, documenting both occurrence rates and particle characteristics.

2018 Marine Pollution Bulletin 586 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic and tire wear particle occurrence in fishes from an urban estuary: Influence of feeding characteristics on exposure risk

Researchers surveyed microplastics in the digestive tracts of five fish species from an urban estuary and found plastic particles in 99% of specimens, averaging 27 particles per fish. Atlantic Menhaden had the highest contamination relative to body weight, likely due to their habit of ingesting marine snow aggregates. The study also found suspected tire wear particles in 14% of individual fish, providing the first evidence of tire particle consumption in field-collected organisms.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 123 citations
Article Tier 2

Low level of microplastic contamination in wild fish from an urban estuary

Researchers found low levels of microplastic contamination in 26 wild fish species from the Pearl River Estuary, South China, with abundance and polymer composition varying by species feeding strategy and habitat depth, suggesting that estuarine fish exposure depends substantially on ecological niche.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Seasonal evidences of microplastics in environmental matrices of a tourist dominated urban estuary in Gulf of Mexico, Mexico

Spatial and seasonal variations in microplastic abundance were examined across water, sediments, and commercial fish in a tourist-impacted estuary in the Gulf of Mexico, finding peak contamination during dry season and at sites closest to urban and fishing activities.

2021 Chemosphere 80 citations
Article Tier 2

Incidence of Watershed Land Use on the Consumption of Meso and Microplastics by Fish Communities in Uruguayan Lowland Streams

Researchers found that fish in urbanized Uruguayan lowland streams ingested significantly more meso- and microplastics than fish in streams draining extensive ranching land, with 309 individuals from 29 species analyzed. The results link watershed land use intensity to plastic contamination levels in freshwater fish communities.

2021 Water 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Widespread microplastic ingestion by fish assemblages in tropical estuaries subjected to anthropogenic pressures

A survey of 2,233 fish from 69 species across two tropical Brazilian estuaries found microplastics in 9% of individuals, with ingestion rates linked to feeding guild, habitat use, and proximity to urban areas. The study demonstrates that microplastic ingestion is widespread even in tropical systems and is shaped by ecology rather than occurring at random.

2017 Marine Pollution Bulletin 302 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing meso-, micro-, and nanoplastic pollution in Los Angeles County estuaries

Researchers assessed meso-, micro-, and nanoplastic pollution levels in Los Angeles County estuaries, quantifying plastic loads by size class and polymer type and identifying urban stormwater as the dominant input pathway.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecology of microplastics contamination within food webs of estuarine and coastal ecosystems

This paper describes a methodology for studying how microplastics are distributed seasonally and spatially through an estuary food web, from zooplankton to demersal fish. Understanding the ecology of microplastic transfer in estuaries is essential for assessing human dietary exposure through seafood from these highly productive environments.

2020 MethodsX 32 citations
Article Tier 2

First insight into plastics ingestion by fish in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Researchers found that 50% of 1,095 fish examined from 13 species in a tropical estuarine system in the Gulf of California had ingested plastic particles, with all recovered particles being threads and most being small microplastic fibres.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 29 citations
Article Tier 2

A Microplastic Pollution Hotspot: Elevated Levels in Sediments from the San Francisco Bay Area

Sediment samples from San Francisco Bay revealed elevated microplastic concentrations across sites, with polymer types and morphologies consistent with local urban runoff and atmospheric deposition sources.

2024 Environments 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Do feeding habits influence anthropogenic particle consumption in demersal fish in a tropical estuary? A study from the northern part of the Tropical Eastern Pacific

This study examined how feeding habits and trophic level influence microplastic ingestion in demersal fish from a tropical Mexican estuary, finding that feeding guild and trophic position both affected the type and quantity of anthropogenic particles consumed.

2025 Frontiers in Marine Science
Article Tier 2

Holistic Assessment of Microplastics and Other Anthropogenic Microdebris in an Urban Bay Sheds Light on Their Sources and Fate

This comprehensive urban bay monitoring study characterized microplastics and other anthropogenic microdebris across water, sediment, and biota, using physical and chemical properties to identify multiple pollution sources and predict environmental fate.

2021 ACS ES&T Water 67 citations
Article Tier 2

The fate of plastic litter within estuarine compartments: An overview of current knowledge for the transboundary issue to guide future assessments

Researchers reviewed global knowledge on plastic fate within estuaries and found plastic concentrations reaching thousands of items per cubic meter in water and sediment, while identifying major methodological gaps — particularly that microfibers are consistently undersampled and that studies rarely account for ecological trophic gradients or the physicochemical dynamics driving plastic distribution and bioavailability.

2021 Environmental Pollution 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Distinct microplastic patterns in the sediment and biota of an urban stream

Researchers found distinct microplastic contamination patterns between sediments and aquatic biota in an urban stream, with sediments accumulating more particles while biota showed selective uptake based on particle size and shape, highlighting the complex dynamics of microplastic distribution in urban freshwater systems.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing Microplastic Contamination in Zooplanktonic Organisms from Two River Estuaries

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination in zooplankton sampled from two river estuaries, finding microplastics in a significant proportion of individual organisms from both sites. Fibre shapes dominated ingested plastics, and contamination levels were higher in the more urbanized estuary, indicating that land-based pollution inputs drive microplastic exposure in estuarine zooplankton.

2024 Water 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fishes from an estuary (Minho River) ending into the NE Atlantic Ocean

Wild fish from the Minho River estuary on the NE Atlantic coast were examined for plastic contamination, with 883 plastic particles recovered from 128 fish — 84% were fibers and 97% were microplastics, with the highest contamination found in carp and flounder.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 90 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic concentration and composition in surface waters and in stream-rearing Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a rural coastal California stream

A survey of a rural coastal California stream found microplastics in both the water and in 60% of juvenile steelhead trout sampled, with fibers making up the dominant particle type in both cases. Microplastic levels in the water peaked during the low-flow summer months, suggesting that reduced dilution allows particles to accumulate seasonally. The high rate of microplastic ingestion in juvenile steelhead—a threatened species—raises concern about whether plastic ingestion contributes to the population pressures already facing these fish.

2026 Environmental Pollution and Management
Article Tier 2

Use of estuarine resources by top predator fishes. How do ecological patterns affect rates of contamination by microplastics?

Researchers found that over 50% of snooks (Centropomus undecimalis and C. mexicanus) across all life stages in a tropical estuary had ingested microplastics, with contamination rates linked to seasonal shifts in habitat use and feeding ecology between estuarine and marine environments.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 97 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and characterization of microplastic content in the digestive system of riverine fishes

Researchers found microplastics in 93.8% of riverine fish examined, with polystyrene, polyethylene, and nylon being the most common polymer types concentrated near urban and industrial areas, and small particles (0.025-1 mm) predominating across species.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of the composition and abundance of microplastics in the digestive tract of fish in the Banjaran River, Banyumas District

Researchers identified and quantified microplastic composition and abundance in digestive tract contents of wild-caught fish from a coastal fishery, documenting ingestion rates, polymer types, and particle morphologies across multiple commercially important species.

2025 Acta Aquatica Aquatic Sciences Journal
Article Tier 2

Diet characteristics of tidal creek-associated fishes of the northeastern Arabian Sea with special reference to microplastic ingestion

Researchers characterized the diet of fishes associated with tidal creeks in the northeastern Arabian Sea, finding evidence of microplastic ingestion mixed with natural prey items, reflecting environmental plastic contamination in this coastal fishing area.

2024 Chemosphere 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Study of feeding biology and diet-associated microplastic contamination in selected creek fishes of northeastern Arabian Sea: A multi-species approach

Researchers studied the feeding biology and diet-associated microplastic contamination of selected fish species, finding that feeding habits directly influence the quantity and type of microplastics ingested. The results demonstrate that trophic position and prey preferences are key predictors of microplastic exposure in wild fish.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Does the trophic guild influence microplastic ingestion in nursery areas? A case study on a southwestern Atlantic mangrove-dominated estuary

Researchers analyzed microplastic ingestion in ten fish species from a mangrove-dominated estuary in Brazil's Tropical Atlantic, finding plastics in 61% of 145 specimens. Zooplanktivorous species ingested the most (averaging 2.33 MPs per individual), with polystyrene and polypropylene dominating.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in fish of the Han River, South Korea: Factors affecting microplastic abundance in fish

Microplastics were detected in 106 fish from 22 species at three sites in South Korea's Han River, with an average of 16-20 particles per individual and downstream sites showing the highest contamination, reflecting greater human activity and urban inputs near the river mouth.

2021 Environmental Research 57 citations