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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastics in the environment: A critical review of current understanding and identification of future research needs
ClearUnveiling 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.
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.
Micro/nanoplastics as environmental mediators: A systematic review of sources and interfacial processes driving cross-media transport and impacts
This systematic review advances a process-based framework for understanding how micro- and nanoplastics move between terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments. The findings reveal that cross-media transport pathways are poorly integrated in existing research, meaning the full scope of human exposure to microplastics across environmental compartments is likely underestimated.
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.
Microplastics: An introduction to environmental transport processes
This review introduces a new concept called the Plastic Cycle to describe how microplastics move between land, water, and air environments, rather than treating these as separate systems. Researchers outline the sources, transport processes, and ultimate fate of microplastics across environmental compartments. Understanding these interconnected pathways is essential for assessing long-term ecological and human health risks from pervasive microplastic pollution.
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.
Microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment: Macroscopic transport and effects on creatures
This review takes a big-picture look at how microplastics and nanoplastics move across aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments rather than treating each environment in isolation. Researchers emphasize that these tiny plastic particles cycle between water, land, and air, and they examine the effects on organisms across all of these interconnected systems.
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.
Understanding the Transportation of Plastic Pollution to Different Environmental Compartments and Human
This review systematically examined how microplastics and nanoplastics travel between environmental compartments—air, water, soil, and biota—and ultimately reach humans. The authors identified critical transport nodes where intervention could reduce human exposure, emphasizing the need for integrated cross-compartment monitoring and policy responses.
Identifying Knowledge Gaps and Research Needs in Microplastic Pollution Research
This review identifies knowledge gaps and research needs in microplastic pollution science, noting ubiquitous detection of microplastics in environmental compartments globally and highlighting unresolved questions about urban-to-rural transport, ecotoxicological effects, and effective mitigation strategies.
Exploring the complex interactions between microplastics and marine contaminants
A comprehensive review explored the complex interactions between microplastics and various environmental matrices (water, soil, sediment, biota), synthesizing knowledge on how plastics move between compartments and affect ecosystems. The review identifies critical knowledge gaps and priority areas for future microplastic research.
The Microplastics Iceberg: Filling Gaps in Our Understanding
This review provides a broad overview of microplastic pollution across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, identifying key knowledge gaps that still limit our understanding of the problem. Researchers highlight the lack of standardized sampling and analysis methods as a major barrier to comparing results across studies. The study calls for more research into the long-term environmental and biological impacts of microplastics, particularly regarding smaller particles that are harder to detect.
Microplastics in Environmental Setting: A Review on Sources, Exposure Routes and Potential Toxicities on Human Health
This review examines microplastics in environmental settings, synthesizing current knowledge on sources, distribution across terrestrial and aquatic compartments, fate processes, and ecological consequences. The authors identify priority research areas needed to address remaining uncertainties in microplastic risk assessment.
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.
Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities
This review evaluates the current understanding of microplastic pollution in freshwater and terrestrial environments, which have received far less research attention than marine systems despite being major sources and accumulation zones. Researchers highlight that agricultural areas, urban centers, and wastewater treatment processes are key pathways for microplastic contamination on land. The paper identifies critical knowledge gaps and calls for more research into how microplastics behave and persist in soils and freshwater systems.
Review on invasion of microplastic in our ecosystem and implications
This review examines microplastic pollution across aquatic, terrestrial, airborne, and biological environments, concluding that microplastics travel across national boundaries and media, requiring global collective action beyond individual national waste reduction policies.
The occurrence and transport of microplastics: The state of the science
This review provides a comprehensive overview of where microplastics have been found across different environments including oceans, freshwater, soil, and the atmosphere, and how they are transported between these systems. Researchers summarized the key factors influencing microplastic movement, such as particle size, density, and environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastic contamination is expected to increase in the coming decades and may pose growing risks to both ecosystems and human health.
Microplastics in multi-environmental compartments: Research advances, media, and global management scenarios
This review summarizes the current state of microplastic pollution across air, water, soil, and living organisms worldwide. Microplastics have been found in breast milk, polar ice, and mountain lakes, and exposure has been linked to inflammation, immune disruption, and neurotoxicity. The review highlights that while detection methods are improving, there is still no unified global strategy for managing microplastic pollution and its effects on human health.
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.
A critical review on the migration, transformation, sampling, analysis and environmental effects of microplastics in the environment
This review provides a comprehensive overview of where microplastics come from, how they move through different environments, and the methods used to detect and measure them. It highlights that microplastics can carry harmful chemicals and pathogens, and emphasizes the need for standardized detection methods so researchers can better assess the true risks to ecosystems and human health.
Environmental prevalence, fate, impacts, and mitigation of microplastics—a critical review on present understanding and future research scope
This critical review evaluates the environmental prevalence, fate, impacts, and mitigation of microplastics across aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial environments as well as human tissues. It discusses membrane-based and other treatment technologies for microplastic removal, identifying persistent monitoring and standardization challenges.
Current research trends on micro- and nano-plastics as an emerging threat to global environment: A review.
This review summarizes the current knowledge on micro- and nanoplastics as emerging global pollutants, covering their distribution across terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments, their persistence, and the health risks from their chemical additives. It identifies key research gaps in understanding how MNPs move between environmental compartments and accumulate in living organisms.
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.
Microplastics in different environmental compartments in India: Analytical methods, distribution, associated contaminants and research needs
This study reviewed scientific literature on microplastic pollution in various environmental matrices in India, summarizing methods for sampling, extraction, identification, and quantification used across Indian research. It highlighted research gaps and proposed future priorities for understanding the extent and effects of microplastic contamination in Indian environments.