Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfideand Increased PolybrominatedMethanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in AcidifiedOcean

Researchers conducted a ship-based microcosm experiment to investigate how combined microplastic pollution and ocean acidification affect biogenic climate-active gases, finding decreased dimethylsulfide and increased polybrominated methanes, with potential implications for marine climate regulation.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfideand Increased PolybrominatedMethanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in AcidifiedOcean

Researchers conducted a ship-based microcosm experiment examining the combined effects of microplastic pollution and ocean acidification on short-lived biogenic climate-active gases, finding that these stressors together decreased dimethylsulfide while increasing polybrominated methanes, suggesting novel climate feedback pathways.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Decreased Dimethylsulfide and Increased Polybrominated Methanes: Potential Climate Effects of Microplastic Pollution in Acidified Ocean

A ship-based microcosm experiment simulating ocean acidification and microplastic pollution found that combined conditions decreased dimethylsulfide production and increased polybrominated methane emissions, with potential climate-active gas implications for ocean carbon cycling.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Importance of seasonal sea ice in the western Arctic ocean to the Arctic and global microplastic budgets

This study quantified the role of western Arctic sea ice as a seasonal sink and transport vector for microplastics, finding that atmospheric deposition and sea ice dynamics contribute significantly to the regional and global microplastic budget.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution and impacts of microplastic incorporation within sea ice

Researchers experimentally incorporated microplastics into sea ice to investigate their distribution and impact on ice properties, finding that microplastics concentrate within sea ice at levels far exceeding surface seawater and that their presence alters the physical and optical properties of the ice.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 124 citations
Article Tier 2

Global warming releases microplastic legacy frozen in Arctic Sea ice

Researchers demonstrated that Arctic sea ice stores a legacy microplastic burden accumulated over decades, and that accelerating sea ice melt from global warming will increasingly release these stored plastics back into the ocean.

2014 Earth s Future 1062 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Stress Alters Microorganism Community Structure and Reduces the Production of Biogenic Dimethylated Sulfur Compounds

Researchers studied how microplastic stress alters marine microbial community composition and affects production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide, which play key roles in global sulfur cycling and cloud formation. Microplastic exposure shifted microbial community structure and significantly reduced DMSP and DMS production, with potential implications for climate-relevant atmospheric sulfur emissions from the ocean.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effects of micro- and nano-plastics on community assemblages and dimethylated sulfur compounds production

Researchers conducted a field microcosm experiment to study how micro- and nanoplastics affect marine plankton communities and the production of climate-relevant sulfur compounds. They found that medium and high concentrations of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyamide particles disrupted zooplankton grazing and altered the production of dimethyl sulfide. The study suggests that plastic pollution could interfere with marine biogeochemical cycles that play a role in climate regulation.

2026 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

Microplastics stress alters microorganism community structure and reduces the production of biogenic dimethylated sulfur compounds

This study examined how microplastic stress affects marine microbial community structure and the production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) -- sulfur compounds that play key roles in global sulfur cycling and cloud formation. Microplastic exposure altered microbial community composition and significantly reduced DMSP and DMS production, indicating potential cascading effects on global climate-regulating biogeochemical cycles.

2024 Limnology and Oceanography 6 citations
Article Tier 2

New observations of the distribution, morphology and dissolution dynamics of cryogenic gypsum in the Arctic Ocean

This study discovered previously unrecognized cryogenic gypsum crystals beneath Arctic pack ice in the Nansen Basin, suggesting this mineral may help transport carbon to the deep ocean. The research is focused on Arctic oceanography and carbon cycling, with no direct relevance to microplastics.

2020 ˜The œcryosphere 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Stable isotope δ18O dynamic fractionation coefficient between water and sea ice in the Arctic Ocean

Despite its title referencing sea ice and the Arctic Ocean, this paper studies oxygen isotope ratios in sea ice to understand freshwater budget and water mass movement in the Arctic — not microplastic pollution. It examines isotopic fractionation during ice formation, and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 Journal of Glaciology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples

Researchers reported some of the first measured values for microplastic particles in Arctic polar waters, finding contamination even in these remote high-latitude waters and raising questions about long-range transport mechanisms.

2015 Scientific Reports 1119 citations
Article Tier 2

Entrainment and Enrichment of Microplastics in Ice Formation Processes: Implications for the Transport of Microplastics in Cold Regions

Researchers investigated how microplastic properties and environmental conditions affect their entrainment and enrichment during ice formation, finding that sea ice selectively concentrates microplastics and can serve as both a temporary sink and a transport medium in cold regions.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Distribution within Western Arctic Seawater and Sea Ice

Researchers investigated microplastic distribution in seawater and sea ice of the western Canadian Arctic, including the previously unstudied Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area. The study found microplastic contamination throughout the region while highlighting gaps in existing Arctic microplastic data.

2023 Toxics 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Arctic sea ice is an important temporal sink and means of transport for microplastic

This study showed that Arctic sea ice acts as a significant temporary reservoir for microplastics, trapping particles that are then released when ice melts, making sea ice both a sink and a transport mechanism for microplastic pollution.

2018 Nature Communications 1025 citations
Article Tier 2

The impacts of anomalies in atmospheric circulations on Arctic sea ice outflow and sea ice conditions in the Barents and Greenland seas: case study in 2020

Not relevant to microplastics — this study examines how a strongly positive Arctic Oscillation in winter 2020 affected sea ice outflow through the Fram Strait and subsequent ice conditions in the Barents and Greenland seas.

2023 ˜The œcryosphere 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Floating microplastic inventories in the southern Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean

Floating microplastics were sampled in the southern Beaufort Sea in the Canadian Arctic, finding that the region receives MP inputs despite seasonal sea ice cover, with concentrations and polymer types reflecting long-range atmospheric and oceanic transport.

2023 Frontiers in Marine Science 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Backward and forward drift trajectories of sea ice in the northwestern Arctic Ocean in response to changing atmospheric circulation

Researchers tracked sea ice movement in the northwestern Arctic using buoys and satellite data to understand ice drift patterns. Sea ice acts as a transport vector for microplastics, concentrating and carrying plastic pollution from populated regions to remote polar environments.

2019 International Journal of Climatology 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in sea ice and seawater beneath ice floes from the Arctic Ocean

Microplastic concentrations in Arctic sea ice were orders of magnitude higher than in the underlying seawater, with 2 to 17 particles per liter in ice versus 0 to 18 particles per cubic meter beneath floes in the Central Basin. Backward trajectory modeling suggested the sea ice originated from the Siberian shelf and other Arctic regions, consistent with long-range transport of microplastics to the pole.

2020 Scientific Reports 285 citations
Article Tier 2

Essential gaps and uncertainties in the understanding of the roles and functions of Arctic sea ice

This review maps current gaps in our understanding of Arctic sea ice—its structure, biology, and role in climate—and highlights priorities for future observation and research. While not directly about microplastics, Arctic sea ice is known to trap and release microplastics, making better ice monitoring relevant.

2019 Environmental Research Letters 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic debris composition and concentration in the Arctic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Researchers sampled plastic debris in the Arctic Ocean rim, North Atlantic, and Baltic Sea using Manta trawls, finding microplastics at all 11 locations with generally low concentrations averaging 0.06 particles/m3, but with highest concentrations near the Arctic Ocean and polystyrene and polyethylene as dominant polymers.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of nano- and micro-plastics exposure on zooplankton grazing, bacterial communities, and dimethylated sulfur compounds production in the microcosms

Researchers investigated how nano- and microplastics affect zooplankton grazing, bacterial communities, and the production of climate-relevant dimethyl sulfide compounds. The study found that plastic particle exposure reduced zooplankton feeding rates and disrupted dimethyl sulfide production in a dose- and size-dependent manner, with nanoplastics showing greater toxicity than larger microplastics.

2024 Environmental Pollution 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Arctic: a transect through the Barents Sea

Researchers collected large-volume sub-surface water samples along transects through the Barents Sea to quantify and characterize microplastics, examining the role of regional ocean currents in concentrating plastic debris. The study contributes baseline data on microplastic distribution in this productive Arctic marginal sea mooted as a potential sixth ocean gyre for plastic accumulation.

2023 Frontiers in Marine Science 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in sea ice: A fingerprint of bubble flotation

Researchers ran controlled laboratory experiments on ice formation from fresh and saltwater to understand how bubble flotation drives microplastic incorporation and concentration in sea ice, finding that bubbles entrain plastic particles during freezing and explain the unexpectedly high and compositionally distinct microplastic loads found in sea ice.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations