Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics and the chemicals they carry transfer through marine food webs from lower to higher trophic levels, and what this means for human health given that people consume marine fish and seafood. It identifies microplastics as a vector for bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in ways that ultimately reach humans.

2018 OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
Article Tier 2

A Summary of the Transporting Mechanism of Microplastics in Marine Food Chain and its Effects to Humans

This review summarized how microplastics are transported through marine food chains from plankton to fish to humans, detailing toxic effects at each trophic level and outlining mitigation strategies to reduce ecological and human health risks from oceanic plastic pollution.

2022 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics move through marine food webs via trophic transfer and carry chemical contaminants that can accumulate in higher predators, including humans. Researchers found that microplastics readily sorb pollutants from surrounding waters and release them after being ingested by organisms, potentially amplifying toxic effects at each level of the food chain. The study underscores the need for more research on bioaccumulation factors and the implications of seafood-mediated microplastic exposure for human health.

2018 Environment International 1310 citations
Article Tier 2

Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

This review examines how microplastics act as vectors for chemical contaminants through marine food webs, discussing the factors influencing ingestion, the biological impacts of sorbed chemicals, and evidence for trophic transfer across multiple trophic levels. Researchers highlight that existing lab studies use unrealistically high concentrations and that no study has yet tracked microplastic-contaminant transfer from seafood to humans.

2018 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Food Chain

This review documents microplastic presence throughout the food trophic chain, examining how plastics enter food webs, accumulate with biomagnification, and affect organisms at each trophic level including humans who are at the top of the chain.

2022 Microplastics 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Research Progress on the Migration Pathways and Ecological Effects of Microplastics in Marine Food Webs

This paper reviews migration pathways and ecological effects of microplastics within marine food webs, tracing MP movement from primary producers through various trophic levels to apex predators and humans, and synthesizing evidence for biological harm at each stage of trophic transfer.

2025 Advances in Engineering Technology Research
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: understanding the interaction with the food web and potential health hazards

This review traces how microplastics move through aquatic food webs, from tiny filter-feeding organisms up to predatory fish, and ultimately to humans who consume seafood. Evidence indicates that microplastics can accumulate and concentrate at each level of the food chain, carrying toxic chemicals that may cause inflammation and hormone disruption. The authors stress the need for more research to understand these pathways and develop strategies to reduce microplastic contamination in food.

2025 Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and associated contaminants in the aquatic environment: A review on their ecotoxicological effects, trophic transfer, and potential impacts to human health

This review examines how microplastics and the chemical contaminants they carry move through aquatic food chains from small organisms up to larger predators. Researchers found that microplastics can transfer toxic additives and absorbed pollutants to organisms that ingest them, with potential implications for seafood safety and ultimately human health.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 727 citations
Article Tier 2

The transfer and resulting negative effects of nano- and micro-plastics through the aquatic trophic web—A discreet threat to human health

Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics move through aquatic food webs — from small organisms like plankton up through fish to humans — noting that while hundreds of species are known to ingest plastic particles, it remains difficult to distinguish particles eaten directly from those consumed indirectly through prey. The review highlights a critical gap in understanding how much plastic actually transfers between trophic levels and what that means for human health risks from seafood consumption.

2022 Water Biology and Security 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination in the Marine Food Web

This review examines the contamination of the marine food web by microplastics, tracing the pathways by which plastic particles enter and move through trophic levels from primary producers to top consumers including marine mammals and humans, and summarizing evidence for toxicological effects and human exposure through seafood consumption.

2022 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion and transfer of microplastics in the planktonic food web

Researchers demonstrated that microplastics are ingested and transferred through a planktonic food web, with particles passing from primary producers to zooplankton grazers and on to predatory plankton, establishing trophic transfer as a real pathway for microplastic movement through marine food chains.

2013 Environmental Pollution 1567 citations
Article Tier 2

The ecotoxicological effects of microplastics on aquatic food web, from primary producer to human: A review

This review traces the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics through the aquatic food web, from algae and zooplankton up through fish and ultimately to human consumers. Researchers found evidence that microplastics cause harm at every trophic level, including reduced growth, reproductive impairment, and inflammatory responses. The study highlights that microplastics can transfer up the food chain, raising concerns about cumulative exposure in seafood-consuming populations.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 578 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Their Impacts on Organisms and Trophic Chains

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic pollution, examining the mechanisms by which microplastics affect organisms at multiple levels of biological organization and how plastic particles transfer through trophic chains, accumulating and potentially magnifying in concentration up the food web. Researchers highlight evidence for physical, chemical, and microbial impacts on organisms ranging from invertebrates to mammals, including humans, and identify priority areas for future ecotoxicological research.

2022 Water 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics on Living Organisms and their Trophic Transfer: An Ecotoxicological Review

This ecotoxicological review examines the effects of microplastics on living organisms across multiple trophic levels and their transfer through food webs, covering evidence from aquatic and terrestrial environments. The authors highlight the cumulative risks posed by microplastic ingestion and tissue accumulation.

2023 Futuristic Biotechnology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic profusion in food and drinking water: are microplastics becoming a macroproblem?

This review examined the prevalence of microplastics in food and drinking water, assessing trophic transfer along the food web and evaluating whether microplastic contamination in human dietary sources constitutes a growing public health concern.

2022 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of alternative natural diet on microplastic ingestion, functional responses and trophic transfer in a tri-trophic coastal pelagic food web

Researchers studied how microplastics move through a three-level marine food chain, from zooplankton prey to planktivorous fish, and how the availability of natural food affects microplastic ingestion. When natural food was scarce, organisms consumed more microplastics, and the particles transferred efficiently up the food chain. This study demonstrates that microplastics in the ocean can accumulate through the food web and reach fish species that humans commonly eat.

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

Impact of Microplastics on AquaticOrganisms and Human Health: A Review

This review examines how microplastics from degraded plastic debris accumulate in aquatic environments, are ingested by organisms at all levels of the food chain, and may transfer to humans through seafood. The evidence warrants concern about microplastic contamination as an emerging public health issue.

2020 RePEc: Research Papers in Economics 6 citations
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Microplastics on Fish Poses a Threat to Human Health

This review summarizes how microplastics ingested by fish accumulate through the food chain, posing a direct threat to human health via consumption of contaminated seafood.

2024
Article Tier 2

Trophic Transfer and Accumulation of Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystem: Risk to Food Security and Human Health

This review examined the trophic transfer and accumulation of microplastics through freshwater food chains, highlighting the risks to food security and human health as plastic particles biomagnify from lower to higher trophic levels.

2022 International Journal of Ecology 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Indian Ocean: a review of the ingestion and trophic transfer in commercial pelagic fish

This review examined microplastic ingestion and trophic transfer in the Indian Ocean, synthesizing evidence that MPs accumulate across marine food webs from zooplankton to large fish and marine mammals, and estimating the dietary MP exposure of human consumers of Indian Ocean seafood.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

The Effects of Microplastics on the Human Food Chain and Freshwater Ecosystem

This review examines how microplastic pollution affects freshwater ecosystems and the human food chain, tracing the transfer of MPs from contaminated water through aquatic organisms to human consumers and evaluating the cumulative health risks of dietary plastic exposure.

2025
Article Tier 2

Application of marine organisms at multi-trophic level to study the integrated biological responses induced by microplastics through food-chain

Researchers used marine organisms across multiple trophic levels to study how microplastics move and accumulate through the food chain, finding that toxicological effects intensify at higher trophic levels due to bioaccumulation of plastic particles and associated chemical pollutants.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics (MPs) in marine food chains: Is it a food safety issue?

This review examined the presence and transfer of microplastics through marine food chains, assessing food safety risks from contaminated seafood and highlighting the ability of microplastics to sorb and leach chemical contaminants that may impact human health.

2022 Advances in food and nutrition research 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro-Nano Plastics in Aquatic Environments: Associated Health Impacts and Mitigation Strategies

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments are biologically transferred up the food chain, covering the factors that influence particle bioavailability, accumulation in organisms, and trophic transfer — with implications for both aquatic ecosystem health and human dietary exposure.

2025