Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic–Pharmaceuticals Interaction in Water Systems

This review examined the interactions between microplastics and pharmaceutical compounds in aquatic environments, exploring how microplastics act as vectors that concentrate, transport, and potentially enhance the bioavailability and toxicity of drug residues in water.

2023 Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive effects of micro/nanoplastics and nanomaterials/pharmaceuticals: Their ecotoxicological consequences in the aquatic systems

Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics interact with co-occurring nanomaterials and pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments, finding that plastics act as vectors that can either amplify or attenuate the bioavailability and toxicity of these contaminants depending on species, trophic level, and environmental conditions.

2021 Aquatic Toxicology 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicological interactions of microplastics/nanoplastics and environmental contaminants: Current knowledge and future perspectives

This review examines how the combined presence of micro- and nanoplastics with other environmental contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals affects toxicity. Researchers found that plastic particles can alter the bioavailability and toxic effects of co-occurring pollutants, sometimes increasing harm to organisms, which complicates environmental risk assessment.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 501 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of Environmental Pollutants with Microplastics: A Critical Review of Sorption Factors, Bioaccumulation and Ecotoxicological Effects

This critical review examines how microplastics interact with and enhance the toxicity of co-occurring environmental pollutants including heavy metals, persistent organic compounds, and pharmaceuticals, synthesizing evidence on sorption mechanisms and combined ecotoxicological effects.

2020 Toxics 313 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Micro(nano)plastics as a vector of pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystem: Historical review and future trends

This systematic review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics in water can absorb and carry pharmaceutical drugs, creating a combined pollution threat. When medications attach to tiny plastic particles in rivers and oceans, they may become more harmful to aquatic life and potentially to humans who consume contaminated seafood or water. The research traces how this emerging double-threat has grown since 2018 and identifies key knowledge gaps.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined Molecular Toxicity Mechanism of Microplastics Mixtures

This review examines how microplastics interact with other environmental pollutants like heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, altering how toxic those substances behave. The study explores the molecular mechanisms behind these combined toxicity effects, which matter because in real-world environments, organisms are rarely exposed to microplastics in isolation.

2025 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive toxicity effects of metronidazole, diclofenac, ibuprofen, and differently functionalized nanoplastics on marine algae Chlorella sp.

Researchers examined the combined toxicity of common pharmaceutical drugs and nanoplastics with different surface coatings on marine algae. They found that the interaction between drugs and nanoplastics produced effects ranging from additive to synergistic, depending on the specific combination, with amine-coated nanoplastics generally causing more harm. The study highlights that real-world mixtures of pharmaceutical and plastic pollutants in oceans may pose greater risks to marine life than either contaminant alone.

2025 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics physicochemical properties, specific adsorption modeling and their interaction with pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants

This review examines how microplastics interact with pharmaceutical residues in aquatic environments, covering adsorption mechanisms, degradation pathways, and combined toxicity effects. Researchers analyzed mathematical modeling approaches for predicting how microplastics and pharmaceuticals associate under different environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastics can alter the environmental fate of pharmaceutical contaminants, creating combined pollution risks for ecosystems and public health.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 153 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined exposure of the bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis to polyethylene microplastics and two pharmaceuticals (citalopram and bezafibrate): Bioaccumulation and metabolomic studies

Researchers exposed Mediterranean mussels to polyethylene microplastics combined with two pharmaceutical drugs and found that the microplastics altered how the drugs accumulated in mussel tissue and changed the organisms' metabolic responses. The combined exposures caused different metabolic disruptions than single exposures, and not all effects were reversed after a recovery period. This highlights how microplastics in the ocean can interact with pharmaceutical pollution to create unexpected biological effects in seafood species.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Pharmaceuticals and micro(nano)plastics in the environment: Sorption and analytical challenges

This review examines how pharmaceutical residues and micro- and nanoplastics interact in water environments, finding that microplastics can adsorb medications and alter their environmental behavior. Factors like plastic type, surface area, and biological film growth all influence these interactions, but very few studies have been conducted under real-world conditions. The authors highlight persistent analytical challenges and the need for field-based research to understand actual risks.

2024 Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Determination of the pharmaceuticals–nano/microplastics in aquatic systems by analytical and instrumental methods

Researchers reviewed analytical and instrumental methods for detecting pharmaceutical compounds associated with nano- and microplastic particles in aquatic systems. They examined how pharmaceuticals bind to plastic particles and the combined environmental risks these mixtures pose to water sources and marine life. The study identifies gaps in current detection capabilities and calls for improved methods to assess the combined impact of these co-occurring pollutants.

2022 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Nanoplastics as Emerging Modifiers of Human Drug Pharmacokinetics: Implications for Adme and Therapeutic Outcomes

**TLDR:** This review of existing research found that tiny plastic particles we're exposed to from the environment might interfere with how medications work in our bodies. These microplastics and nanoplastics can potentially make some drugs less effective or change how they're absorbed, which could be especially risky for critical medications like blood thinners and seizure drugs. While scientists need more human studies to fully understand the impact, this suggests our plastic pollution problem might also be affecting how well our medicines work.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Pharmaceuticals and Microplastics in Aquatic Environments: A Comprehensive Review of Pathways and Distribution, Toxicological and Ecological Effects

This review examines how pharmaceuticals and microplastics travel through the environment and accumulate in aquatic food chains, with drug residues found at measurable levels in surface waters and microplastics reaching densities of up to a million particles per cubic meter in some water systems. When aquatic organisms absorb these combined pollutants, the contaminants can biomagnify up the food chain to humans, affecting growth, reproduction, and immune function.

2025 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors of pharmaceuticals in aquatic organisms – An overview of their environmental implications

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as "vectors" for pharmaceutical contaminants in aquatic environments, absorbing drugs onto their surfaces and then releasing them inside organisms after ingestion — potentially amplifying the toxicity of pharmaceuticals throughout the food web.

2021 Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering 100 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Alter the Distribution and Toxic Potential of Typical Pharmaceuticals in Aqueous Solutions: Mechanisms and Theory Calculations

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics interact with common pharmaceutical drugs in water and found that the plastics can absorb these medications, altering their distribution and potentially increasing environmental toxicity. The strength of absorption varied depending on the chemical properties of each drug, with some binding much more readily to microplastics than others. The findings highlight that microplastics may act as carriers for pharmaceutical pollutants, complicating efforts to assess water contamination risks.

2025 ACS ES&T Water 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Mixed Contaminants: Occurrence, Interactions, Toxicity, Detection, and Remediation

This review examines how mixed environmental contaminants, including microplastics, heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, interact when present together in the environment. The study highlights that pollutant mixtures can produce synergistic toxic effects that are greater than the sum of individual pollutants, making combined contamination a more complex risk than single-pollutant assessments suggest.

2022 Molecules 67 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Plastic particles in medicine: A systematic review of exposure and effects to human health

Medical plastics including bags, containers, and administration sets release micro- and nanoplastics along with chemical additives that can interact with pharmaceutical constituents, creating an understudied route of direct human exposure. Both primary exposure (during medical treatment) and secondary environmental exposure (from hospital plastic waste disposal) represent potential health hazards.

2022 Chemosphere 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of microplastics on the toxicity of the pharmaceuticals procainamide and doxycycline on the marine microalgae Tetraselmis chuii

Researchers investigated whether the presence of microplastics influences the toxicity of two pharmaceuticals, procainamide and doxycycline, on the marine microalga Tetraselmis chuii. They found that microplastics alone had limited effects, but when combined with pharmaceuticals, the mixture interactions varied depending on the drug and the measured endpoint. The study suggests that the co-occurrence of microplastics and pharmaceutical pollutants in marine environments may produce unpredictable combined effects on primary producers.

2018 Aquatic Toxicology 293 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Co-occurence of antibiotics and micro(nano)plastics: a systematic review between 2016-2021

This systematic review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in the environment. It finds that microplastics can absorb and carry antibiotics, potentially spreading antibiotic resistance and creating combined health risks that are greater than either pollutant alone.

2022 Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A 22 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A critical review of the adsorption-desorption characteristics of antibiotics on microplastics and their combined toxic effects

This systematic review examines how microplastics absorb and release antibiotics in the environment, and the combined toxic effects of this interaction. When microplastics carrying antibiotics are ingested by living organisms, they may promote antibiotic resistance and cause greater harm than either pollutant alone, which is a growing concern for human health.

2024 Environmental Technology & Innovation 58 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of the influences of microplastics on toxicity and transgenerational effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products in aquatic environment

This review examined how microplastics interact with pharmaceutical and personal care products in aquatic environments, including their combined toxicity and transgenerational effects. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb these chemicals and act as carriers, and that both pollutants can accumulate in fish and aquatic invertebrates and transfer toxic effects to offspring.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 149 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastic Contaminants on Drug Stability and Safety

Researchers reviewed how microplastic contaminants may alter the stability, bioavailability, and safety of pharmaceutical products by adsorbing drug compounds and releasing them unpredictably. Survey data from pharmaceutical quality assurance professionals and literature synthesis identified specific mechanisms by which MPs could degrade drug formulations, flagging an underexplored drug safety concern.

2025 International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences
Article Tier 2

A review on the combined toxicological effects of microplastics and their attached pollutants

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for other environmental pollutants — including heavy metals and persistent organic chemicals — and how these combinations produce toxic effects in organisms that are more severe than either contaminant alone. The findings highlight a complex, layered toxicity problem that affects microbes, invertebrates, and vertebrates across marine and terrestrial environments.

2025 Emerging contaminants 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological Effects of Microplastics Combined With Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment: Recent Developments and Prospects

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in water environments, finding that microplastics can absorb antibiotics onto their surfaces and carry them over long distances. When aquatic organisms encounter these antibiotic-laden microplastics, the combined toxicity can be worse than either pollutant alone. Microplastics also promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, which is a growing public health concern.

2024 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20 citations