Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics and arsenic on plants: Interactions, toxicity and environmental implications

This review examines how microplastics and arsenic interact in soil and their combined effects on plant health. When both pollutants are present together, they can have amplified toxic effects on plants, affecting growth, nutrient uptake, and stress responses. Since plants absorb these contaminants from soil, the interaction between microplastics and arsenic could increase human exposure to both pollutants through food crops.

2023 Chemosphere 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Interface adsorption characteristics of microplastics on multiple morphological arsenic compounds

Researchers studied how polystyrene and PET microplastics adsorb different forms of arsenic, a toxic element commonly found in contaminated water. They found that polystyrene had a much higher capacity to bind arsenic compounds than PET, and that the arsenic-loaded microplastics were more toxic to organisms than either pollutant alone. The study highlights that microplastics can act as carriers for toxic heavy metals, amplifying their environmental harm.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

How synergistic or antagonistic effects may influence the mutual hazard ranking of chemicals

This study examined how the presence of other environmental agents including microplastics can change how chemical pollutants are ranked for hazard, using chlorinated pesticides as an example. Microplastics can make some chemicals more persistent, bioaccumulative, or toxic through sorption effects, potentially changing which substances pose the greatest risk.

2015 AIMS environmental science 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction behavior, mechanisms and hazardous changes of microplastics on single and binary component pesticide in the environment and food: Diethofencarb and pyrimethanil

Researchers studied how four types of microplastics absorb two common pesticides and found that the plastics acted as carriers that increased the pesticides' bioavailability during simulated human digestion. The adsorption was faster when both pesticides were present together, and more water-repellent pesticides bound more readily to the plastics. This is concerning because it means microplastics in food could deliver higher doses of pesticide residues into the body than the pesticides would on their own.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 16 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

Microplastics and environmental pollutants: Key interaction and toxicology in aquatic and soil environments

This review tracks how microplastics move through soil, water, and air ecosystems, acting as carriers for other pollutants like pesticides and heavy metals. When microplastics absorb these toxins, the combined effect on organisms can be worse than either pollutant alone. The paper highlights the need for better understanding of how these pollutant combinations affect ecosystems and ultimately human health through contaminated food and water.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 520 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions Between Various Classes of Pesticides and Microplastics

This review summarized how microplastics interact with pesticides from multiple chemical classes, covering adsorption, desorption, environmental transport, and combined toxicity. The authors found that microplastic-pesticide interactions are governed by both the plastic's surface chemistry and the pesticide's physicochemical properties, and that combined exposures often amplify toxicity beyond either contaminant alone.

2025 International Journal of Agriculture Environment and Food Sciences
Article Tier 2

Effect and mechanism of coexistence of microplastics on arsenate adsorption capacity in water

Researchers examined how the presence of microplastics affects the ability of different materials to adsorb arsenate from contaminated water. They found that microplastics can interfere with the adsorption process, particularly by competing for binding sites on adsorbent materials like ZIF-8. The study highlights that co-contamination of water with both microplastics and heavy metals may complicate pollution remediation efforts.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of As(III) by microplastics coexisting with antibiotics

This study examined how microplastics absorb arsenic, a toxic metal, from water, especially when antibiotics are also present. Smaller and more aged microplastic particles absorbed more arsenic, and environmental factors like pH and dissolved organic matter significantly changed absorption rates. This is relevant to human health because microplastics in contaminated water can concentrate toxic metals like arsenic on their surface and potentially carry them into drinking water or the food chain.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction and mechanistic studies of thiram and common microplastics in food and associated changes in hazard

Researchers studied the adsorption of the pesticide thiram onto four common microplastic types (polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC) in food-relevant conditions, finding adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorption of thiram onto microplastics in food environments changes the hazard profile of both the pesticide and the plastic particles.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Coexistence of microplastics and heavy metals in soil: Occurrence, transport, key interactions and effect on plants

This review examines how microplastics and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic interact in soil, often creating combined toxic effects on plants that differ from either pollutant alone. These interactions are relevant to human health because contaminated crops can transfer both microplastics and heavy metals to people through the food supply.

2024 Environmental Research 57 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
Article Tier 2

Microplastic particles increase arsenic toxicity to rice seedlings

Researchers studied how polystyrene and polytetrafluoroethylene microplastics interact with arsenic to affect rice seedling growth. They found that microplastics alone reduced plant biomass and inhibited photosynthesis, while the combination with arsenic at higher concentrations amplified the toxic effects on root activity and cell membranes. The study reveals that microplastic contamination in agricultural settings may worsen the impact of other pollutants on food crops.

2019 Environmental Pollution 444 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic mediated arsenic toxicity involves differential bioavailability of arsenic and modulated uptake in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Researchers examined how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics interact with arsenic contamination in rice paddies. They found that at low arsenic levels, microplastics actually reduced arsenic uptake by rice plants, but at high arsenic concentrations the combination produced synergistic toxic effects. The study reveals that the interaction between microplastics and heavy metals in agricultural soils is more complex than previously thought and depends heavily on contaminant concentration levels.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate of microplastics and emerging contaminants: Mechanisms of interactions, bioaccumulation and combined toxicity to aquatic organisms

This review summarizes how microplastics interact with other emerging contaminants in water, finding that microplastics can absorb pollutants at concentrations up to a million times higher than surrounding water and carry them into living organisms. The combined toxicity of microplastics plus these hitchhiking chemicals is often greater than either alone, and these pollutants can reach humans through the food chain.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-transport of arsenic and micro/nano-plastics in saturated soil

Column experiments found that 100 nm nanoplastic particles reduced arsenic transport in saturated sand by adsorbing arsenic ions, while 5 micron microplastics enhanced arsenic transport through electrostatic adsorption and pore plugging, demonstrating size-dependent and opposing effects of micro- and nanoplastics on co-contaminant mobility.

2023 Environmental Research 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions between microplastics and organic pollutants: Effects on toxicity, bioaccumulation, degradation, and transport

This review examines how microplastics interact with organic pollutants like pesticides and industrial chemicals in the environment. Researchers found that microplastics can absorb these pollutants and alter their toxicity, bioaccumulation, and transport, making the combined effects of microplastics and chemical contaminants potentially more harmful than either would be alone.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 399 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic interactions with co-existing pollutants in water environments: Synergistic or antagonistic roles on their removal through current remediation technologies

This review examines how microplastics interact with other pollutants like heavy metals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals in water, often making each contaminant harder to remove during treatment. The interactions between microplastics and co-existing pollutants can produce unpredictable combined toxic effects that are worse than either pollutant alone. Understanding these interactions is important because real-world water contamination involves mixtures, not single pollutants, and current treatment methods may not adequately address these combinations.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and associated emerging contaminants in the environment: Analysis, sorption mechanisms and effects of co-exposure

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for other environmental pollutants — including antibiotics, PFAS, and triclosan — absorbing them from surrounding water and potentially delivering higher doses to organisms that ingest the plastic, with combined toxicity effects that can be either amplified or reduced depending on the combination.

2022 Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry 151 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