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Marine & Wildlife
25,394 resultsMicroplastics in the marine environment
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This early review introduced and contextualized microplastics as an emerging class of marine contaminants, summarizing what was then known about their sources, distribution, and potential effects on marine organisms.
Microplastics as contaminants in the marine environment: A review
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This review synthesized the state of knowledge on microplastics as marine contaminants, covering their sources, pathways, distribution, biological uptake, and potential ecological and toxicological effects.
Microplastics in the Marine Environment: A Review of the Methods Used for Identification and Quantification
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This review covered the methods used to identify and characterize microplastics in marine environmental samples, evaluating the strengths and limitations of visual, spectroscopic, and chemical approaches for field and laboratory analysis.
Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea
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Researchers conducted the first global estimate of floating plastic debris in the oceans, finding more than 5 trillion pieces weighing over 250,000 tonnes at the sea surface, establishing a widely cited baseline for understanding the scale of ocean plastic pollution.
Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Woldwide: Sources and Sinks
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Researchers found microplastic contamination on shorelines across all six continents, with higher concentrations near densely populated areas. A major source appears to be synthetic clothing fibers released during laundry, with a single garment shedding over 1,900 fibers per wash that pass through wastewater treatment and end up in the ocean.
The physical impacts of microplastics on marine organisms: A review
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This review examined how microplastics physically affect marine invertebrates, looking at factors like particle size, density, and how different feeding styles influence which organisms are most at risk. The study highlights that microplastics can accumulate inside organisms and transfer up through the food chain, providing important guidance for future marine pollution research and management.
River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans
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Researchers built a global model to estimate how much plastic waste enters the ocean from rivers, combining data on waste management, population density, and water flow patterns. They estimated that rivers deliver between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic to the oceans annually, with over 74% of emissions occurring between May and October. The top 20 polluting rivers, mostly in Asia, accounted for 67% of the global total, providing key data for targeting cleanup and prevention efforts.
On the Construction and Comparison of Difference Schemes
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This classic numerical methods paper by Gilbert Strang analyzed the construction and comparison of finite difference schemes for solving differential equations — a foundational computational mathematics reference unrelated to microplastics research that appears to have been included in this dataset in error.
Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity
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This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic pollution in freshwater environments, covering sources, distribution, and ecological impacts in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Researchers found that freshwater microplastic contamination is widespread globally but that standardized sampling and analysis methods are still lacking. The study calls for more consistent research approaches so that contamination levels across different water bodies can be meaningfully compared.
Plastic debris in the open ocean
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Researchers collected and characterized plastic debris floating in the open ocean far from coastlines, documenting its abundance, polymer composition, and size distribution, providing early baseline data on the open-ocean plastic pollution problem.
Microplastic Ingestion by Zooplankton
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This study examined whether tiny marine animals called zooplankton can ingest microplastics, and researchers found that thirteen different zooplankton species consumed plastic beads of various sizes. The plastics also stuck to the animals' outer shells and significantly reduced their normal feeding on algae, suggesting that microplastic pollution could disrupt the base of the marine food web.
Distribution and importance of microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the sources, fate, effects, and potential solutions
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This review synthesized research on the distribution and significance of microplastics across the marine environment, covering sources, transport pathways, ecological interactions, and the state of knowledge on biological and chemical effects.
Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Aquatic Environments: Aggregation, Deposition, and Enhanced Contaminant Transport
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This review examined the aggregation, deposition, and transport of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic environments, synthesizing how particle properties and water chemistry govern their fate and mobility in rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Human Consumption of Microplastics
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Researchers evaluated the American diet and estimated that the average person consumes between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles per year through food alone, with the number rising significantly when inhalation and bottled water consumption are included. The study analyzed data from 26 prior studies covering common food categories. The findings highlight that microplastic exposure through everyday eating and drinking is widespread and substantial.
Ingested Microscopic Plastic Translocates to the Circulatory System of the Mussel, Mytilus edulis (L.)
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Researchers discovered that microplastic particles ingested by mussels can move from the gut into the circulatory system within three days and persist in the body for over 48 days. Smaller particles accumulated more readily than larger ones, suggesting that as plastic debris breaks down into ever-smaller fragments in the environment, the potential for it to build up inside living organisms increases.
Microplastics as an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystems
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This paper highlights microplastics as an overlooked threat to terrestrial ecosystems, noting that most plastic pollution originates on land before reaching the oceans. Researchers discuss evidence that microplastics interact with soil organisms, fungi, and pollinators that provide essential ecosystem services. The study calls for urgent research into how microplastics affect land-based environments, which may be experiencing significant but understudied ecological impacts.
Waste Mismanagement in Developing Countries: A Review of Global Issues
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This narrative review examines the global environmental and social consequences of solid waste mismanagement in developing countries, documenting how open dumping and burning drive marine litter, air and soil contamination, and serious health risks for informal waste pickers, while calling for integrated waste collection and treatment systems to address these interconnected crises.
Occurrence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of pelagic and demersal fish from the English Channel
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Researchers examined the gastrointestinal tracts of both pelagic and demersal fish species and found microplastics in individuals from both groups, suggesting that microplastic ingestion occurs across fish species regardless of their position in the water column.
Uptake and Accumulation of Polystyrene Microplastics in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Toxic Effects in Liver
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Researchers exposed zebrafish to polystyrene microplastics of two different sizes and tracked where the particles accumulated in the body. They found that smaller particles (5 micrometers) built up in the gills, liver, and gut, while larger particles (20 micrometers) mainly stayed in the gills and gut. The microplastics caused liver inflammation, oxidative stress, and disrupted fat metabolism, suggesting that ingested microplastics can damage internal organs in fish.
Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) as a Source of Microplastics in the Aquatic Environment
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Researchers investigated wastewater treatment works as a source of microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that effluent discharges contribute measurable quantities of microplastics to receiving rivers despite treatment, with concentrations varying by treatment type.
Pathways for degradation of plastic polymers floating in the marine environment
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This review examined the pathways and mechanisms by which plastic polymers degrade in the marine environment, covering photodegradation, mechanical fragmentation, and biodegradation and estimating the timescales involved.
Microplastics Can Change Soil Properties and Affect Plant Performance
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Researchers tested six different types of microplastics in soil and found that they altered key soil properties including water-holding capacity, bulk density, and microbial activity. These changes in soil structure had cascading effects on plant growth, with some microplastic types reducing above-ground biomass. The study demonstrates that microplastics can fundamentally change how soil functions, with consequences for plant health and ecosystem stability.
The deep sea is a major sink for microplastic debris
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Researchers analyzed deep-sea sediments from the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean and found microplastic fibers up to 4 orders of magnitude more concentrated than at the contaminated sea surface, identifying the deep seafloor as a vast and previously unknown repository of the world's 'missing' plastic.
Ingested plastic transfers hazardous chemicals to fish and induces hepatic stress
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Researchers fed fish polyethylene plastic fragments collected from the ocean — which had absorbed surrounding pollutants — and found the fish bioaccumulated toxic chemicals and developed liver damage. The study demonstrates that ingested marine plastic acts as a delivery vehicle for harmful contaminants, compounding the health risks of plastic pollution in seafood.