Microplastic contamination refers to the presence and distribution of synthetic polymer particles typically <5 mm in environmental matrices, including marine, freshwater, terrestrial, atmospheric, and biological systems. As a research topic, it encompasses sources (primary and secondary microplastics), transport pathways (e.g., hydrodynamic and atmospheric dispersion), physicochemical properties (size, shape, polymer type, surface chemistry), and interactions with co-contaminants such as persistent organic pollutants and metals. Studies investigate bioavailability, trophic transfer, organismal and cellular responses, and potential human exposure via inhalation and ingestion, as well as methodological challenges in sampling, analytical detection, quantification, and risk assessment frameworks.
It's 7:45am. You grab a takeout coffee from your local café, wrap your hands around the warm cup, take a sip, and head to the office.
Environment
Jan 14, 2026
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As flooding receded in parts of Albania on Tuesday, the Balkan nation's polluted waterways are being blamed for worsening the impacts amid fears that floodwaters filled with plastic waste could reach the Adriatic Sea.
Environment
Jan 13, 2026
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Aboard an aluminum skiff or one of her five kayaks, fourth-generation shrimper and fisherwoman Diane Wilson often plies the coastal bays and streams near her tiny hometown of Seadrift, Texas.
Environment
Jan 12, 2026
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Plastic is everywhere in modern society. While it has paved the way for enormous progress, the pollution it leaves behind is now creating major challenges.
Environment
Jan 12, 2026
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51
Air-polluting microplastics have been found in rural environments in greater quantities than in urban locations, researchers say. Scientists led by the University of Leeds detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic ...
Environment
Jan 12, 2026
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256
The small, spongy black beads used as fill material in most artificial turf fields are called crumb rubber, which has long been touted as a major win for recycling. However, conflicting studies have alternately identified ...
Environment
Jan 12, 2026
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Researchers examined the diet and plastic ingestion of green sea turtles inhabiting waters around the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, and detected plastics in 7 of the 10 individuals studied. By integrating genetic, isotopic, and ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 11, 2026
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37
UBC Okanagan researchers have created a new two-layer membrane filtration system that can significantly reduce the amount of micro and nanoplastics that leak from landfills into local water basins.
Environment
Jan 8, 2026
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Over the past two decades, microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have been recognized as emerging pollutants, detected across every environmental compartment of Earth's system—the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, ...
Environment
Jan 7, 2026
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24
A new study has, for the first time, recorded and measured just how fast microplastics move through the gut passage of a key zooplankton species in real time—and used those measurements to estimate how much plastic these ...
Environment
Jan 5, 2026
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