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.
Plastic pollution is everywhere: in rivers and oceans, in the air and the mountains, even in our blood and vital organs. Most of the public attention has focused on the dangers of microplastics. These are fragments smaller ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 8, 2025
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23
A first-of-its-kind method that's cheap, portable and powerful in detecting harmful nanoplastics particles has been developed by an international consortium of researchers, with far-reaching implications for global health ...
Environment
Sep 8, 2025
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76
The global use of face masks surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but many have since been discarded as waste, contributing to land and water pollution.
Environment
Sep 8, 2025
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56
Scientists at the University of Manchester are calling for the creation of a global network of air monitoring stations to track the movement of airborne plastic pollution, which may be traveling further and faster around ...
Environment
Sep 5, 2025
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32
McGill University researchers have developed a novel method to replicate four types of microplastics commonly found in the environment, providing researchers with a standardized approach to study their toxic effects.
Environment
Sep 3, 2025
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30
As plastic pollution emerges as one of the planet's most pressing environmental threats, Tulane University scientists have published the first global assessment of where plastics pose the greatest ecological risks to marine ...
Environment
Sep 2, 2025
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71
The tiny particles of various sizes from new and old car and truck tires did not turn out to be neutral surfaces on which bacteria colonize. Rather, they altered the composition of the biofilms—the bacterial layers that cover ...
Ecology
Sep 1, 2025
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110
They can be found in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. They can be found within our cells, our organs and even our brains.
Environment
Aug 27, 2025
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65
Microplastics and nanoplastics are not only polluting our oceans, rivers and fields, but also our forests, according to geoscientists at TU Darmstadt. Their research is published in Communications Earth & Environment.
Earth Sciences
Aug 27, 2025
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390
On August 19, a coalition of environmental groups and state lawmakers called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to put in place tougher rules to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans and across California's landscape, five months after ...
Environment
Aug 20, 2025
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29
