Earth & Environment
Recent Advances in Understanding Plastic Pollution
Tackling plastic pollution of the environment unites researchers from around the globe and a variety of scientific backgrounds. In this Collection, we bring together research published in PLOS ONE during 2020-2022, on various topics such as microplastic accumulation, shedding from domestic laundry and attitudes towards recycling.
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PLOS Blogs
PLOS ONE
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PLOS ONE Plastics are a new threat to Palau’s coral reefs
Plastic pollution of the oceans has long been an ongoing and growing problem. Single-use plastic (plastic bags and microbeads) is…
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PLOS ONE MP-Net: Deep learning-based segmentation for fluorescence microscopy images of microplastics isolated from clams
Environmental monitoring of microplastics (MP) contamination has become an area of great research interest, given potential hazards…
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PLOS ONE Determinants of household’s waste disposal practices and willingness to participate in reducing the flow of plastics into the ocean: Evidence from coastal city of Lagos Nigeria
Marine plastic pollution is a critical environmental challenge facing policymakers globally. To reduce marine plastic pollution by…
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PLOS ONE “If it is not made easy for me, I will just not bother”. A qualitative exploration of the barriers and facilitators to recycling plastics
Despite significant investment to increase recycling facilities and kerbside collection of waste materials, plastic packaging is…
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PLOS ONE Consumer attitudes and concerns with bioplastics use: An international study
The world production of plastic exceeded 360 million tonnes in 2020 alone, a considerable amount of which is not properly disposed of. The…
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PLOS ONE The impact of fabric conditioning products and lint filter pore size on airborne microfiber pollution arising from tumble drying
Vented tumble dryers release moist warm air from the drying process to the external environment, usually through pipework linking the…
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PLOS ONE Microplastics prevalence in water, sediment and two economically important species of fish in an urban riverine system in Ghana
Urban riverine systems serve as conduits for the transport of plastic waste from the terrestrial dumpsites to marine repositories. This…
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PLOS ONE Uptake and toxicity of polystyrene micro/nanoplastics in gastric cells: Effects of particle size and surface functionalization
Toxicity of micro or nanoplastics (MP/NP) in aquatic life is well-documented, however, information about the consequences of exposure to…
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PLOS ONE Polystyrene microplastic particles induce endothelial activation
Due to its increasing production, durability and multiple applications, plastic is a material we encounter every day. Small plastic…
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PLOS ONE A model for the size distribution of marine microplastics: A statistical mechanics approach
The size distribution of marine microplastics provides a fundamental data source for understanding the dispersal, break down, and biotic…
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PLOS ONE Conceptions of university students on microplastics in Germany
Microplastics are a global challenge and a frequently studied environmental issue. Hence, the knowledge body about microplastics within…
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PLOS ONE Aging characteristics of asphalt binders modified with waste tire and plastic pyrolytic chars
Globally, the growing volume of waste tires and plastics has posed significant concerns about their sustainable and economical disposal.…
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PLOS ONE The observation of starch digestion in blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to microplastic particles under varied food conditions
Microplastic continues to be an environmental concern, especially for filter feeding bivalves known to ingest these particles. It is…
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PLOS ONE Domestic laundry and microfiber pollution: Exploring fiber shedding from consumer apparel textiles
Synthetic fibers are increasingly seen to dominate microplastic pollution profiles in aquatic environments, with evidence pointing to…
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PLOS ONE Disruption of protease A and B orthologous genes in the basidiomycetous yeast Pseudozyma antarctica GB-4(0) yields a stable extracellular biodegradable plastic-degrading enzyme
The yeast Pseudozyma antarctica (currently designated Moesziomyces antarcticus) secretes a xylose-induced biodegradable plastic-degrading…
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PLOS ONE Wastewater treatment alters microbial colonization of microplastics
Microplastics are ubiquitous contaminants in aquatic habitats globally, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are point sources of…
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PLOS ONE Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microplastics in marine organisms: A review and meta-analysis of current data
Microplastic (MP) contamination has been well documented across a range of habitats and for a large number of organisms in the marine…
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PLOS ONE Plastics and sustainable purchase decisions in a circular economy: The case of Dutch food industry
Every day, society’s concern over pollution caused by plastic waste grows greater. One of the most intensive sectors for the use of…
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PLOS ONE Electric clothes dryers: An underestimated source of microfiber pollution
Microplastics, particularly microfibers, are ubiquitous, found in aquatic (freshwater and marine) and terrestrial environments and within…
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PLOS ONE No evidence of spherical microplastics (10–300 μm) translocation in adult rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) after a two-week dietary exposure
The consumption of fish contaminated with microplastics is often cited as a pathway for human exposure. However, because their guts are…
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PLOS ONE Microplastic contamination of drinking water: A systematic review
Background: Microplastics (MPs) are omnipresent in the environment, including the human food chain; a likely important contributor to human…