Microplastics Transport Toxins and Antibiotic Resistance Across Ecosystems

Microplastics may act as pollutant shuttles, carrying chemicals, pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes. Conventional microplastics generally deliver contaminants through the gastrointestinal tract, while nanoplastics smaller than about 1 micrometer may cross biological membranes

Microplastics transport toxins and antibiotic resistance across ecosystems

Microplastics are often viewed as pollutants in their own right, but their environmental impact may extend far beyond the plastic particles themselves.

Microplastics may ferry chemicals, pathogens and antibiotic resistance

Microplastics have long been framed as one of the defining pollution problems of the modern era, a ubiquitous haze of fragmented plastic debris now found from the deep ocean to mountain snow. But a growing body of evidence suggests that the particles themselves may be only part of the story. A new review published in […]

Microplastics transport pollutants, raising human exposure and health risks

Microplastics, the tiny fragments of plastic debris now recognized in everything from deep-sea sediments to human placental tissue, may be doing far more than simply accumulating in the environment. A comprehensive new review published in Environmental Geochemistry and Health argues that these ubiquitous particles are functioning as active carriers for some of the world’s most […]