Cited by 1,521Microplastics and Plastic PollutionPharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental ImpactsEnvironmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 145 of the 145 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Twenty years of microplastic pollution research—what have we learned?

Open access

Abstract

Twenty years after the first publication that used the term microplastic, we review current understanding, refine definitions, and consider future prospects. Microplastics arise from multiple sources, including tires, textiles, cosmetics, paint, and the fragmentation of larger items. They are widely distributed throughout the natural environment, with evidence of harm at multiple levels of biological organization. They are pervasive in food and drink and have been detected throughout the human body, with emerging evidence of negative effects. Environmental contamination could double by 2040, and wide-scale harm has been predicted. Public concern is increasing, and diverse measures to address microplastic pollution are being considered in international negotiations. Clear evidence on the efficacy of potential solutions is now needed to address the issue and to minimize the risks of unintended consequences.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.adl2746

Cites

145 of 145 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 18

  1. M. R. Gregory, P. G. Ryan, “Plastic debris and other seabourne persistent debris” in Marine Debris, J. M. Coe, D. B. Rogers, Eds. (Springer, 1996), pp. 49–69.
  2. C. Arthur J. Baker H. Bamford Eds. Proceedings of the International Research Workshop on the Occurrence Effects and Fate of Microplastic Marine Debris (NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS-OR&R-48 2009).
  3. 10.1126/science.aar7734 · DOI
  4. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.01.006 · DOI
  5. 10.1021/acs.est.7b03331 · DOI
  6. 10.1098/rstb.2008.0284 · DOI · Paper page
  7. 10.1098/rstb.2008.0284 · DOI · Paper page
  8. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133732 · DOI
  9. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144481 · DOI
  10. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144481 · DOI
  11. 10.1186/s43591-022-00040-4 · DOI · Paper page
  12. 10.1186/s43591-022-00040-4 · DOI · Paper page
  13. GESAMP Proceedings of the GESAMP International Workshop on Assessing the Risks Associated with Plastics and Microplastics in the Marine Environment P. J. Kershaw B. Carney Almroth P. Villarrubia-Gómez A. A. Koelmans T. Gouin Eds. (Reports and Studies 103 UNEP 2020).
  14. V. E. Yarsley, E. G. Couzens, Plastics in the Service of Man (Penguin, 1956).
  15. European Commission “Attitudes of European citizens towards the environment” (European Commission 2020). 10.2779/902489 · DOI
  16. 10.1038/d41586-022-02201-0 · DOI
  17. 10.1038/d41586-022-02201-0 · DOI
  18. 10.1039/D3EM00025G · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Thompson, R. C., Courtene-Jones, W., Boucher, J., Pahl, S., Raubenheimer, K., & Koelmans, A. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Plymouth (GB)
  • School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
  • EA–Earth Action, CH 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • University of Vienna (AT)
  • University of Wollongong (AU)
  • Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Corresponding author
Thompson, Richard C.
Venue
Science
Published
2024-10-25
Volume
386
Issue
6720
Pages
eadl2746-eadl2746
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W4402625926
Cited by
1,521
References
145
Citations by year
2026: 829 · 2025: 647 · 2024: 45
FWCI
39.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (submittedVersion)
  • PEARL (University of Plymouth) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Natural Environment Research Council (NE/V00185X/1, NE/V007556/1, NE/S003967/1)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
Keywords
microplastics, microplastic pollution, microplastic sources, microplastic fragmentation, microplastic toxicity, human exposure to microplastics, plastic pollution mitigation
MeSH terms
Microplastics, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Pollution, Humans

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

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