The DOI matches its Crossref record; 179 of the 180 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Microplastic Contamination of Seafood Intended for Human Consumption: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Microplastics (MPs) have contaminated all compartments of the marine environment including biota such as seafood; ingestion from such sources is one of the two major uptake routes identified for human exposure.OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the levels of MP contamination in seafood and to subsequently estimate the annual human uptake.METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched from launch (1947, 1974, and 1900, respectively) up to October 2020 for all studies reporting MP content in seafood species.Mean, standard deviations, and ranges of MPs found were collated.Studies were appraised systematically using a bespoke risk of bias (RoB) assessment tool.RESULTS: Fifty studies were included in the systematic review and 19 in the meta-analysis.Evidence was available on four phyla: mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and echinodermata.The majority of studies identified MP contamination in seafood and reported MP content <1 MP=g, with 26% of studies rated as having a high RoB, mainly due to analysis or reporting weaknesses.Mollusks collected off the coasts of Asia were the most heavily contaminated, coinciding with reported trends of MP contamination in the sea.According to the statistical summary, MP content was 0-10:5 MPs=g in mollusks, 0:1-8:6 MPs=g in crustaceans, 0-2:9 MPs=g in fish, and 1 MP=g in echinodermata.Maximum annual human MP uptake was estimated to be close to 55,000 MP particles.Statistical, sample, and methodological heterogeneity was high.DISCUSSION: This is the first systematic review, to our knowledge, to assess and quantify MP contamination of seafood and human uptake from its consumption, suggesting that action must be considered in order to reduce human exposure via such consumption.Further high-quality research using standardized methods is needed to cement the scientific evidence on MP contamination and human exposures.
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“Despite observing high anthropogenic particle body burdens relative to other studies of fish, the amount humans could be exposed to through these freshwater fish (and others) is within reported ranges for other comparable exposure sources, including seafood.”
From Microplastics and Anthropogenic Particles in Recreationally Caught Freshwater Fish from an Urbanized Region of the North American Great Lakes (2024) · cites this paper as [21]
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“a systematic review of studies looking at microplastics in seafood intended for human consumption reported 0–2.9 microplastics/g in fish.21”
From Microplastics and Anthropogenic Particles in Recreationally Caught Freshwater Fish from an Urbanized Region of the North American Great Lakes (2024) · cites this paper as [21]
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1 retracted
RETRACTED: Microplastic contamination in Penaeid shrimp from the Northern Bay of Bengal
Hossain, M. S., Rahman, M. S., Uddin, M. N., Sharifuzzaman, S. M., Chowdhury, S. R., Sarker, S., & Chowdhury, M. S. N. (2019) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124688 · Cited by 337
RetractedMeasuring inconsistency in meta-analyses
Higgins, J. P. T., Thompson, S. G., Deeks, J. J., & Altman, D. G. (2003) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7414.557 · Cited by 63,139 · cited 2×
“The Cochran ’ s Q statistic refers to the null hypothesis of homogeneity and is expressed in the chi-square and p -values (Higgins et al. 2003).”
Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test
Egger, M., Smith, G. D., Schneider, M., & Minder, C. (1997) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629 · Cited by 56,722
Meta-analysis in clinical trials
DerSimonian, R., & Laird, N. (1986) · Controlled Clinical Trials · doi:10.1016/0197-2456(86)90046-2 · Cited by 39,552 · cited 1×
“The DerSimonian-Laird t 2 estimator was used for all the random-e ff ects models (DerSimonian and Laird 1986, 2015) because this accounts for variations both within and between studies.”
Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta‐analysis
Higgins, J. P. T., & Thompson, S. G. (2002) · Statistics in Medicine · doi:10.1002/sim.1186 · Cited by 36,763 · cited 1×
“The Higgins I 2 test and the chi-squared Cochran ’ s Q statistic were used to assess statistical heterogeneity (Higgins and Thompson 2002; Higgins et al. 2003).”
The Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials
Higgins, J. P. T., Altman, D. G., Gotzsche, P. C., Juni, P., Moher, D., Oxman, A. D., Savovic, J., Schulz, K. F., Weeks, L., Sterne, J. A. C., et al. (2011) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.d5928 · Cited by 33,817
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100 · Cited by 28,164
PRISMA-P Group, Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., & Stewart, L. A. (2015) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/2046-4053-4-1 · Cited by 26,223
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions: Cochrane Book Series
(2008) · doi:10.1002/9780470712184 · Cited by 25,048 · cited 1×
“The MP contents for species of the same family in the same study were pooled using the formulae for combining groups proposed by Higgins and Green (2011, Table 7.7a) (Table S3).”
Dermyshi, E., Wang, Y., Yan, C., Hong, W., Qiu, G., Gong, X., & Zhang, T. (2017) · Neonatology · doi:10.1159/000454668 · Cited by 24,586
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Schwarzer G, 2019, meta: an R package for meta-analysis, R News, 7, 40
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Items 301–302 of 302
Gupta, S., Chinnapandi, B., & Velramar, B. (2026) · Industrial Biotechnology · doi:10.1177/15509087261497295
Milne, M. H., Lin, D., Davis, J. A., Miller, E. L., Trinh, M., & Rochman, C. M. (2026) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.6c08811
Metadata
- Authors
- Danopoulos, E., Jenner, L. C., Twiddy, M., & Rotchell, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Hull (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Danopoulos, Evangelos
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2020-12
- Volume
- 128
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 126002-126002
- ISSN
- 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-9924
- PMC
- PMC7757379
- OpenAlex
- W3114255556
- Cited by
- 302
- References
- 180
- Citations by year
- 2026: 55 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- Locations
- Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Hull
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- microplastics, seafood contamination, human dietary exposure, microplastic ingestion, Mollusca, Crustacea, fish, Echinodermata, marine organisms, risk of bias
- MeSH terms
- Dietary Exposure, Microplastics, Food Contamination, Water Pollution, Chemical, Seafood
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