ArticlePloS one2021
Wastewater treatment alters microbial colonization of microplastics.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Antibiotic resistance genes are more abundant in microplastic textile biofilms than natural cotton biofilms in freshwater.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- The aquatic plastisphere: ecology, pathogen dissemination and antimicrobial resistance.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Effects of microplastics on the intestines.BMC gastroenterology · 2026Review
- Antibiotics adsorb to polyester microplastic fibers and alter bacterial communities in stream mesocosms.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Harnessing Engineered Microbial Consortia for Xenobiotic Bioremediation: Integrating Multi-Omics and AI for Next-Generation Wastewater Treatment.Journal of xenobiotics · 2025Review
- Microplastics-AssistedFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Microbes with plastic-degrading and pathogenic potentials are present on plastics in the final polishing pond of a wastewater treatment plant.Environmental microbiome · 2025Article
- Assessment of Emerging Pathogens and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Biofilm of Microplastics Incubated Under a Wastewater Discharge Simulation.Environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Microbial composition on microplastics mediated by stream impairment.Environmental microbiome · 2025Article
- Machine learning reveals microbial interactions driving plastic degradation across plastisphere environments.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- A critical review of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems: Degradation mechanisms and removing strategies.Environmental science and ecotechnology · 2024Review
- Review
- Microbial Succession on Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Exploring the Complexities of Microplastic-Microbiome Interactions.Microbial ecology · 2024Review
- Biodegradation: the best solution to the world problem of discarded polymers.Bioresources and bioprocessing · 2024Review
- Wastewater treatment bacteria show differential preference for colonizing natural biopolymers.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Microplastic accumulation in sewer sediments and its potential entering the environment via combined sewer overflows: a study case in Paris.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2024Article
- Article
- Freshwater plastisphere: a review on biodiversity, risks, and biodegradation potential with implications for the aquatic ecosystem health.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Assessment of Biofilm Growth on Microplastics in Freshwaters Using a Passive Flow-Through System.Toxics · 2023Article
- The hidden risk of microplastic-associated pathogens in aquatic environments.Eco-Environment & Health · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microplastics are ubiquitous contaminants in aquatic habitats globally, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are point sources of microplastics. Within aquatic habitats microplastics are colonized by microbial biofilms, which can include pathogenic taxa and taxa associated with plastic breakdown. Microplastics enter WWTPs in sewage and exit in sludge or effluent, but the role that WWTPs play in establishing or modifying microplastic bacterial assemblages is unknown. We analyzed microplastics and associated biofilms in raw sewage, effluent water, and sludge from two WWTPs. Both plants retained >99% of influent microplastics in sludge, and sludge microplastics showed higher bacterial species richness and higher abundance of taxa associated with bioflocculation (e.g. Xanthomonas) than influent microplastics, suggesting that colonization of microplastics within the WWTP may play a role in retention. Microplastics in WWTP effluent included significantly lower abundances of some potentially pathogenic bacterial taxa (e.g. Campylobacteraceae) compared to influent microplastics; however, other potentially pathogenic taxa (e.g. Acinetobacter) remained abundant on effluent microplastics, and several taxa linked to plastic breakdown (e.g. Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, and Sphingomonas) were significantly more abundant on effluent compared to influent microplastics. These results indicate that diverse bacterial assemblages colonize microplastics within sewage and that WWTPs can play a significant role in modifying the microplastic-associated assemblages, which may affect the fate of microplastics within the WWTPs and the environment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.