Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41344665›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2025

Are Microplastic (∼25-1000 μm) and Plasticizer Concentrations Correlated in Sediments of an Urbanized UK Estuary?

Alex Billings, Richard K Cross, Francis Daunt, Justyna P Olszewska, Amy Pickard, Maria I Bogdanova, Ruairidh Cox, Kevin C Jones, David J Spurgeon, M Glória Pereira

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Alex BillingsUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-8042-5599
Richard K CrossUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-5409-6552
Francis DauntUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QB, United Kingdom.
Justyna P OlszewskaUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QB, United Kingdom.
Amy PickardUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QB, United Kingdom.
Maria I BogdanovaUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QB, United Kingdom.
Ruairidh CoxUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB, United Kingdom.
Kevin C JonesLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-7108-9776
David J SpurgeonUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-3264-8760
M Glória PereiraUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-3740-0019

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

An understanding of the relationships between plastics and plasticizers is vital in order to assess their environmental risk. We investigated spatial trends and relationships between microplastics and plasticizers in sediments of an urbanized estuary subject to contemporary and historic sources of contamination (Forth estuary, Scotland, UK). As such, this study represents one of the first to investigate the co-occurrence of emerging plasticizers, phthalates, and microplastics in an estuary system. We determined the concentration of 7 legacy (phthalate) and 3 emerging (adipate, terephthalate, trimellitate) plasticizers and 21 microplastic polymer types. The most abundant microplastics were polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Plasticizers were dominated by diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), although emerging plasticizers (e.g., diethylhexyl terephthalate, DEHTP) were frequently detected at low concentrations (mean 7.3 ng g

Indexed as

EstuariesGeologic SedimentsMicroplasticsPlasticizersWater Pollutants, ChemicalEnvironmental MonitoringPhthalic AcidsScotlandUnited KingdomUrbanizationMicroplasticsPhthalic AcidsPlasticizersWater Pollutants, Chemicalemerging contaminantsestuariesmicroplasticsphthalatesplasticizersplasticssediments

Identifiers

PMID41344665
PMCPMC12713724

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Registered trials

None linked

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.