High-Resolution Detection of Microplastics in Zooplankton from Lake Como (Northern Italy): A Multi-Year Baseline for Large Deep Lakes.

Benedetta Villa, Gaia Bolla, Ginevra Boldrocchi, Roberta Bettinetti

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Toxics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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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

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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

4 authors.

Benedetta VillaDepartment of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy.ORCID 0009-0009-0004-8403

Gaia BollaDepartment of Science and High Technology, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy.

Ginevra BoldrocchiDepartment of Human Sciences, Innovation and Territory, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy.

Roberta BettinettiDepartment of Human Sciences, Innovation and Territory, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7481-6190

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are emerging contaminants in freshwater ecosystems, yet their ingestion by zooplankton remains poorly documented in large European lakes. This study provides the first evidence of MPs in zooplankton from Lake Como (Northern Italy), a major subalpine lake of ecological and socioeconomic relevance. Using high-resolution digital microscopy (detection limit: 2 µm), we quantified MPs across four sampling years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2025), capturing small size fractions typically overlooked by conventional methods. MPs were consistently detected, with mean concentrations of 0.06 ± 0.08 MPs ind.

Indexed as

freshwater ecosystemshigh-resolution microscopyLake Comomicroplastics (MPs)Nile Red and Rose Bengal stainingsubalpine lakestemporal and seasonal variabilityzooplankton

Identifiers

PMID42043169

DOI10.3390/toxics14040342

PMCPMC13120432

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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.