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R. C. Thompson et al., Twenty years of microplastic pollution research—What have we learned? Science 386, eadl2746 (2024).
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M. E. Seeley, B. Song, R. Passie, R. C. Hale, Microplastics affect sedimentary microbial communities and nitrogen cycling. Nat. Commun. 11, 2372 (2020).
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R. C. Thompson et al., Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic? Science 304, 838 (2004).
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H. Rouse, Modern conceptions of the mechanics of fluid turbulence. Trans. Am. Soc. Civil Eng. 102, 463–543 (1937).
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J. A. Dougherty et al., Load and concentration based performance outcomes for emerging organic contaminants in bioretention stormwater treatment systems. Environ. Sci. Water Res. Technol. 12, 2470–2488 (2026).
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C. Murphy-Hagan, A. B. Gray, S. Singh, H. Hapich, W. Cowger, Quantifying microplastic fluvial flux from a coastal watershed—A microplastic rating curve approach. J. Environ. Manage. 394, 127445 (2025).
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C. Murphy-Hagan et al., Microplastic characterization and transport mode—A flow-integrated approach to sampling urban waterways. Environ. Res. 269, 120908 (2025).
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M. Ghazizadeh et al., A high-performance ray tracing particle tracking model for the simulation of microplastics in inland and coastal aquatic environments. Comput. Phys. Commun. 307, 109423 (2025).
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Copyright © 2026 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
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Published online: September 2, 2026
Published in issue: September 8, 2026
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How do microplastics move through water and land? Earth scientists find ways to track their journey, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
123 (36) e2628766123,
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2628766123
(2026).
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References
1
R. C. Thompson et al., Twenty years of microplastic pollution research—What have we learned? Science 386, eadl2746 (2024).
2
M. E. Seeley, B. Song, R. Passie, R. C. Hale, Microplastics affect sedimentary microbial communities and nitrogen cycling. Nat. Commun. 11, 2372 (2020).
3
R. C. Thompson et al., Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic? Science 304, 838 (2004).
4
H. Rouse, Modern conceptions of the mechanics of fluid turbulence. Trans. Am. Soc. Civil Eng. 102, 463–543 (1937).
5
J. A. Dougherty et al., Load and concentration based performance outcomes for emerging organic contaminants in bioretention stormwater treatment systems. Environ. Sci. Water Res. Technol. 12, 2470–2488 (2026).
6
C. Murphy-Hagan, A. B. Gray, S. Singh, H. Hapich, W. Cowger, Quantifying microplastic fluvial flux from a coastal watershed—A microplastic rating curve approach. J. Environ. Manage. 394, 127445 (2025).
7
C. Murphy-Hagan et al., Microplastic characterization and transport mode—A flow-integrated approach to sampling urban waterways. Environ. Res. 269, 120908 (2025).
8
M. Ghazizadeh et al., A high-performance ray tracing particle tracking model for the simulation of microplastics in inland and coastal aquatic environments. Comput. Phys. Commun. 307, 109423 (2025).