A bibliometric analysis of microplastic pollution in aquatic environments from 2013 to 2023

作者：Shanshan Yang, Peixian Li, Yaqian Jiao, Zhansheng Li, Yifan Ruan, Qiying Yang · 发表于：Sustainable Environment Research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s42834-025-00257-x · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Recycling and Waste Management Techniques

Abstract Plastics are extensively utilized in a variety of industries, including fisheries, agriculture, and commerce, due to their lightweight, corrosion resistance, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. From 2013 to 2023, the volume of research literature concerning microplastics (MPs) in aquatic environments has surged, underscoring the growing concern over MP pollution. This study aims to identify research hotspots and trends regarding MPs in water environments through a bibliometric analysis of publications from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). During the study period, we screened a total of 1,141 articles related to MPs in aquatic environments. The number of articles rose dramatically from 2 in 2013 to 289 in 2023, indicating significant growth in this research area. Notably, 887 studies focused on marine waters, followed by rivers (397), wastewater (350), and lakes (176), suggesting that oceans are a primary hotspot for MPs research. In the past five years alone, 1,025 studies on MP pollution in water have been published, accounting for 89.8% of the total literature, highlighting widespread concern. The journals publishing the most articles on MPs include Marine Pollution Bulletin (253 articles) and Science of the Total Environment (190 articles). Analysis of total citations and publication counts reveals that China, the UK, Canada, and the USA are leading countries in this field. Institutions such as China’s Chinese Academy of Sciences and East China Normal ...