Microplastics have long been framed as environmental pollutants of concern, with their persistence and bioavailability shaping much of the past decade's research agenda. Yet a growing body of evidence reveals that microplastic fragmentation is in fact a dynamic and continuous process—one that generates secondary nanoplastics at scales previously unaccounted for. Rather than serving as terminal degradation products, microplastics function as reservoirs and perpetual sources of smaller, more reactive particles and/or chemicals, contributing to a diffuse and escalating burden that poses a far greater threat to ecosystem integrity and One Health than currently recognized. This paradigm shift—from pollutant to precursor—carries profound implications. If fragmentation continuously generates nanoplastics, then mitigation strategies focused solely on reducing primary microplastic emissions are inherently insufficient. This special issue brings together contributions that interrogate the mechanisms, extent, and consequences of microplastics as dynamic sources, with the goal of informing a more effective and holistic approach to safeguarding planetary and human health.

Proposed Topics (including but not limited to)

● Analytical challenges and advances: Methods in detecting and quantifying micro- and nano-plastics in complex environmental matrices, machine learning for monitoring micro- and nano-plastics, their spatial and temporal distribution across environmental compartments

● Mechanisms and dynamics of microplastic fragmentation: Environmental and biological weathering pathways and weathering kinetics

● Accumulation and trophic transfer of micro- and nano-plastics in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

● Ecotoxicological effects of chronic micro- and nano-plastic exposure across biological levels

● Human health of micro- and nano-plastic exposure

● Rethinking mitigation: from primary pollutants to continuous sources: Critical evaluation of current plastic pollution mitigation frameworks in light of the continuous fragmentation paradigm, and innovative technologies and policy interventions targeting fragmentation pathways, pathways toward a holistic One Health framework for plastic pollution governance.

Guest Editors

Dr. Baoshan Xing, Professor
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, The United States
E-Mail: bx@umass.edu

Dr. Andreja Rajkovic, Professor
Ghent University, Belgium
E-Mail: Andreja.Rajkovic@UGent.be

Dr. Jian Zhao, Professor
Ocean University of China, China
E-Mail: jzhao@ouc.edu.cn

Dr. Fei Dang, Professor
Institute of Soil Science, CAS, China
E-Mail: fdang@issas.ac.cn

Submission Deadline

The deadline for manuscript submissions is 31 March 2027, but we can accommodate extensions on a case-by-case basis. All papers will be published as open access articles upon acceptance. 

Submission Instructions

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the guidelines of New Contaminants and submitted through the journal's online submission system. All submitted papers will undergo a rigorous peer-review process.