Contamination by microplastics is increasing steadily worldwide, affecting all environments. Additionally, aquatic organisms are often exposed to mixtures of other contaminants, including various chemicals. Numerous studies reported adsorption of chemicals to microplastics, raising concern about their possible role as vehicles of exposure through transfer to biota. Nevertheless, until recently, the studies on the topic were mostly focused on the marine environment. In the past five years, however, plenty of publications contributed empirical data about freshwater ecosystems, raising the need for a critical appraisal of the information. Herein the scientific literature was reviewed and multivariate data analysis was done. The analysed studies employed widely different experimental designs, endpoints, test species, shapes and concentrations of various polymer types and chemicals, often not relevant for the freshwater environment. Our integrated analytical approach revealed unfathomable research gaps, given the theoretical knowledge available and lessons learned from research about the marine environment. Greater harmonization of laboratory studies investigating this topic is needed, as well as testing conditions reflecting real exposure scenarios. Furthermore, standardized testing protocols are urgently required to guide such experiments and improve the comparability of the results obtained.

在全球范围内，微塑料污染正逐步增加，影响到所有环境。另外，水生生物经常暴露于其他污染物的混合物中，包括各种化学物质。大量研究报告说，化学物质吸附在微塑料中，引起人们对它们可能通过转移到生物群中作为暴露媒介物的作用的关注。尽管如此，直到最近，有关该主题的研究仍主要集中在海洋环境上。但是，在过去的五年中，大量出版物提供了有关淡水生态系统的经验数据，从而需要对信息进行严格评估。本文回顾了科学文献并进行了多变量数据分析。经过分析的研究采用了广泛不同的实验设计，终点，测试物种，各种聚合物类型和化学物质的形状和浓度，通常与淡水环境无关。鉴于可获得的理论知识和从海洋环境研究中汲取的经验教训，我们的综合分析方法揭示了深不可测的研究差距。需要更大程度地协调研究该主题的实验室研究，以及反映真实暴露情况的测试条件。此外，迫切需要标准化的测试方案来指导此类实验并提高所获得结果的可比性。需要更大程度地协调研究该主题的实验室研究，以及反映真实暴露情况的测试条件。此外，迫切需要标准化的测试方案来指导此类实验并提高所获得结果的可比性。需要更大程度地协调研究该主题的实验室研究，以及反映真实暴露情况的测试条件。此外，迫切需要标准化的测试方案来指导此类实验并提高所获得结果的可比性。