Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bhagat, Kartik
• Barrios, Ana C.
• Rajwade, Kimya
• Kumar, Abhishek
• Oswald, Jay
• Apul, Onur
• Perreault, François

Titel

Aging of microplastics increases their adsorption affinity towards organic contaminants

Ist Teil von

• Chemosphere (Oxford), 2022-07, Vol.298, p.134238-134238, Article 134238

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Access via ScienceDirect (Elsevier)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• When released in the environment, microplastics undergo surface weathering due to mechanical abrasion and ultraviolet exposure. In this study, the adsorption of two model contaminants, phenanthrene and methylene blue, by weathered high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PPE) was evaluated to understand how the microplastics’ aging influences contaminant adsorption. Microplastics were aged through an accelerated weathering process using ultraviolet exposure with or without hydrogen peroxide. Adsorption isotherms were conducted for both contaminants on pristine and aged microplastics. The adsorption of organic contaminants was higher on aged microplastics than on pristine ones, with methylene blue having the highest affinity increase with aging at 4.7-fold and phenanthrene having a 1.9-fold increase compared to the pristine particles. To understand the mechanisms involved with higher adsorption of contaminants by aged microplastics, changes in the specific surface area and surface chemistry of aged microplastics were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, zeta potential, X-ray tomography, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller krypton adsorption analyses. The results of this study show that oxidation of microplastics can enhance the adsorption of organic contaminants, which may increase their role as vectors of contaminants in the aquatic food chain. [Display omitted] •An experimental approach to mimic environmental microplastics was developed.•Microplastics were aged with ultraviolet light with or without hydrogen peroxide.•Aging was expressed quantitatively through carbonyl indices and percentage oxygen.•Adsorption of phenanthrene and methylene blue was higher on aged microplastics.•Methylene blue showed greatest increase in adsorption after microplastics aging.