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Phototransformation and toxicity enhancement of silver chloride nanoparticles by polystyrenemicroplastics under sunlit
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Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics can accelerate the breakdown of silver chloride nanoparticles under sunlight, producing more toxic silver species — a finding that highlights how plastic pollution in waterways can make other chemical pollutants even more dangerous.
Silver chloride nanoparticles and microplastics are polluting in surface waters, yet their interactions, associated toxicity and environmental risks are poorly known. Here we hypothesized that polystyrene microplastics could enhance the phototransformation of silver chloride nanoparticles and modify their toxicity. We conducted phototransformation of silver chloride nanoparticles with polystyrene microplastics under light irradiation. The photo-dissolution of silver chloride nanoparticles and photo-reduction of silver ions were determined in both double-distilled-water and environmental waters. We found that polystyrene microplastics highly enhanced the phototransformation of silver chloride nanoparticles by hydroxyl radicals, singlet oxygen, and triplet state microplastics, leading to the release of silver ions and chloride ions. Subsequently, the silver ions were reduced to silver nanoparticles by superoxide radicals. Consequently, the silver species transformation increased the toxicity of silver chloride nanoparticles even at environmental concentration, as evidenced by survival rate of zebrafish larvae reduced from 100% to 23.3%. This is the first study to show that polystyrene microplastics can enhance the phototransformation of silver chloride nanoparticles to silver nanoparticles, thereby increasing the environmental risks of silver chloride nanoparticles in environmental waters.
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This study investigated how polystyrene microplastics affect the phototransformation of silver chloride nanoparticles under sunlight irradiation and whether the interaction enhances toxicity. Results showed that microplastics altered AgCl NP transformation and increased environmental risk under realistic aquatic surface conditions.
Polystyrene microplastics sunlight-induce oxidative dissolution, chemical transformation and toxicity enhancement of silver nanoparticles
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Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics can induce sunlight-driven oxidative dissolution and chemical transformation of silver nanoparticles, enhancing their toxicity and revealing important implications for how co-occurring pollutants interact in the environment.
Role of polystyrene microplastics in sunlight-mediated transformation of silver in aquatic environments: Mechanisms, kinetics and toxicity
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Researchers investigated how UV-aged polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver in sunlit aquatic environments, finding that reactive oxygen species generated during MP photo-oxidation both reduced and re-oxidized silver, altering its speciation and toxicity to aquatic organisms.
Mechanistic Roles of Microplastics in the Phototransformation of Silver Ions in Aquatic Environments
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This study found that polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver ions into silver nanoparticles (Ag0, Ag2O, Ag2S) under natural and UV light irradiation, acting as reactive surfaces that alter silver speciation and potentially increase its bioavailability in aquatic systems.
Weathered Microplastics Induce Silver Nanoparticle Formation
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Researchers found that weathered polystyrene microplastics can photochemically reduce dissolved silver ions to metallic silver nanoparticles in both freshwater and sand matrices under solar irradiation, revealing a previously unknown mechanism by which microplastics alter the chemical speciation of co-occurring metal contaminants.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.