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The Sorption of Antidepressant Pharmaceuticals on Virgin and Aged Microplastics Is Lower than Bioconcentration in Protozoa
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Researchers assessed the sorption of antidepressant pharmaceuticals — sertraline, fluoxetine, and duloxetine — onto virgin and UV-aged polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride microplastics, comparing these results to sorption onto biochar. The study found that microplastic sorption of these polar drugs was consistently lower than biochar sorption, suggesting that while microplastics can act as vectors for antidepressant transport in aquatic environments, their relative contribution may be smaller than previously assumed.
The simultaneous occurrence of various pollutants in the aquatic environment raises questions about their mutual interactions. There is a gap in research on the sorption of polar substances on microplastics. This study aimed to assess the adsorption of the antidepressants sertraline, fluoxetine and duloxetine on microplastic polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride, each in two versions: virgin and aged. To assess the affinity of the tested drugs for plastic and planktonic organisms, the experiment was conducted in microplastic suspensions and in a mixture of microplastics with the protozoan Spirostomum ambiguum. The Fourier transform infrared technique assessed the identity of microplastics and changes during ageing. No significant differences were found between the sorption of the tested drugs on virgin and aged microplastics. The sorption of sertraline onto microplastics was 1.5–3 times lower in the presence of the protozoa than in samples with microplastics alone. Moreover, its concentration in the protozoan cells was 10–30 times higher than in the microplastics. Considering that the amount of plankton in freshwaters is much greater than that of microplastics, it should be concluded that microplastics have a negligible share in the transport of antidepressants in surface waters.
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Researchers tested the ability of four common microplastic types to adsorb nine pharmaceutical compounds frequently found as water pollutants. They found that sorption involved both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, but under natural environmental conditions the binding was relatively weak. The study suggests that while microplastics can interact with pharmaceutical residues, their role as carriers of these contaminants in real aquatic environments may be more limited than previously assumed.
Enhanced desorption of fluoxetine from polyethylene terephthalate microplastics in gastric fluid and sea water
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Researchers found that the antidepressant fluoxetine desorbs much faster from PET microplastics in gastric fluid and sea water compared to river water, suggesting microplastics could release pharmaceutical contaminants more readily after ingestion by marine organisms.
Adsorption of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Antidepressant Drugs from Aqueous Solution by Polystyrene Microplastics: Experimental Investigation and Molecular Dynamic Simulation
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Tiny plastic particles (microplastics) floating in water can act like sponges, soaking up common antidepressant drugs (like Prozac and Paxil) that end up in wastewater. This matters because these plastic-drug combos could travel through our water systems and potentially end up back in our environment or food chain, though this study looked at water samples in a lab, not direct effects on human health. The findings help scientists understand how microplastics might be sneaking pharmaceuticals into places they shouldn't be, which is an early step in figuring out what that means for our health down the line.
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