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Effects of aging and temperature on the desorption of polychlorinated biphenyls from microplastics in simulated digestive fluids
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Researchers aged polyethylene microplastics under UV radiation in different water environments and measured how well polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) desorbed in simulated digestive fluids, finding that aged microplastics released up to 40% of their PCB load in gut fluid, with aging, temperature, and chemical hydrophobicity all influencing release rates.
Ingestion of microplastics by various organisms has been widely evidenced. Chemicals associated with microplastics (MPs) may be released to digestive tracts upon ingestion. However, the effect of aging and temperature on the chemical desorption for MPs remains poorly understood. The exposure of polyethylene (PE) particles to UV radiation in dry air, tap water, and sea water was conducted to mimic the aging process of MPs in different environments. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as a typical hydrophobic organic contaminant, were preloaded in these aged and pristine PE. The desorption was performed by exposing preloaded PE particles in simulated gastric and gut fluids at 25 °C and 40 °C. After UV aging, the average diameter of PE particles decreased rapidly with aging time, indicating continuously fragmentation of PE under UV exposure. The desorption of PCBs from PE particles under different conditions varied from 7% to 40%, and that from aged PE in gut fluid at 37 °C was significantly higher than those under other conditions (P<0.05). Furthermore, a clear declining trend was observed as lgKow (octanol-water partition coefficient) value increased. The aging process, hydrophobicity of chemicals, and incubation temperature were important factors on the desorption of PCBs from PE. The present study helps understand the desorption of PCBs from microplastics and the potential risks of microplastics ingestion by organisms.
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Researchers found that simulated stomach fluid causes microplastics to release significantly more hormone-disrupting estrogen chemicals than saltwater alone, suggesting that microplastics ingested by marine animals or humans may deliver a higher internal dose of endocrine disruptors than previously estimated.
Contaminant Release from Aged Microplastic
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Aged microplastics in the environment accumulate and release contaminants through sorption and desorption processes, acting as both reservoirs and delayed-release vectors for pollutants. As plastics weather over time, their increasing surface area and altered chemistry enhance contaminant uptake and release, meaning older environmental microplastics pose escalating toxicological risks to wildlife and humans.
Contaminant Release from Aged Microplastic
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Aged microplastics release a range of adsorbed contaminants, including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, as they weather and degrade in the environment. This contaminant release mechanism makes aged microplastics particularly hazardous vectors for chemical exposure in both wildlife and humans.
Desorption of Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals from Fragment-Type Microplastics
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Hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) including persistent pollutants desorb from irregularly shaped polyethylene and polypropylene microplastic fragments in seawater at rates predictable from simple geometric approximations of particle size. This matters because microplastics act as mobile carriers of toxic chemicals, and understanding desorption kinetics helps assess how much contamination is released into marine food webs.
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