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Interactive behavior of cadmium ions onto polyethylene microplastics in aquatic system
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Researchers examined how polyethylene microplastics absorb and release cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, in freshwater conditions, finding that acidic environments can cause near-complete release of cadmium back into the water. This raises concern that microplastics carrying heavy metals could deliver those toxins to aquatic organisms through their digestive systems.
Microplastics and heavy metals are two different classes of pollutants that are often present in aquatic systems. However, the interaction between these two pollutants is poorly understood in freshwater systems. This research has examined the sorption of cadmium(II) ions onto polyethylene microplastic (PEMP) under freshwater conditions. The scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared analyses confirmed the existence of different functional groups and the porous nature of the PEMP surface. The influences of physicochemical parameters such as the solution pH, contact time, and initial Cd(II) concentration have been examined. The Langmuir isotherm predicted the Cd(II) sorption capacity by PEMP at pH 5 as 1.37 mg/g. Several isotherm models were utilized, including the Freundlich, Langmuir, and Sips models. The results confirmed that the Sips model has been more appropriate for Cd(II)-PEMP isotherm based on percentage errors and correlation coefficient values. Furthermore, the pseudo-first kinetic model fitted Cd(II)-PEMP more accurately than the pseudo-second kinetic equation. Desorption experiments were conducted to release Cd(II) ions from Cd(II)-bearing PEMP using different chemical agents. The findings showed that using 0.01 M nitric acid resulted in a desorption efficiency exceeding 99.8%. This demonstrates that microplastics loaded with Cd(II) may release Cd(II) ions in highly acidic environments, potentially allowing for the uptake of Cd(II) ions by aquatic organisms in their digestive tracts.
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Laboratory experiments found that biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics adsorb significant amounts of cadmium, and simulated gastrointestinal digestion dramatically increased cadmium bioaccessibility — 19% released in the gastric phase and 62% in the intestinal phase — far exceeding conventional PP and PA microplastics. This indicates that biodegradable plastics marketed as environmentally safer alternatives may pose heightened risks as heavy metal vectors in the human gut, challenging assumptions about their safety.
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Weathered polyethylene microplastics from agricultural mulch film showed more than four times greater adsorption capacity for cadmium ions compared to pristine particles, driven by increased surface roughness and oxygen-containing functional groups that develop during environmental aging. Because weathered microplastics are far more common in real environments than pristine particles, this finding significantly elevates the estimated risk of microplastics acting as vectors for heavy metal transport in contaminated soils and water.
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