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Microplastic migration in porous media at various scales: a review
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics move through porous media like soil and sediment across multiple spatial scales, finding that particle surface properties and environmental conditions both influence migration but remain poorly understood. Better understanding of this process is critical for assessing how microplastics spread through terrestrial and groundwater environments.
Migration of microplastics in porous media is an important, yet overlooked phenomenon because most microplastic research has focused mainly on microplastic behavior in aquatic environments. Here we review experimental advances of microplastic migration in porous media, with emphasis on factors influencing microplastic migration. We observed that microplastic migration is influenced by environmental factors and microplastic properties. The effect of microplastic surface charge and functional groups, and of soil organisms on microplastic migration is unclear. Research at the macro-scale, higher than 1 m, predominantly starts with field sampling, and then carries out measurements or mathematical modeling to explore migration patterns. At the meso-scale, below 1 cm, studies often employ filled sand columns as proxies for porous media to generate breakthrough curves and retention profiles. At the micro-scale, below 1 mm, visualization of microplastic migration in pores is done by lab-on-a-chip devices to build transparent micromodels. Current research predominantly relies on industrially produced regular spherical microplastics, with limited focus on macro- and micro-scale studies.
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Transport of Colloidal Microplastics Through Porous Media
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Researchers conducted column experiments to study how polystyrene microbeads move through quartz sand media, finding that microplastics are retarded by solid-phase sorption and hypothesizing that transport is most efficient through coarse-grained, well-sorted soils, with implications for predicting microplastic fate in terrestrial environments.
Transport Modeling of Microplastic Particles in Fractured Porous Media
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Researchers modeled the transport behavior of microplastic particles through fractured porous media such as soil and rock, addressing how poor plastic waste management accelerates microplastic contamination of groundwater and subsurface environments with serious implications for both ecosystems and human health.
Microplastic and Silica Colloid Transport in a Saturated Porous Medium Under Various Flow Directions: the Effect of Gravity
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Lab column experiments showed that gravity and flow direction significantly affect how microplastic and silica microspheres are transported and retained in saturated sandy media, with upward flow causing roughly twice the particle deposition compared to downward flow. Understanding these transport dynamics is essential for predicting how microplastics spread through groundwater systems and ultimately reach drinking water sources.
Unveiling Impact of Polyamide Microplastics on Ceftiofur Sodium Migration in Porous Media: Experimental and Modeling Insights
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Laboratory experiments showed that polyamide microplastics in soil slow the movement of the antibiotic ceftiofur sodium through porous ground layers, retaining more of the drug as microplastic concentrations increase. This matters because microplastics could extend the persistence of antibiotics in agricultural soils, potentially worsening antibiotic resistance in soil microbes and groundwater.
Toward Understanding the Transport of Nanoplastics in Subsurface Pores
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Researchers used quartz crystal microbalance experiments to measure how nanoplastics with different surface charges adsorb onto mineral surfaces in soils and groundwater, finding that surface charge compatibility between particles and mineral oxides strongly governs transport behavior. Ionic strength and humic acid also significantly modulated nanoplastic adsorption, providing key parameters for modeling their subsurface fate.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.