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Plastics: Photodegradations and Mechanisms
Summary
This chapter detailed the photodegradation mechanisms by which UV radiation breaks polymer chains in common plastics, progressively generating smaller microplastic and nanoplastic fragments without eliminating the material from the environment. Understanding these photochemical pathways clarifies why sunlight-exposed plastic waste — in oceans, soils, and landfills — continuously generates new microplastic particles that accumulate in ecosystems and food chains.
This book chapter, which focuses on the underlying mechanisms, offers a thorough description of the photodegradation of plastics and the subsequent creation of microplastics. Plastic photodegradation is recognized as a key mechanism contributing to the production of...