What happens when plastics break down into microplastics and nanoplastics?

Summary

Researchers Jeff Farner and Bukola Alimi are investigating the chemical and physical transformations that occur as plastic pollution weathers into microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment, tracking how particle properties change over time. Understanding the weathering process is critical because smaller nanoplastic particles exhibit greater biological uptake efficiency and may cross cellular barriers — including the gut, lung, and blood-brain barrier — at higher rates than larger microplastics.