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Effects of Biofouling on the Properties and Sinking Behavior of Disposable Face Masks in Seawater: A Systematic Comparison with Microplastic Films and Particles
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A 16-week seawater incubation showed that disposable face masks accumulated biofilm at roughly ten times the rate of microplastic films or particles, causing the masks to eventually sink rather than float at the surface. This demonstrates that mask-derived microplastic fibers are rapidly transferred to the seafloor, where their ecological impacts and persistence may be far greater than previously assumed.
Excessive amounts of disposable face masks (DFMs) have become a major source of marine pollution. Herein, we utilized a 16-week microcosm incubation period in seawater combined with sinking/floating experiments to reveal changes in the surface properties of polypropylene microplastics (MPs) DFMs, films, and particles as well as their sinking mechanisms. The DFMs surface had a spatial meshlike structure that could accommodate many microbial and inorganic particles. We specifically found that the weight of the biofilm on the DFMs after 16 weeks of incubation reached 6430.7 mg/g, which was significantly higher than that of the MP films or particles. This biofouling led to higher surface roughness, adhesion, hygroscopicity, and composite density of the DFMs compared with the MP films and particles. After 8 weeks of incubation, the biofouled DFMs and films began to sink, while the particles remained floating due to their lower composite density. The biofouled DFMs sank faster than the biofouled films, indicating that the surface spatial structure, in addition to the size and shape of the MPs, played a regulating role in the sinking of MPs. Therefore, the complex “artificial interface” of DFMs differs significantly from the surface of conventional macro/microplastic materials, potentially representing a new class of plastic contaminants.
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