We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Impact of accelerated weathering on the leaching kinetics of stabiliser additives from microplastics
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers studied how environmental weathering affects the release of chemical additives from microplastics and found that the results varied widely depending on the type of plastic and additive. Contrary to common assumptions, weathering did not always increase chemical leaching; in fact, it only significantly changed release rates for three out of nine formulations tested. This means the health risks from microplastic additives are more complex than previously thought, as different plastic types behave very differently in the environment.
The release of additives from microplastics is known to harm organisms. In the environment, microplastics are exposed to weathering processes which are suspected to influence additive leaching kinetics, the extent and mechanism of which remain poorly understood. We examined the impact of weathering on stabiliser additive leaching kinetics using environmentally relevant accelerated weathering and leaching procedures. Nine binary polymer-additive formulations were specifically prepared, weathered, analysed, and evaluated for their leaching characteristics. Cumulative additive release (Ce) varied widely between formulations, ranging from 0.009 to 1162 µg/g. Values of Ce generally increased by polymer type in the order polyethylene terephthalate < polyamide 6 < polyethylene. The change in leaching kinetics after accelerated weathering was incongruous across the nine formulations, with a significant change in Ce only observed for three out of nine formulations. Physicochemical characterisation of the microplastics demonstrated that additive blooming was the primary mechanism influencing the leaching response to weathering. These findings highlight the dependency of additive fate on the polymer type, additive chemistry, and the extent of weathering exposure. This has significant implications for risk assessment and mitigation, where the general assumption that polymer weathering increases additive leaching may be too simplistic.
More Papers Like This
Release of additives and non-intentionally added substances from microplastics under environmentally relevant conditions
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers measured how chemical additives leach out of different types of microplastics under realistic environmental conditions and found wildly different release rates — spanning five orders of magnitude over 64 days — highlighting that the type of plastic matters greatly when assessing the chemical risks microplastics pose to ecosystems.
Influence of additives on long-term weathering of microplastic
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers studied how chemical additives incorporated into plastic polymers during manufacturing affect how those plastics weather and degrade over extended periods in the environment. They found that certain additives accelerated degradation while others slowed it, with additive breakdown products themselves potentially posing environmental risks. The findings highlight that understanding the long-term fate of microplastics requires knowing not just the polymer type but also what additives were included.
Abiotic weathering of plastic: Experimental contributions towards understanding the formation of microplastics and other plastic related particulate pollutants
AI summary Read the abstract
Scientists studied how the five most common types of plastic break down under realistic environmental conditions involving UV light, temperature changes, and humidity. They found that weathering follows complex, uneven pathways and that the microplastics produced can have very different physical properties depending on the additives in the original plastic. This matters because it means microplastics in the environment are more varied and unpredictable than lab studies using uniform particles suggest, complicating efforts to assess their health risks.
Effects of aging on environmental behavior of plastic additives: Migration, leaching, and ecotoxicity
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines how the aging and weathering of microplastics in the environment causes chemical additives like plasticizers, flame retardants, and antioxidants to leach out. As microplastics age through UV exposure, heat, and biological activity, they release these additives more readily, increasing the toxic risk to organisms. The findings are important because they show that older, weathered microplastics found in the real world may be more chemically hazardous than fresh plastics used in most lab studies.
Leaching behavior and toxic effect of plastic additives as influenced by aging process of microplastics
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examined how environmental aging processes affect the leaching behavior and toxicity of plastic additives from microplastics. Researchers found that UV exposure, weathering, and biological degradation alter the physicochemical properties of microplastics, increasing the release of harmful chemical additives and potentially amplifying their toxic effects on organisms in the environment.
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.