Exploring sorption of pesticides and PAHs in microplastics derived from plastic mulch films used in modern agriculture

The sorption and vector effect of microplastics on the transfer of pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as well as its impact on agriculture remain largely unexplored. This comparative study is first to investigate the sorption behavior of different pesticides and PAHs at environmentally realistic concentrations by model microplastics and microplastics derived from polyethylene mulch films. Sorption was found to be up to 90% higher in the case of microplastics derived from mulch films as opposed to pure polyethylene microspheres. For microplastics from mulch films, the sorption percentages for pesticides in media containing CaCl were reported to be: pyridate (75.68% and 52.44%), fenazaquin (48.54% and 32.02%), pyridaben (45.04% and 56.70%), bifenthrin (74.27% and 25.88%), etofenprox (82.16% and 54.16%) and pyridalyl (97.00% and 29.74%) at 5 μg/L and 200 μg/L pesticide concentration levels respectively. For PAHs, the sorption amounts were: naphthalene (22.03% and 48.00%), fluorene (38.99% and 39.00%), anthracene (64.62% and 68.02%) and pyrene (75.65% and 86.38%) at 5 μg/L and 200 μg/L PAH concentration levels respectively. Sorption was influenced by the octanol-water partition coefficient (log K) and ionic strength. Kinetics of the process in the case of sorption of pesticides were best explained by pseudo-first order kinetic model (R between 0.90 and 0.98) while the best fitting isotherm model was Dubinin-Radushkevich (R between 0.92 and 0.99). Results suggest the presence of surface level physi-sorption through a micropore volume filling mechanism and the role of hydrophobic and electrostatic forces. Pesticide desorption data in polyethylene mulch films indicate that pesticides with high log K were almost completely retained in mulch films, while those with lower log K were desorbed rapidly into the surrounding media. Our study highlights the role of microplastics from plastic mulch films as vectors for pesticide and PAH transport at environmentally realistic concentrations and the factors that influence it.