Monitoring microplastic–contaminant sorption processes in real-time using membrane introduction mass spectrometry

Microplastics are environmentally ubiquitous and their role in the fate and distribution of trace contaminants is of emerging concern. We report the first use of membrane introduction mass spectrometry to directly monitor the rate and extent of microplastic-contaminant sorption. Target contaminant (naphthalene, anthracene, pyrene, and nonylphenol) sorption behaviours were examined at nanomolar concentrations with four plastic types: low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS). Under the conditions employed here, short-term sorption kinetics were assessed using on-line mass spectrometry for up to one hour. Subsequent sorption was followed by periodically measuring contaminant concentrations for up to three weeks. Short-term sorption followed first order kinetics with rate constants that scaled with hydrophobicity for the homologous series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Sorption rate constants on LDPE for equimolar solutions of naphthalene, anthracene, and pyrene were 0.5, 2.0, and 2.2 h-1, respectively, while nonylphenol did not sorb to pristine plastics over this time period. Similar trends among contaminants were observed for other pristine plastics with 4- to 10-fold faster sorption rates associated with LDPE when compared to PS and PP. Sorption was largely complete after three weeks, with the percent analyte sorbed ranging from 40-100% across various microplastic-contaminant combinations. Photo-oxidative ageing of LDPE had little effect on PAH sorption. However, a marked increase in nonylphenol sorption was consistent with increased hydrogen-bonding interactions. This work provides kinetic insights into surface interactions and describes a powerful experimental platform to directly observe contaminant sorption behaviours in complex samples under a variety of environmentally relevant conditions.