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Aggregation of microplastics and clay particles in the nearshore environment: Characteristics, influencing factors, and implications

Water Research 2022 83 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 60 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Feng Qi, Xiaohan Yang, Xiaohan Yang, Feng Qi, Xiaohan Yang, Feng Qi, Feng Qi, Feng Qi, Xiaohan Yang, Feng Qi, Chunjiang An Michel C. Boufadel, Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Feng Qi, Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Xiaohan Yang, Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Xiaohan Yang, Chunjiang An Michel C. Boufadel, Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Chunjiang An Michel C. Boufadel, Chunjiang An Chunjiang An Michel C. Boufadel, Xiaohan Yang, Wen Ji, Xiaohan Yang, Chunjiang An Michel C. Boufadel, Xiaohan Yang, Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Xiaohan Yang, Michel C. Boufadel, Michel C. Boufadel, Chunjiang An Feng Qi, Chunjiang An

Summary

Researchers studied how microplastics interact with natural clay particles in coastal waters, examining how factors like salinity, pH, and particle properties influence their aggregation behavior. They found that microplastics readily form clusters with clay particles, which changes how they settle and move through nearshore environments. Understanding this aggregation process is important for predicting where microplastics end up in coastal ecosystems and their potential exposure to marine organisms.

Since nearly half of the world's population lives near the coast, coastal areas have become hotspots for microplastic (MP) pollution due to human activity. The ubiquity of natural colloids in coastal waters plays a critical role in the potential fate of, and risks posed by, MPs. Nevertheless, far less has been known regarding the aggregation of MPs with inorganic natural clay colloids, especially in the complicated nearshore environment. In this study, the aggregation behavior of MPs as well as the interaction between MPs and clay particles were investigated under different nearshore environmental conditions (MP-to-clay ratio, salinity gradient, humic acid concentration, and wave energy). The aggregation behavior was subjected by the repulsive energy barrier between particles and external energy transferred to the system. The low energy associated with mild wave conditions was favorable for the occurrence of aggregation, whereas sustained high energy under intense wave conditions was found to be detrimental to the aggregation behavior, and the aggregates were prone to fragmentation even if particles coalesced into large clusters. The analysis for the environmental fate of MPs demonstrated that the shoreline was likely to be the sink for most MPs ultimately.

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