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Color: An Important but Overlooked Factor for Plastic Photoaging and Microplastic Formation
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This viewpoint article argues that the color of plastic materials is an important but overlooked factor in how quickly plastics degrade and form microplastics through photoaging. The authors highlight that colored pigments and dyes can influence the rate of UV-driven plastic breakdown, which has implications for predicting microplastic formation in the environment.
ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVViewpointNEXTColor: An Important but Overlooked Factor for Plastic Photoaging and Microplastic FormationXiaoli ZhaoXiaoli ZhaoState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, ChinaMore by Xiaoli ZhaoView Biographyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5671-389X, Junyu WangJunyu WangState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, ChinaMore by Junyu Wang, Kenneth Mei Yee LeungKenneth Mei Yee LeungState Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution and Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaMore by Kenneth Mei Yee Leung, and Fengchang Wu*Fengchang WuState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China*Phone: +86-010-84931804. Email: [email protected]More by Fengchang WuView Biographyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8595-2243Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 56, 13, 9161–9163Publication Date (Web):June 21, 2022Publication History Received6 April 2022Published online21 June 2022Published inissue 5 July 2022https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c02402https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c02402article-commentaryACS PublicationsCopyright © 2022 American Chemical Society. This publication is available under these Terms of Use. Request reuse permissions This publication is free to access through this site. Learn MoreArticle Views9860Altmetric-Citations9LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail PDF (2 MB) Get e-AlertscloseSUBJECTS:Color,Electromagnetic radiation,Light absorption,Plastics,Quantum mechanics Get e-Alerts
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Differential photoaging behaviors of different colored commercial polyethylene microplastics in water: The important role of color characteristics
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Researchers compared the photoaging behavior of transparent and five differently colored commercial polyethylene microplastics under UV exposure. They found that transparent microplastics degraded fastest, followed by yellow and red, while blue and green were most resistant, with the pattern correlating to color wavelength, lightness, and saturation characteristics. The findings demonstrate that color plays an important and previously overlooked role in determining how quickly microplastics break down in the environment.
Critical Impact of Colored Pigments on the Long-Term Photoaging of Polyethylene Microplastics in Coastal Seawater Environments
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Researchers examined how colored pigments affect the long-term photoaging of polyethylene microplastics in coastal seawater under UV irradiation, finding that pigment type significantly alters the rate and character of surface degradation and associated contaminant release.
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A three-year outdoor experiment found that plastic color significantly affects how fast plastics break down into microplastics, with red, blue, and green colored plastics degrading much faster than black, white, and silver ones. Black and white plastics were found to resist degradation for over 45 years, while certain colored pigments allow UV light to break down the plastic, accelerating the formation of harmful microplastics.
Response of microplastic color to photoaging and its influence on the release characteristics of derived dissolved organic matters
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Researchers investigated how the color of microplastics affects their degradation under sunlight and the release of dissolved organic matter. The study found that red and yellow microplastics degraded faster due to stronger ultraviolet absorption, releasing more dissolved organic matter, and that long-term exposure to degradation byproducts from certain colored microplastics inhibited plant seed germination and antioxidant enzyme activity.
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