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Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (pet) as Secondary Microplastics Under Three Different Environmental Conditions
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Researchers investigated the degradation of PET bottles used as biofilm media in wastewater treatment plants under indoor, outdoor, and UV-irradiated conditions over seven months, measuring secondary microplastic generation. They found that UV irradiation dramatically accelerated PET fragmentation, with microplastic concentrations rising from 15 particles per liter at month one to nearly 249 particles per liter by month seven, with fragments and transparent particles dominating.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles have been widely used as biofilm media for residentialscale Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) in Indonesia because of their advantages such as being inert. PET bottles can also be degraded as secondary microplastic contaminants during the operation of WWTPs. This study aimed to investigate the possibility of degradation of PET as secondary microplastics. The research was carried out in distilled water under three different environmental conditions (indoor laboratory scale, outdoor laboratory scale, and field-scale). The abundance, size, color, and shape of microplastics were observed through a light binocular microscope with a 100x magnification combined with Image Raster 3.0 software. Data of environmental properties (i.e., DO, temperature and pH) were collected. The solubility potential of PET as microplastics was identified after 7 months of indoor and outdoor laboratory experiments with concentrations of 18.67 7.02 MP/L and 44.00 12.77 MP/L, respectively. Experiments on UV irradiation showed faster degradation of PET and the presence of microplastics increased along with the exposure period with concentration at the first month, the second month, the third month, and the seventh month were 15.33 7.09 MP/L, 51.67 9.61 MP/L, 54.33 8.39 MP/L, and 248.67 29.09 MP/L, respectively. The major microplastics characteristics were fragments (92.37%), fiber (7.63%), transparent particle color (82.85%), and particle size of 10 m (61.04%).
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Photo-induced degradation of single-use polyethylene terephthalate microplastics under laboratory and outdoor environmental conditions
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Researchers tested how sunlight, water, and physical wear work together to break down PET microplastics, the type commonly found in plastic bottles and food packaging. Over 60 days, combined UV light and water exposure caused significant chemical degradation of the plastic surfaces. This matters because as microplastics break down in the environment, they release smaller fragments and potentially harmful chemicals that are easier for organisms to absorb.
UV Irradiation of Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polypropylene and Detection of Formed Microplastic Particles Down to 1 μm
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UV irradiation experiments showed that both polypropylene and PET plastics rapidly shed microplastic particles down to 1 micrometer in size when exposed to UV light in water, with recycled PET producing significantly more particles than virgin PET. This confirms that UV weathering — occurring continuously outdoors — is an active mechanism generating very small microplastics from everyday plastic products and packaging.
A Comparative Study About the Amount of Microplastic in Polyethylene Terephtalate (pet) Drinking Water That Was Exposed and Not Exposed by Sun at Environmental Health Laboratory of Poltekkes Kemenkes Semarang at the Year 2020
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Researchers compared the amount of microplastics released from different brands and conditions of PET water bottles, finding that UV exposure and bottle age affect how many particles leach into the water. This study highlights bottled water as a direct route of microplastic ingestion for consumers.
Photodegradation-driven microparticle release from commercial plastic water bottles
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Researchers exposed seventy PET plastic water bottles to sunlight for ten weeks and measured the microparticles released into the water as the plastic degraded. They found that microparticle concentrations built up to 14-20 micrograms per liter within the first 30 days before plateauing, and that thinner-walled bottles with higher crystallinity released fewer particles. The study demonstrates that sunlight-driven degradation of plastic bottles is a meaningful source of microplastics in bottled drinking water.
Changes in the Chemical Composition of Polyethylene Terephthalate under UV Radiation in Various Environmental Conditions.
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Researchers exposed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to UV radiation under controlled humidity conditions and tracked changes in its chemical composition, finding progressive oxidation and chain scission that alter the polymer's surface properties. Understanding how PET degrades under UV exposure is important for predicting how PET microplastics form and what chemical changes make them more or less bioavailable.
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