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Release of the additive metals from 3 commonly used plastics during the degradation under the treatment of UV irradiation

Ecotoxicology 2021 19 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 35 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Lulu Zhang, Jinping Peng, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Wenhua Feng, Nian Tang, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Xiangling Tan, Xiang‐Rong Xu Nian Tang, Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Lulu Zhang, Jinping Peng, Canjie Huang, Nian Tang, Nian Tang, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Nian Tang, Nian Tang, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Canjie Huang, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Lulu Zhang, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Nian Tang, Jinping Peng, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Lulu Zhang, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Nian Tang, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiangling Tan, Xiangling Tan, Xiangling Tan, Hengxiang Li, Xiangling Tan, Jinping Peng, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Hengxiang Li, Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiangling Tan, Hengxiang Li, Lulu Zhang, Lulu Zhang, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu Jinping Peng, Xiang‐Rong Xu Xiang‐Rong Xu Hengxiang Li, Xiang‐Rong Xu

Summary

Researchers measured the release of heavy metals (chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, and lead) from three common plastics as they degraded under UV light. As the plastics broke down into microplastics, they released these metals — many of which are added as stabilizers or colorants during manufacturing. This shows that microplastics in the environment carry not just plastic fragments but also a cargo of toxic metals.

Polymers

PE PET PP PVC

Additive metals are continuously released into the environment during the photo-degradation of plastics into microplastics, but this phenomenon has not been reported by many studies. Herein, we investigated the surface morphology changes along with the release of additive metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, and Pb) during the degradation of three types of plastics, i.e., polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), under UV light irradiation. FTIR results showed that 168 days of UV-irradiation led to the primary degradation of each plastic sample. The metal release could be found after 70 days UV-irradiation. The rate of metal release for the three plastics showed the following order: PP > PET ≈ PVC. In addition, the distribution and concentrations of the metals in the plastic could influence the release characteristics of each metal. Low release rate of Fe symbolized by the total metal release in the range of 4.28 ~10.27% as evident from the results of the primary degradation experiment, indicated the release of Fe occurring in the late stage of the plastic degradation or even in the microplastics-formation stage. As for the release of Co from PP, it was far lower than that of the other elements (0.35%), showing the same release characteristics as that of Fe. On the contrary, the release ratio of Pb from PP was 78.89% and was mainly concentrated in the early stage of the plastic degradation. The results help understanding the release behavior of the additive metals during the degradation of typical plastics under ultraviolet light irradiation.

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