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Insights into the Photoaging Behavior of Microplastics: Environmental Fate and Ecological Risk
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This review examines how sunlight ages microplastics in the environment, breaking them into smaller pieces and changing their surface chemistry in ways that make them more toxic and more likely to carry other pollutants. Sun-aged microplastics release dissolved organic matter that can harm aquatic life, and their roughened surfaces attract more bacteria and chemical contaminants. Since most microplastics in nature have been exposed to sunlight, their real-world health risks may be higher than studies using fresh lab plastics suggest.
The widespread occurrence and potential ecotoxicity of microplastics (MPs) have attracted global concern. In the natural environment, MPs undergo various weathering processes, with photoaging as the dominant mechanism. Strengthening the understanding of MP photoaging behavior is essential for elucidating their environmental fate and ecological risks. This work provides a comprehensive overview of ultraviolet (UV)-induced photoaging of MPs, progressing from general oxidative mechanisms to polymer-specific degradation and environmentally persistent free radical (EPFR)-mediated pathways. Mechanistic insights are translated into measurable indicators through the systematic evaluation of representative photoaging indices. Polymer properties and environmental conditions are examined to identify factors governing these transformations, integrating recent advances into an updated synthesis. The biotoxicity of photoaged MPs is critically assessed, with particular attention to the release of dissolved organic matter (DOM) as a previously underrecognized ecological stressor. Changes in surface properties significantly impact the adsorption of coexisting pollutants, the degradation of surrounding contaminants, and the transport dynamics of MPs across environmental compartments. This work offers a novel perspective by linking photoaging and plastisphere formation, with microbial colonization and surface aging jointly shaping the fate, mobility, and ecological interactions of MPs. This review advances the understanding of MP photoaging by bridging degradation mechanisms with ecological consequences.
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This review examines how ultraviolet light from sunlight causes microplastics in water to age and change their physical and chemical properties, including surface texture, chemical structure, and water-repelling ability. Researchers found that photoaged microplastics become better at carrying other pollutants and may pose greater environmental risks than fresh plastics. The study highlights that aged microplastics can also increase biological toxicity and human exposure risks compared to their original form.
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This review examines how sunlight breaks down micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, changing their surface properties and making them interact differently with pollutants and living organisms. Sun-aged plastic particles can become more toxic to aquatic life and affect soil microbe communities, but many questions remain about these processes under real-world conditions.
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This review explains how microplastics age and break down in the environment through sunlight, heat, and chemical reactions, and why this aging process matters. As microplastics weather, their surfaces change in ways that make them better at absorbing toxic pollutants and more harmful to living organisms. Understanding these aging processes is important because the microplastics people encounter in food and water have typically been weathered, meaning they may be more dangerous than the fresh plastics used in most lab studies.
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