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Aging of microplastics affects their surface properties, thermal decomposition, additives leaching and interactions in simulated fluids
The Science of The Total Environment2020
338 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 60
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Dongqin He,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Dongqin He,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Dongqin He,
Xiangliang Pan
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yaoyao Zhao,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Yu Li,
Yu Li,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Yahui Xiang,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Dongqin He,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Yu Li,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Hongwei Luo,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Dongqin He,
Xiangliang Pan
Dongqin He,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Dongqin He,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Dongqin He,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Dongqin He,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Summary
Researchers studied how environmental aging changes the properties of commercial microplastics and their behavior in simulated stomach and intestinal fluids. They found that aging caused surface cracking and fragmentation, reduced heat resistance, and increased the release of pigment chemicals into digestive fluids. These released pigments were shown to interact with digestive enzymes, suggesting that weathered microplastics may pose greater health risks than fresh ones when ingested.
Most microplastics (MPs) have undergone extensive aging in the environment. Aged MPs exhibit different physical and chemical properties from unaged ones. Here, we studied the effects of accelerated aging on the characteristics and pyrolysis of commercial pigmented MPs, as well as pigments leaching and their interactions in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids of mammals. We report that the carbonyl index, surface area, and color change of MPs increased after aging treatment. Cracks and fragmentation of MPs facilitated the accessibility of light and oxygen to internal layer and therefore accelerated the aging process. TGA/GC-MS analysis showed that the high temperature resistance of MPs decreased after aging. Thermal decomposition of pigments and polyethylene occurred in temperature ranges of 340-406 °C and 406-550 °C, respectively. Mono (di)-alkenes and saturated alkanes were the thermal decomposition products of polyethylene. Aging of MPs also caused an increased release of pigments and prolonged aging time led to more release in simulated fluids. Pigments would result in fluorescence quenching of the enzymes through binding interactions once they were released from MPs into simulated fluids. Charge neutralization and polymer bridging accounted for the formation of pigment-enzyme complexes and flocs. These novel findings will allow us to better assess how aging process affects the characteristics, leaching, and toxicity of MPs.