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Vector effects of microplastics on organic pollutants: sorption-desorption and bioaccumulation kinetics
Summary
This review synthesizes existing research on whether microplastics act as carriers that increase the bioaccumulation of organic pollutants in aquatic organisms. Researchers found evidence that microplastics can adsorb hydrophobic pollutants from water and release them in the gut of organisms that ingest them, potentially enhancing toxic effects. The study acknowledges the ongoing debate between vector and no-vector perspectives and outlines a consensus based on the available sorption, desorption, and bioaccumulation data.
Microplastics (MPs) has their inherent detrimental effects on organism's physiology, additionally, they can sorb hydrophobic organic pollutants (OPs) from water, transport, and leach in the gut of aquatic biota, resulting enhanced bioaccumulation (vector effects). Thus, MPs mediated enhanced bioaccumulation can cause combined or synergistic toxicity in ingesters. Several laboratory and field studies have confirmed the ability of MPs to adsorb/absorb co-contaminants and suggested numbers of chemical and environmental factors affecting sorption kinetics. Besides, studies have also shown that these sorbed chemical can be leached in intestine primarily due to bile salts and governed by range of physico-chemical and biological factors, and resulted enhanced bioacumulation. However, some studies have declined the vector possibilities of MPs and emphasized multimode assimilation rather than single uptake pathway from MPs. Despite deliberate investigations, compilation and synthesis of existing reports on sorption-desorption process and subsequent vector or no-vector effects in biota are still lacking. Therefore, this review comprehends and synthesize existing data to provide summarized insights on pollutant binding, transport, leaching and consequent increased bioaccumulation. This review also compared the debate of vector vs no-vector reports and outlined a clear consensus.