Adsorption of organic pollutants on (degradable) microplastics and the influences on their bioavailability

Microplastics are increasing emerging contaminants in the environment, and the industry production and daily life as well as debris of agriculture mulch are the main sources. As the substitute of traditional non-degradable plastics, the use of degradable plastics has increased continually in recent years, however, few researches have referred to degradable plastics as a potential source of microplastics. Research about microplastics in terrestrial environment has been primarily focused on non-degradable microplastics; it has been found that microplastics could adsorb large quantities of organic pollutants by partition and surface adsorption due to their hydrophobicity and large specific surface area, which further influences the bioavailability of these adsorbed pollutants. Besides, in response to the weathering effects,various additives added during the production of plastics would gradually enter the environment. Compared with non-degradable microplastics, degradable microplastics own varied properties which lead to different interaction patterns between microplastics and organic pollutants as well as influences on the bioavailability of pollutants. Besides, degradable microplastics would undergo changes of sizes and surface properties in relatively short periods after entering the environment; and these changes would have significant impacts on the adsorption and bioavailability of organic pollutants, which deserve intensive research.