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Transport of mercury–microplastic complexes in porous media: Roles of Hg-affinitive colloidal particles and surface functionalities
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Researchers discovered that mercury-affinitive molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles can strip mercury from microplastic surfaces and co-transport it through porous media, with mobility depending critically on microplastic surface charge, revealing an overlooked colloid-mediated pathway for heavy metal migration in soil and groundwater systems.
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Sorption of Potentially Toxic Elements to Microplastics
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics can adsorb toxic heavy metals from their surrounding environment, effectively acting as vehicles that concentrate and transport harmful elements. This sorption behavior increases the potential risk microplastics pose to organisms that ingest them, including humans.
Microplastic migration in porous media at various scales: a review
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics move through porous media like soil and sediment across multiple spatial scales, finding that particle surface properties and environmental conditions both influence migration but remain poorly understood. Better understanding of this process is critical for assessing how microplastics spread through terrestrial and groundwater environments.
Sorption of Potentially Toxic Elements to Microplastics
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Microplastics readily sorb potentially toxic elements including heavy metals and metalloids from surrounding water, acting as concentrated carriers of these hazardous substances through aquatic food webs. This sorption capacity amplifies the toxicological risk of microplastic ingestion for organisms, including humans who consume contaminated seafood.
Pollutants Bioavailability and Toxicological Risk from Microplastics
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Microplastics function as vectors for toxic chemicals — including persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals — adsorbing and concentrating these compounds before being ingested by organisms, which elevates bioavailability and toxicological risk beyond the particles themselves. This chemical hitchhiker effect means microplastic ingestion exposes organisms, including humans, to a broader and more potent cocktail of contaminants than particle size alone would suggest.
Pollutants Bioavailability and Toxicological Risk from Microplastics
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as carriers for toxic chemicals, making them available to living organisms across all environments — from mountain peaks to ocean trenches. The combined chemical and physical burden microplastics place on organisms raises significant concerns for long-term human and ecological health.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.