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Interactions between polyaromatic hydrocarbons and microplastics: Environmental mechanisms and ecotoxicological impacts
Summary
This review examines how microplastics interact with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a class of toxic organic pollutants found throughout the environment. Evidence indicates that microplastics can adsorb these pollutants and alter their availability and toxicity to living organisms, with effects depending on plastic type, pollutant properties, and environmental conditions. The study identifies critical gaps in long-term exposure research and calls for standardized testing methods to better assess these combined risks.
Microplastics (MPs) are emerging contaminants that act as vectors for organic pollutants such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), altering their fate, bioavailability and toxicity in ecosystems. The present review emphasizes on the incidence of these complexes across marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Their adsorption-desorption behavior is governed by MP properties (eg size, shape, polymer types), PAH properties (eg hydrophobicity, molecular weight) and environmental factors (eg pH, temperature). The reported toxicological effects of PAH-MP interactions on living systems based on both enhanced and mitigated PAH bioavailability are presented, backed by recent literature reports. A thorough bibliometric analysis of 300 + studies reveals growth in this field but also highlights critical gaps in chronic exposure studies, multiple pollutant toxicity and standardization of test protocols. Hence, this review provides valuable insights into interactions between PAHs and MPs shedding light on various aspects facilitating further research in this area.