Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Microplastics play a minor role in tetracycline sorption in the presence of dissolved organic matter

Researchers studied the sorption of the antibiotic tetracycline onto microplastics in the presence of dissolved organic matter, finding that dissolved organics competed strongly for binding sites on microplastics, meaning real-world conditions substantially reduce microplastic uptake of tetracycline.

2018 Environmental Pollution 439 citations
Article Tier 2

Influencing Mechanisms of Exogenous and Endogenous Dissolved Organic Matter on the Adsorption of Tetracycline on UV ‐Light Aged Microplastics

Researchers investigated how humic acid and microplastic-derived dissolved organic matter (MP-DOM) influence tetracycline adsorption onto UV-aged polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics, finding that UV aging increased surface area and functional groups on the plastics while dissolved organic matter altered adsorption capacity through competitive and facilitative mechanisms.

2025 Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation
Article Tier 2

Microplastics inhibit oxytetracycline degradation in soils: Insights into biofilm-enhanced adsorption and microbial community shifts

Researchers examined how polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics affect oxytetracycline degradation in organic fertilizer-amended paddy soil, finding that both plastic types significantly inhibited antibiotic degradation by lowering degradation rates 11.1-20.2%. Biofilm formation on microplastic surfaces enhanced oxytetracycline adsorption and shifted microbial community composition, reducing the abundance of antibiotic-degrading microorganisms.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Sorption behavior of oxytetracycline on microplastics and the influence of environmental factors in groundwater: Experimental investigation and molecular dynamics simulation

This study examined how oxytetracycline antibiotic adsorbs onto different types of microplastics and how environmental factors such as pH, salinity, and UV exposure influence sorption behavior. The findings indicate microplastics can act as vectors transporting antibiotics through aquatic environments.

2024 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of oxytetracycline in particulate organic matter in soils and sediments: Roles of pH, ionic strength and temperature

Researchers studied how particulate organic matter from different soil and sediment types binds the antibiotic oxytetracycline, finding that sorption strength varied tenfold across environments and was strongly influenced by pH, calcium ion competition, and the organic carbon content of the source material.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhance in mobility of oxytetracycline in a sandy loamy soil caused by the presence of microplastics

Researchers used batch and column experiments to study how the presence of polyamide (PA) microplastics affects the sorption and transport of the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) in sandy loamy soil. They found that PA microplastics increased soil pH and reduced overall OTC sorption, leading to enhanced mobility of the antibiotic through the soil column, raising concerns about accelerated antibiotic transport to groundwater in microplastic-contaminated agricultural soils.

2020 Environmental Pollution 98 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics on Ciprofloxacin Adsorption Dynamics and Mechanisms in Soil

Researchers investigated how microplastics affect the adsorption dynamics and mechanisms of ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic) in soil, finding that microplastics competed with soil particles for antibiotic binding and altered the overall fate and mobility of ciprofloxacin in the soil environment.

2025 Toxics 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Do microplastics affect sulfamethoxazole sorption in soil? Experiments on polymers, ionic strength and fulvic acid

Researchers investigated how microplastics affect the sorption of sulfamethoxazole antibiotic in soil, finding that polystyrene microplastics increased antibiotic adsorption rates but reduced equilibrium adsorption capacity, with ionic strength and fulvic acid further modifying the interaction in complex soil environments.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption characteristics of antibiotics on microplastics: The effect of surface contamination with an anionic surfactant

Researchers found that the common anionic surfactant SDBS coating polystyrene and polyethylene microplastics significantly altered their adsorption of the antibiotics oxytetracycline and norfloxacin. SDBS changed the surface charge and hydrophobicity of MPs in ways that increased antibiotic binding, suggesting surfactant-contaminated MPs pose a greater risk as antibiotic vectors in aquatic environments.

2022 Chemosphere 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption and desorption mechanisms of oxytetracycline on poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics after degradation: The effects of biofilms, Cu(II), water pH, and dissolved organic matter

Researchers found that biodegradation significantly increases the ability of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) microplastics to adsorb the antibiotic oxytetracycline, and that the presence of copper ions further amplifies this adsorption, raising concerns about how degrading biodegradable plastics transport pharmaceutical contaminants.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into behavior and mechanism of tetracycline adsorption on virgin and soil-exposed microplastics

Researchers studied how common microplastics absorb the antibiotic tetracycline, finding that soil-exposed plastics absorbed significantly more than fresh ones, with polylactic acid showing the greatest increase at 88%. The study revealed that environmental weathering changes how microplastics interact with antibiotics through different physical and chemical mechanisms. These findings are important for understanding how microplastics may carry and spread antibiotic contamination in soil environments.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 110 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of tetracycline antibiotics by microplastics, associated mechanisms, and risk assessments

Researchers systematically investigated how three common microplastic types adsorb tetracycline antibiotics. The study found that polystyrene had the highest adsorption capacity at 178.57 micrograms per gram, followed by PVC and polyethylene, and that PVC and polystyrene strongly retained the antibiotics with minimal desorption, raising concerns about compound pollution from microplastic-antibiotic combinations in the environment.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

A contrasting alteration of sulfamethoxazole bioaccessibility in two different soils amended with polyethylene microplastic: In-situ measurement using diffusive gradients in thin films

Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics altered the bioaccessibility of the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole differently in two soil types, increasing it in sandy soil but decreasing it in clay soil, demonstrating that soil composition critically mediates microplastic-antibiotic interactions.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 27 citations
Article Tier 2

The effects of environmental conditions on the enrichment of antibiotics on microplastics in simulated natural water column

Researchers investigated how environmental ageing conditions affect the ability of microplastics to adsorb the antibiotic tetracycline, finding that pH, ionic strength, and temperature had little effect, but humic acid significantly reduced adsorption capacity. The reduction was attributed to humic acid covering plastic surfaces, altering hydrophobicity, and competing for adsorption sites via electrostatic repulsion.

2018 Environmental Research 121 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of tetracyclines onto polyethylene microplastics: A combined study of experiment and molecular dynamics simulation

The adsorption of three tetracycline antibiotics (TC, CTC, and OTC) onto polyethylene microplastics was studied in aqueous solution through a combination of batch experiments and computational modeling. Results showed that hydrophobic interactions and surface properties of PE microplastics drive tetracycline adsorption, contributing to antibiotic accumulation on environmental plastic debris.

2020 Chemosphere 201 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of dissolved organic matter on the photodegradation of tetracycline in the presence of microplastics

Researchers investigated how dissolved organic matter affects the photodegradation of the antibiotic tetracycline in the presence of polystyrene microplastics under simulated sunlight. The study found that both dissolved organic matter and microplastics enhanced tetracycline breakdown, but humic acid had the most pronounced accelerating effect regardless of whether microplastics were present.

2023 Chemosphere 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics influence the fate of antibiotics in freshwater environments: Biofilm formation and its effect on adsorption behavior

Researchers found that biofilm formation on microplastics in freshwater environments enhanced antibiotic adsorption by 24-51%, with potential pathogens detected in all biofilm communities across PVC, PA, and HDPE plastics.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 136 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic insight into different adsorption of norfloxacin on microplastics in simulated natural water and real surface water

This study compared the adsorption of norfloxacin antibiotic onto microplastics in simulated natural water versus real surface water, finding that natural organic matter and competing ions in real water significantly reduced antibiotic uptake by microplastics.

2021 Environmental Pollution 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of antibiotics on microplastics

This study examined the adsorption of antibiotics onto different microplastic types, finding that sorption capacity depended on both the antibiotic's chemical properties and the plastic's surface characteristics, with implications for antibiotic transport in aquatic environments.

2018 Environmental Pollution 1314 citations
Article Tier 2

[Research Progress on Adsorption, Migration, and Compound Toxicity of Microplastics and Antibiotics in Soil].

This review examined how microplastics adsorb antibiotics in soil, drive their co-migration, and produce combined toxic effects on soil fauna, plants, and microorganisms. Hydrophobic partitioning, electrostatic interactions, and hydrogen bonding are the primary adsorption mechanisms, and co-exposure often amplifies toxicity to soil ecosystems.

2025 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Adsorption Behavior of Tetracycline by Polyethylene Microplastics in Groundwater Environment

This study examined how polyethylene microplastics adsorb tetracycline antibiotic under groundwater conditions, testing the influence of pH, pollutant concentration, aquifer media, dissolved organic matter, and ionic strength. Adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm, with equilibrium reached at 48 hours, suggesting PE microplastics can facilitate antibiotic transport in groundwater.

2025 Sustainability 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of co-loading of polyethylene microplastics and ciprofloxacin on the antibiotic degradation efficiency and microbial community structure in soil

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin together affect soil microbial communities and antibiotic degradation. The study found that co-loading of microplastics with antibiotics altered microbial community structure and affected the rate of antibiotic degradation in soil, suggesting microplastic contamination may influence how soils process pharmaceutical pollutants.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 142 citations
Article Tier 2

Characteristics and mechanisms of dissolved organic matter leached by photodegradation of polyethylene microplastics: role of adsorbed antibiotics

Researchers investigated how UV-driven photoaging of polyethylene microplastics and their interactions with the antibiotic ofloxacin affect the release of dissolved organic matter in water. They found that UV exposure significantly increased DOM release from pristine microplastics, while antibiotic-adsorbed microplastics initially released different molecular weight compounds before converging to similar patterns. The study reveals that aging microplastics and their co-contaminants create complex secondary pollution dynamics in aquatic environments.

2026 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of Macrolide Antibiotics and a Metabolite onto Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polyethylene Microplastics in Aquatic Environments

Researchers studied how four macrolide antibiotics and a metabolite adsorb onto polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene microplastics in water. They found that antibiotic adsorption followed a linear model, with PET showing higher adsorption capacity than polyethylene. The study suggests that microplastics in aquatic environments may serve as carriers for antibiotics, potentially affecting how these pharmaceutical pollutants are distributed in water systems.

2024 Antibiotics 17 citations