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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Quantifying theEffect of Dietary Microplastics onthe Potential for Biological Uptake of Environmental Contaminantsand Polymer Additives
ClearMeasuring the Effect of Dietary Microplastic on Biomagnification Potential of Environmental Contaminants and Plastic Additives
Researchers measured the effect of dietary microplastic ingestion on the biomagnification potential of hydrophobic organic contaminants and plastic additives in the gastrointestinal tract, testing competing hypotheses about whether microplastics increase, decrease, or negligibly affect contaminant uptake.
Uptake/release of organic contaminants by microplastics: A critical review of influencing factors, mechanistic modeling, and thermodynamic prediction methods
This review critically examines the ability of microplastics to absorb and release organic chemical pollutants, evaluating the factors that influence this process and existing predictive models. Understanding whether microplastics act as significant vectors for pollutants into food chains requires better thermodynamic models that account for real-world complexity.
Relative importance of microplastics as a pathway for the transfer of hydrophobic organic chemicals to marine life
Researchers assessed the relative importance of microplastics as a pathway for transferring hydrophobic organic chemicals to marine life. The study suggests that while microplastics can carry high concentrations of contaminants, factors like gut surfactants, pH, and temperature influence desorption rates, and modeling indicates other exposure routes may be more significant in natural environments.
A Thermodynamic Approach for Assessing the Environmental Exposure of Chemicals Absorbed to Microplastic
Researchers used thermodynamic and multimedia modeling to assess how microplastics influence the transport and bioavailability of persistent toxic substances in marine environments. The study suggests that chemicals with high hydrophobicity may partition to polyethylene microplastic, but overall, microplastic is likely of limited importance as a vector for delivering toxic substances to marine organisms compared to other exposure pathways.
Modeling the Role of Microplastics in Bioaccumulation of Organic Chemicals to Marine Aquatic Organisms. A Critical Review
Researchers reviewed mathematical models used to predict whether swallowing microplastics causes aquatic animals to absorb more toxic chemicals, finding that the effect depends on whether contaminants are more concentrated in the plastic or in the animal's tissues. In real-world conditions where animals are already exposed to contaminants, microplastics may actually pull chemicals out of tissues as often as they add them, complicating the assumption that microplastic ingestion always increases contamination.
Modelling the oral uptake of chemicals : the role of plastic, passive diffusion and transport proteins
Researchers modeled how chemicals from plastic debris are taken up when marine organisms ingest plastic, collecting partition coefficients to estimate how well different plastics concentrate various organic pollutants. The model helps assess whether ingesting plastic marine debris significantly increases an organism's exposure to toxic chemicals compared to simply living in contaminated water.
Microplastic-Toxic Chemical Interaction: A Review Study on Quantified Levels, Mechanism and Implication
This review summarizes quantified levels of heavy metals and hydrophobic organic contaminants sorbed onto microplastics in environmental media, examining adsorption and desorption mechanisms and discussing health implications of ingested microplastics acting as vectors for toxic chemical transport.
Plastic as a Carrier of POPs to Aquatic Organisms: A Model Analysis
Researchers developed a model to evaluate whether microplastic acts as a meaningful carrier of persistent organic pollutants to aquatic organisms. The analysis suggests that in both laboratory and open marine systems, microplastic ingestion is more likely to slightly decrease bioaccumulation of pollutants rather than increase it, and the differences are too small to be relevant for risk assessment.
Trojan horse effects of microplastics: A mini-review about their role as a vector of organic and inorganic compounds in several matrices
This review examines the 'Trojan horse' role of microplastics as vectors for organic and inorganic pollutants, finding that adsorption follows Freundlich models and that contaminant transfer to organisms is species-specific, with some species showing increased and others decreased toxicant bioavailability.
Size-dependent vector effects of microplastics on bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic contaminants in earthworm: A dual-dosing study
Researchers developed a dual-dosing method to directly measure how microplastics act as carriers for hydrophobic organic contaminants in earthworms. The study found that smaller microplastic particles had greater vector effects, increasing bioaccumulation of pollutants, and that dermal uptake played a significant role in contaminant transfer from microplastics to organisms.
Interactions of microplastics with contaminants in freshwater systems: a review of characteristics, bioaccessibility, and environmental factors affecting sorption
This review examined how microplastics act as vectors for environmental contaminants in freshwater systems, analyzing the characteristics, bioaccessibility, and environmental factors that influence pollutant sorption onto plastic particles and their potential transfer to organisms including humans.
Evaluating microplastic particles as vectors of exposure for plastic additive chemicals using a food web model
Researchers used a bioaccumulation model to estimate how much chemical exposure humans and wildlife receive specifically from ingesting microplastic particles — versus other environmental routes — and found that microplastics only become a meaningful source of chemical additives when ingestion rates are high and the plastic contains substantial concentrations of hydrophobic chemicals. The work helps clarify when microplastics are a significant chemical vector, finding that health risks from this pathway are likely negligible at currently estimated ingestion rates.
Partitioning of chemical contaminants to microplastics: Sorption mechanisms, environmental distribution and effects on toxicity and bioaccumulation
This review critically examines how chemical contaminants like persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals sorb onto microplastic surfaces in the environment. Researchers found that while microplastics can concentrate pollutants at levels far above surrounding water, the actual contribution of microplastics to contaminant transfer into organisms may be less significant than direct exposure from water and food. The study calls for more realistic experimental designs to clarify the true risk.
Microplastics as vectors for environmental contaminants in the food chain: Assessing the combined toxicological effects and bioavailability
This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics act as carriers for environmental pollutants including heavy metals, organic chemicals, and microbial agents as they move through food chains. Researchers detail how polymer type, particle size, and environmental conditions influence the binding and release of these contaminants. The study highlights that the combined toxicity of microplastics together with the pollutants they carry may be greater than either would cause alone.
Vector effects of microplastics on organic pollutants: sorption-desorption and bioaccumulation kinetics
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.
Leaching of PBDEs from microplastics under simulated gut conditions: Chemical diffusion and bioaccumulation
This study examined how polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) leach from microplastics under simulated gut conditions, finding that chemical diffusion rates were strongly influenced by gut fluid composition and that hydrophobic contaminants could transfer to organisms at levels posing potential bioaccumulation risks.
Microplastics serve as a potential vector for the transfer of naphthalene from freshwater to the human gastrointestinal system
Researchers investigated whether microplastics can transfer the pollutant naphthalene from freshwater into the human gastrointestinal system. The study examined three types of microplastics and found they can adsorb naphthalene from water and subsequently release it under simulated digestive conditions, suggesting microplastics may act as vectors that carry environmental contaminants into the human body through ingested water or food.
Estimating microplastic-bound intake of hydrophobic organic chemicals by fish using measured desorption rates to artificial gut fluid
Desorption rates of five hydrophobic organic chemicals (HCHs, PeCB, HeCB) from polyethylene microplastics into artificial gut fluid were measured and used in Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the fraction of chemical intake from MP ingestion by fish, finding that MP-mediated intake was less than 1% of total dietary uptake for all compounds. The study provides a quantitative framework for assessing when microplastics are and are not meaningful vectors for chemical contamination in fish.
How Digestive Processes Can Affect the Bioavailability of PCBs Associated with Microplastics: A Modeling Study Supported by Empirical Data
Researchers used a simulated human digestive model to study whether gut processes change how quickly chemicals like PCBs transfer on and off microplastic particles. They found that digestive enzymes and bile salts significantly accelerated the release of these chemicals from microplastics, suggesting that the human gut environment may increase exposure to plastic-associated pollutants. The study provides new evidence that microplastics could act as carriers that release harmful chemicals more readily during digestion.
Microplastics as Vectors of Chromium and Lead during Dynamic Simulation of the Human Gastrointestinal Tract
Using a dynamic in vitro simulator of the human gastrointestinal tract, researchers showed that chromium and lead adsorbed to polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics are released and become bioaccessible in gut conditions, suggesting microplastics can act as vectors delivering heavy metals to human tissues.
Uptake and Release Kinetics of Organic Contaminants Associated with Micro- and Nanoplastic Particles
This theoretical paper presents a mathematical framework for modeling the rates at which organic pollutants are taken up by and released from micro- and nanoplastic particles. Better kinetic models are essential for predicting how much of a chemical pollutant actually reaches organisms that ingest contaminated microplastics versus remains bound to the plastic surface.
Microplastics as a vector of hydrophobic contaminants: Importance of hydrophobic additives
This paper examines the role of hydrophobicity in determining whether organic pollutants sorbed to microplastics pose a meaningful additional risk beyond direct water exposure. The authors argue that for most scenarios, the contribution of microplastics to total pollutant exposure is smaller than commonly assumed and depends heavily on the properties of the specific chemical and polymer.
Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health
This review examines how microplastics act as vectors for chemical contaminants through marine food webs, discussing the factors influencing ingestion, the biological impacts of sorbed chemicals, and evidence for trophic transfer across multiple trophic levels. Researchers highlight that existing lab studies use unrealistically high concentrations and that no study has yet tracked microplastic-contaminant transfer from seafood to humans.
Microplastics as vectors for environmental contaminants: Exploring sorption, desorption, and transfer to biota
This review explores how microplastics interact with hydrophobic organic chemicals in aquatic environments, examining the processes of chemical sorption onto and desorption from plastic particles. Researchers discuss the factors that influence whether microplastics act as significant carriers of environmental contaminants into living organisms compared to natural pathways. Understanding these processes is essential for accurately assessing the real-world risk that microplastics pose as chemical transport vehicles.