Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Hydrophobic sorption behaviors of 17β-Estradiol on environmental microplastics

Researchers studied the sorption behavior of the estrogen 17beta-estradiol onto five types of microplastics in marine water, finding hydrophobic interactions dominated and that microplastics could serve as vectors concentrating this endocrine disruptor.

2019 Chemosphere 207 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic insights into the adsorption of endocrine disruptors onto polystyrene microplastics in water

Researchers studied the mechanisms by which polystyrene microplastics adsorb endocrine-disrupting compounds from aquatic environments, finding that hydrophobic interactions and surface chemistry govern the binding. The results clarify how microplastics act as vectors for co-transporting endocrine disruptors through aquatic ecosystems.

2023 Environmental Pollution 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption and bioacessibility of 17β-Estradiol on Environmental Microplastics: Particle Size, Aging, Competitive Interactions and Co-exposure

This study investigated the sorption of the hormone 17β-estradiol onto polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene microplastics, examining how particle size and aging affect sorption capacity and co-exposure toxicity. Smaller and aged MPs showed higher estrogen sorption, increasing the potential for MPs to act as vectors for hormonal contaminants in aquatic environments.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental contamination
Article Tier 2

Adsorption and Desorption of Steroid Hormones by Microplastics in Seawater

Researchers evaluated the adsorption and desorption of the steroid hormones 17β-estradiol (E2) and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) onto microplastics in seawater, finding that polymer type, particle size, salinity, pH, and humic acid concentration all influenced sorption behavior. The study provides mechanistic data relevant to assessing microplastics as vectors for endocrine-disrupting compounds in marine environments.

2020 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption kinetics, isotherms and molecular dynamics simulation of 17β-estradiol onto microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption of the endocrine disruptor 17-beta-estradiol onto three common microplastics using kinetic experiments and molecular dynamics simulations, finding that hydrophobic interactions drive sorption and that polymer type significantly influences adsorption capacity.

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

Sorption of endocrine disrupting compounds onto polyamide microplastics under different environmental conditions: Behaviour and mechanism

Polyamide microplastics sorbed the synthetic estrogens EE2, E2, and estriol with affinity influenced by pH, ionic strength, and temperature, with sorption capacity decreasing under alkaline conditions that mimic some aquatic environments, suggesting that water chemistry governs how effectively polyamide MPs concentrate endocrine-disrupting compounds.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential Adsorption Affinity of Estrogens on LDPE and PET Microplastics Exposed to Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents

Researchers investigated whether LDPE and PET microplastics recovered from wastewater treatment plant effluents can adsorb estrogen compounds, finding that these common plastic types bind endocrine-disrupting estrogens and may transport them through aquatic ecosystems.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7 citations
Article Tier 2

[Sorption Characteristics and Site Energy Distribution Theory of Typical Estrogens on Microplastics].

This study examined how polyethylene microplastics adsorb six types of estrogens — hormones that can disrupt reproduction and development in animals and humans. Researchers found that PE microplastics readily bind multiple estrogens, with adsorption behavior depending on estrogen structure and water chemistry. These findings confirm that microplastics can act as carriers for hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment.

2023 PubMed 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of alkylphenols and estrogens on microplastics in marine conditions

Researchers investigated the sorption of six endocrine-disrupting chemicals — including alkylphenols and estrogens — onto microplastics under marine conditions, supporting the hypothesis that microplastics act as a secondary contamination vector for aquatic organisms by concentrating pollutants.

2023 Open Chemistry 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as potential bisphenol carriers: role of adsorbents, adsorbates, and environmental factors

Laboratory experiments showed that four common microplastic types — polystyrene, polypropylene, polyamide, and PVC — all readily adsorb bisphenols (BPA, BPB, BPF, BPS), with polyamide showing the highest capacity. Adsorption was strongly influenced by polymer surface chemistry, bisphenol hydrophobicity, temperature, and salinity. Because bisphenols are potent endocrine disruptors, microplastics acting as their environmental carriers could amplify human and wildlife exposure through contaminated seafood and drinking water.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions between microplastics and phthalate esters as affected by microplastics characteristics and solution chemistry

The sorption of two phthalate esters onto polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene microplastics was studied under varying conditions, finding that sorption was influenced by polymer type, phthalate structure, temperature, salinity, and dissolved organic matter. The results provide mechanistic insight into how microplastics accumulate endocrine-disrupting phthalates from the environment.

2018 Chemosphere 278 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of microplastics occurrence on the adsorption of 17β-estradiol in soil

Researchers investigated how the presence of microplastics in soil affects the adsorption behavior of the hormone 17-beta-estradiol. The study found that common greenhouse soil microplastics including polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene influenced how estrogen compounds bind to soil, suggesting that microplastic contamination may alter the environmental fate of hormonal pollutants.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 122 citations
Article Tier 2

Size effect of polystyrene microplastics on sorption of phenanthrene and nitrobenzene

This study examined how the size of polystyrene microplastics affects their ability to sorb two common organic contaminants, phenanthrene and nitrobenzene, finding that smaller particles had greater sorption capacity due to a higher surface area-to-volume ratio. The results highlight that microplastic particle size is an important factor in predicting how they accumulate and transport chemical pollutants in the environment.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 303 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption properties of hydrophobic organic chemicals to micro-sized polystyrene particles

Laboratory sorption experiments measured how hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) partition onto polystyrene microplastics of various sizes, finding that sorption capacity increased with decreasing particle size, consistent with surface-area-dependent partitioning. This confirms that smaller microplastics are more effective carriers of hydrophobic contaminants per unit mass, with implications for toxicological risk assessment.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior of triclosan on polystyrene nanoplastics: The roles of particle size, surface functionalization, and environmental factors

Researchers examined how triclosan, an antimicrobial compound common in personal care products, adsorbs onto polystyrene nanoplastics of different sizes and surface chemistries, finding that smaller particles and functionalized surfaces (with carboxyl or amine groups) bind more triclosan, with pH and salinity further modulating uptake — suggesting nanoplastics can serve as mobile carriers for this contaminant.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 30 citations
Article Tier 2

The interaction mechanism of polystyrene microplastics with pharmaceuticals and personal care products

Computational chemistry methods including force field and density functional theory calculations were used to characterize how polystyrene microplastics interact with co-occurring pharmaceuticals and other organic water pollutants, revealing hydrophobic and pi-pi stacking interactions as dominant adsorption mechanisms. The modeling provides mechanistic insight into microplastics' role as vectors for organic contaminant transport in aquatic environments.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioavailability of steroid hormones sorbed on microplastics for aquatic organisms through biological fluids

This study examined how steroid hormones adsorbed to microplastics in water can desorb under simulated digestive conditions in aquatic organisms. The findings suggest that microplastics can serve as carriers delivering hormone-disrupting chemicals to organisms that ingest them, with potential implications for reproductive health in aquatic wildlife.

2020 Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior and quantum chemical analysis of surface functionalized polystyrene nano-plastics on gatifloxacin.

Researchers studied how three types of polystyrene nanoplastics — unmodified, amino-modified, and carboxyl-modified — adsorb the antibiotic gatifloxacin, finding that surface chemistry strongly influences uptake. This matters because nanoplastics that absorb antibiotics could serve as vectors carrying these pharmaceuticals into aquatic ecosystems and the organisms that live there.

2024 Environmental science and pollution research international
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics increase in vitro oestrogenic activity of neurotherapeutic drugs

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics significantly enhance the estrogenic activity of neurotherapeutic drugs in vitro, suggesting that nanoplastic contamination of drinking water and food could increase hormonal exposures from pharmaceutical residues.

2024 Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Comparative study on the adsorption and desorption behaviors of quinolone pollutants on polystyrene microplastics of different particle sizes

Researchers compared how polystyrene microplastics of different particle sizes adsorb and release the antibiotic pollutants ciprofloxacin and gatifloxacin. The study found that smaller microplastics had higher adsorption capacity due to greater surface area and charge, and that pollutants were harder to release from smaller particles, suggesting that fine microplastics may more effectively transport antibiotic contaminants through aquatic environments.

2025 Environmental Technology & Innovation 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the interaction mechanism of ofloxacin and functionalized nano-polystyrene.

This study investigated how the antibiotic ofloxacin interacts with functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics, finding that surface charge and functional groups on the nanoplastics strongly influenced binding strength and mechanisms. The results improve understanding of how nanoplastics can act as carriers for antibiotics in the environment, potentially altering their fate and biological effects.

2023 Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy
Article Tier 2

Studies on competitive adsorption characteristics of bisphenol A and 17α-ethinylestradiol on thermoplastic polyurethane by site energy distribution theory

This study examined how two common endocrine-disrupting chemicals — bisphenol A (BPA) and the synthetic hormone 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) — adsorb onto thermoplastic polyurethane microplastics in both single and mixed solutions, finding that BPA and EE2 compete for adsorption sites in ways that alter each compound's uptake. The findings matter because microplastics act as carriers for hazardous chemicals, and understanding competitive adsorption helps predict how contaminated plastics transport hormone-disrupting pollutants through aquatic environments.

2023 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into sorption and molecular transport of atrazine, testosterone, and progesterone onto polyamide microplastics in different aquatic matrices

This study measured the sorption of two hormones and the pesticide atrazine onto polyamide microplastics in different aquatic matrices including freshwater and seawater, finding that water composition significantly affected sorption kinetics and equilibrium, with implications for microplastic roles as contaminant carriers.

2023 Chemosphere 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behaviour and interaction of organic micropollutants with nano and microplastics – A review

This review analyzed the adsorption behavior of organic micropollutants — including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals — onto nano- and microplastics, finding that adsorption is governed by pollutant hydrophobicity, particle surface area, and aging state, and that microplastics can act as vectors delivering co-contaminants to aquatic organisms.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 216 citations