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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Co-occurrence of polypropylene microplastics and silver sulfide nanoparticles with organic emerging contaminants in surface water: comprehensive assessment of photolysis considering climate change impacts
ClearInsights into the interaction of microplastic with silver nanoparticles in natural surface water
Researchers co-exposed three common microplastics — polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene — with silver nanoparticles in natural freshwater and brackish water, finding that their interaction altered the environmental behavior and fate of both contaminants. The results suggest that combined pollution from microplastics and nanomaterials produces effects distinct from either pollutant alone.
Polystyrene microplastics sunlight-induce oxidative dissolution, chemical transformation and toxicity enhancement of silver nanoparticles
Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics can induce sunlight-driven oxidative dissolution and chemical transformation of silver nanoparticles, enhancing their toxicity and revealing important implications for how co-occurring pollutants interact in the environment.
Roles of microplastic-derived dissolved organic matter on the photodegradation of organic micropollutants
Researchers discovered that dissolved organic matter released from weathered microplastics significantly inhibits the photodegradation of the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole in water, primarily through light screening effects, suggesting microplastic pollution may slow the natural breakdown of pharmaceutical contaminants.
Weathered Microplastics Induce Silver Nanoparticle Formation
Researchers found that weathered polystyrene microplastics can photochemically reduce dissolved silver ions to metallic silver nanoparticles in both freshwater and sand matrices under solar irradiation, revealing a previously unknown mechanism by which microplastics alter the chemical speciation of co-occurring metal contaminants.
The environmental effects of microplastics and microplastic derived dissolved organic matter in aquatic environments: A review
This review examines how microplastics interact with other pollutants in water and how aging from sunlight and weathering changes their behavior. As microplastics break down, they release dissolved organic matter and develop surface changes that increase their ability to carry harmful chemicals like pesticides and pharmaceuticals. The findings suggest that weathered microplastics in real-world environments may be more dangerous than fresh plastics used in most lab studies.
Enhanced malachite green photolysis at the colloidal-aqueous interface
This study found that microplastic particles in water can accelerate the breakdown of certain organic pollutants at the particle surface. The research suggests that microplastics play an underappreciated role in the environmental fate of chemical contaminants.
Progress on the photo aging mechanism of microplastics and related impact factors in water environment
This review examined the photo-aging mechanisms of microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that solar UV radiation drives oxidation reactions that alter surface chemistry, fragment particles further, and enhance their capacity to adsorb and release co-occurring pollutants.
Microplastic Properties Govern the Photodegradation of Sorbed Anthracene in Aquatic Environments
Researchers found that microplastic properties — including polymer type, surface chemistry, and aging state — govern the rate and pathway of solar photodegradation of sorbed anthracene in aquatic environments, with sorption to microplastics altering contaminant photochemical fate compared to free solution.
Impacts of microplastics on organotins’ photodegradation in aquatic environments
Researchers found that polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and polymethyl methacrylate microplastics differentially affect the photodegradation of organotin compounds in aquatic environments, with microplastics both adsorbing organotins and altering their photolytic breakdown pathways depending on polymer type.
Effects of long-term exposure to silver nanoparticles on the structure and function of microplastic biofilms in eutrophic water
Long-term exposure to silver nanoparticles altered the structure and function of microbial biofilms on microplastics in eutrophic water, with nanoparticles suppressing biofilm biomass, changing community composition, and reducing metabolic activity, raising concerns about combined pollutant effects in urban aquatic systems.
Non-Negligible Effects of UV Irradiation on Transformation and Environmental Risks of Microplastics in the Water Environment
This review examines how UV irradiation drives photoaging of microplastics in aquatic environments, altering their surface chemistry, mechanical properties, and adsorption capacity for co-pollutants, and thereby amplifying their ecotoxicological risks beyond those of virgin plastic particles.
Role of polystyrene microplastics in sunlight-mediated transformation of silver in aquatic environments: Mechanisms, kinetics and toxicity
Researchers investigated how UV-aged polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver in sunlit aquatic environments, finding that reactive oxygen species generated during MP photo-oxidation both reduced and re-oxidized silver, altering its speciation and toxicity to aquatic organisms.
Co-exposure effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles in constructed wetlands: Microbial and macrophyte responses
Researchers co-exposed constructed wetlands to polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles and found synergistic disruption of the electron transport chain, impaired ATP production, and altered nitrogen transformation, with combined exposure more toxic than either contaminant alone.
Natural Organic Matter Stabilizes Pristine Nanoplastics but Destabilizes Photochemical Weathered Nanoplastics in Monovalent Electrolyte Solutions
This study examined how sunlight weathering and natural organic matter coatings change the behavior of nanoplastics in water. Researchers found that organic matter stabilizes fresh nanoplastics but actually destabilizes sun-weathered ones, meaning aged nanoplastics in natural waters may clump together and settle differently than expected, affecting where they end up in aquatic environments.
Nanophotocatalytic synergistic degradation of antibiotics and microplastics: Mechanisms, material design, and environmental applications
This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in water during photocatalytic treatment, finding that microplastics can both help (by shuttling electrons) and hinder (by shielding light or hosting biofilms) the degradation process, depending on conditions. Aged microplastics — which have more surface oxygen groups — adsorb more antibiotics, making them tougher composite targets for treatment systems. Understanding these interactions is essential for designing water purification systems that can handle the combined pollution reality of modern waterways.
Microplastic degradations in simulated UV light, natural light and natural water body: A comparison investigation
Researchers compared how microplastics made of PVC, polyethylene, and polyamide break down under UV light, natural sunlight, and real-world water body conditions, finding that natural environments cause more complex degradation involving both biofilm growth and heavy metal interactions. Importantly, microplastics in natural water can both release and re-absorb heavy metals over time, complicating their environmental risk profile.
Photochemistry of microplastics-derived dissolved organic matter: Reactive species generation and organic pollutant degradation
Researchers investigated how dissolved organic matter released from degrading polystyrene and PVC microplastics behaves when exposed to sunlight in water. They found that sunlight breaks down the aromatic compounds in this plastic-derived material and generates reactive chemical species, though at lower rates than natural organic matter. Despite this, these reactive species significantly accelerated the breakdown of co-existing pollutants, suggesting that degrading microplastics may act as unexpected natural catalysts in aquatic environments.
Microplastic PropertiesGovern the Photodegradationof Sorbed Anthracene in Aquatic Environments
Researchers investigated how microplastic properties govern the photodegradation of anthracene, a model hydrophobic organic contaminant, in aquatic environments, finding that polymer type, surface characteristics, and aging state significantly influenced degradation rates. The study highlights that microplastics can both facilitate and inhibit contaminant photodegradation depending on their physicochemical properties.
Influence of polyethylene microplastics on the photocatalytic degradation of dibutyl phthalate and bisphenol A in an aqueous medium
Researchers investigated how the presence of polyethylene microplastics affects the photocatalytic degradation of dibenzothiophene, a common marine pollutant, under simulated sunlight. Microplastics altered the phototransformation pathway of the organic pollutant, potentially changing its bioavailability and toxicity in marine systems.
Effects of photochlorination on the physicochemical transformation of polystyrene nanoplastics: Mechanism and environmental fate
Researchers studied how sunlight combined with chlorine in water treatment changes the properties of polystyrene nanoplastics. They found that solar irradiation significantly accelerated the chemical breakdown of the nanoplastics, including surface oxidation and the release of organic compounds. The study reveals that nanoplastics leaving wastewater treatment plants undergo rapid transformation in the environment, which could alter both their fate and toxicity.
Exposure Order to Photoaging and Humic Acids Significantly Modifies the Aggregation and Transformation of Nanoplastics in Aqueous Solutions
Researchers discovered that the order in which nanoplastics are exposed to sunlight and natural organic matter significantly changes how they clump together and behave in water. Nanoplastics aged by sunlight before encountering humic acids behaved differently than those exposed in the reverse order. This finding is important for predicting how nanoplastics actually move and persist in real-world water environments.
Hydrophilic Fraction of Dissolved Organic Matter Largely Facilitated Microplastics Photoaging: Insights from Redox Properties and Reactive Oxygen Species
This study investigated how dissolved organic matter in natural water affects the breakdown of microplastics by sunlight. The water-soluble fraction of organic matter was most effective at speeding up microplastic aging by generating reactive oxygen species that attack the plastic surface. This matters because faster breakdown of microplastics in the environment creates smaller, potentially more dangerous nanoplastic particles that can more easily enter living organisms.
Insight into the dynamic transformation properties of microplastic-derived dissolved organic matter and its contribution to the formation of chlorination disinfection by-products
Researchers studied how dissolved organic matter released from microplastics transforms under UV light and how it contributes to the formation of harmful disinfection byproducts during water chlorination. They found that UV exposure changed the chemical composition of the microplastic-derived organic matter, affecting its reactivity during disinfection. The findings suggest that microplastics in water sources may indirectly increase the formation of potentially harmful chemicals during standard water treatment.
Microplastics modulate triclosan abiotic methylation: Effects of polymer type and photoaging
Researchers investigated how 11 types of pristine and UV-aged microplastics alter the chemical transformation (methylation) of co-occurring triclosan in water, finding that polymer chemistry and photoaging both critically determine whether microplastics accelerate, inhibit, or have no effect on this reaction.