Papers

61,005 results
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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

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

Sorption of sulfamethazine onto different types of microplastics: A combined experimental and molecular dynamics simulation study

The sorption of sulfamethazine (a veterinary antibiotic) onto different microplastic polymer types was studied through laboratory experiments and molecular dynamics simulations, revealing that sorption kinetics and binding strength varied by polymer type and antibiotic concentration. The findings help predict how microplastics in agricultural waterways contaminated with livestock antibiotics could transport these drugs in the environment.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 251 citations
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
Article Tier 2

The fate and risk of microplastic and antibiotic sulfamethoxazole coexisting in the environment

Researchers investigated sulfamethoxazole antibiotic adsorption onto polyamide microplastics and found that pH significantly influenced uptake, with adsorbed antibiotics more readily released in natural water than ultrapure water, posing environmental risks.

2022 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of antibiotic clarithromycin adsorption potential on microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption potential of the antibiotic clarithromycin onto various microplastic types under controlled laboratory conditions, examining how surface properties and environmental factors influence pharmaceutical-microplastic interactions. The study found that microplastics can adsorb clarithromycin, raising concern about microplastics acting as vectors for antibiotic transport and spread in aquatic environments.

2024 Global NEST Journal
Article Tier 2

The Sword of Damocles: Microplastics and the molecular dynamics of sulfamonomethoxine revealed

Researchers studied how three types of microplastics interact with the antibiotic sulfamonomethoxine in water using molecular dynamics simulations and laboratory experiments. They found that polyamide had the strongest adsorption capacity while polyethylene terephthalate formed the most stable bonds with the antibiotic. The findings help explain how different microplastics can act as carriers for pharmaceutical pollutants in aquatic environments.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 11 citations
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

Adsorption–Desorption Behaviors of Enrofloxacin and Trimethoprim and Their Interactions with Typical Microplastics in Aqueous Systems

Researchers investigated how two common aquaculture antibiotics, enrofloxacin and trimethoprim, adsorb to and desorb from polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and polyethylene microplastics in water. They found that adsorption followed multilayer patterns driven by physical interactions including hydrogen bonding and electrostatic forces, with PS and PVC showing higher adsorption capacity than PE. The study highlights how microplastics can serve as carriers for antibiotic pollutants in aquatic environments, with high salinity and pH changes promoting desorption and secondary contamination.

2025 Sustainability 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of chlorination on the tetracycline sorption behavior of microplastics in aqueous solution

Researchers found that chlorination, a common disinfection step in wastewater treatment, alters the surface chemistry of microplastics and changes their capacity to adsorb tetracycline antibiotics, with chlorinated microplastics showing modified sorption behavior that affects their role as antibiotic carriers.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of sequential UV-aging of microplastics on the fate of antibiotic (tetracycline) in riverine, estuarine, and marine systems

Researchers studied how sequential UV aging of polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene microplastics, which mimics natural weathering, affects their ability to adsorb the antibiotic tetracycline under different water chemistry conditions. They found that aged microplastics adsorbed significantly more tetracycline than pristine particles, with the effect varying by water type and plastic polymer. The study suggests that as microplastics weather in the environment, they may become increasingly effective at carrying antibiotic contaminants.

2025 Environmental Research 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of antibiotics onto aged microplastics in freshwater and seawater

Aged microplastics were found to sorb antibiotics from fresh and saltwater, with aging processes altering the surface properties of the plastic and increasing antibiotic binding capacity in some cases. The adsorption of antibiotics onto aged microplastics could facilitate their transport and delivery to aquatic organisms, potentially contributing to antibiotic resistance in environmental bacteria.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 273 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of microplastics as vectors of antibiotic contaminants via a molecular simulation approach

Researchers used computer simulations to study how microplastics interact with common antibiotics at the molecular level. They found that polystyrene microplastics had a stronger ability to adsorb antibiotics than polypropylene, and that aging of the plastic surfaces enhanced adsorption capacity. The study provides evidence that microplastics can serve as carriers for antibiotic pollutants in the environment, potentially spreading contamination further.

2025 Scientific Reports 11 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

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

Mechanisms of microplastics sorption of antibiotics and impacts on aquatic ecosystems for sustainable development goals

This review examines how microplastics serve as carriers for antibiotics in aquatic ecosystems through sorption mechanisms including hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic forces, and chemical bonding. The study found that environmental factors like pH, salinity, and organic matter affect how antibiotics bind to microplastics, while weathering processes can transform microplastics into nanoplastics that potentially increase pollutant mobility.

2025 Discover Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of microplastics and their interaction with antibiotics in wastewater

Researchers characterized microplastics in wastewater and investigated their interactions with antibiotics, examining how microplastic surfaces adsorb antibiotic compounds and the implications for antibiotic transport and dissemination in wastewater treatment systems.

2025 e_Buah
Article Tier 2

Effects of Salinity, pH, and Cu(II) on the Adsorption Behaviors of Tetracycline onto Polyvinyl Chloride Microplastics: A Site Energy Distribution Analysis

PVC microplastic adsorption of tetracycline antibiotic decreased with increasing salinity and pH, while coexisting Cu2+ ions enhanced adsorption through bridging interactions, providing insights into how environmental factors affect antibiotic-microplastic interactions in aquatic systems.

2023 Water 23 citations
Review Tier 2

Antibiotic sorption onto microplastics in water: A critical review of the factors, mechanisms and implications

This review critically examines the factors that influence how antibiotics attach to microplastics in water. Researchers found that environmental weathering can increase antibiotic absorption by up to 171%, while higher salinity can reduce it by up to 100%, with pH also playing a major role. The study highlights that microplastics serving as carriers of antibiotics could contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance, making this interaction an important environmental concern.

2023 Water Research 212 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption interactions between typical microplastics and enrofloxacin: Relevant contributions to the mechanism

This study investigated how common microplastics (polyethylene, PVC, and polystyrene) absorb the antibiotic enrofloxacin from the environment. The researchers found that microplastics can effectively bind antibiotics through multiple chemical mechanisms, with the strength of binding depending on water conditions like acidity. This is concerning because microplastics carrying antibiotics could transport them into the food chain, potentially contributing to antibiotic resistance and affecting human health.

2024 Chemosphere 65 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 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 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

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