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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to UV-B radiation aging changed the environmental behavior of polystyrene micro-/nanoplastics-adsorption kinetics of BDE-47, plankton toxicities and joint toxicities with BDE-47
ClearInsight into the characteristics and sorption behaviors of aged polystyrene microplastics through three type of accelerated oxidation processes
Researchers studied how three different UV-based oxidation processes age polystyrene microplastics and how that aging affects the particles' ability to absorb the chemical bisphenol A. They found that aging significantly increased the surface oxidation and water-attracting properties of the microplastics, altering their pollutant-sorbing behavior. The findings suggest that weathered microplastics in the environment may interact with chemical contaminants differently than fresh ones.
Surface characteristics and adsorption properties of polypropylene microplastics by ultraviolet irradiation and natural aging
This study examined how aging and UV light change the surface properties of polypropylene microplastics and their ability to absorb other pollutants. UV-aged microplastics absorbed significantly more of a common dye pollutant, while naturally aged particles absorbed less due to biological film buildup. Understanding how microplastics change over time in the environment matters because aged particles may carry different levels of harmful chemicals than fresh ones.
Effects of polymer aging on sorption of 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether by polystyrene microplastics
Researchers investigated how different aging processes — seawater soaking, UV irradiation, and their combination — affect the sorption of the brominated flame retardant BDE-47 onto polystyrene microplastics, finding that aging altered sorption capacity and that environmental factors including salinity, pH, and dissolved organic matter further modulated contaminant uptake.
Aging mechanism of microplastics with UV irradiation and its effects on the adsorption of heavy metals
Researchers aged polystyrene microplastics using UV irradiation under three conditions (air, pure water, seawater) and found that aging changed surface chemistry and increased the microplastics' capacity to adsorb heavy metals, with seawater aging producing the most pronounced surface oxidation.
Aggregation kinetics of UV irradiated nanoplastics in aquatic environments
Researchers compared the aggregation behavior of fresh versus UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics under various aquatic conditions. They found that UV aging altered the surface chemistry of nanoplastics, making them more stable in water and less likely to aggregate, which means they could remain suspended and bioavailable for longer periods. The study suggests that weathered nanoplastics may behave very differently from fresh particles in the environment, complicating risk assessments.
[Sorption of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers by Virgin and Aged Microplastics].
This study examined how environmental aging under UV light changes the ability of polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics to adsorb polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), common flame retardant chemicals. Aged microplastics showed altered sorption capacity compared to virgin particles, affecting how these toxic chemicals are transported in aquatic environments.
Influence of aging on the affinity between microplastics and organic contaminants
Researchers investigated how UV and UV+H2O2 aging affects the capacity of polystyrene microplastics to adsorb and release pesticides and other organic contaminants, finding that aging-induced surface changes significantly altered adsorption affinity and desorption behavior compared to unaged controls.
Sorption processes of wastewater contaminants on virgin and aged polystyrene microplastics: physicochemical changes and cellular toxicity assessment
Researchers exposed 1 µm polystyrene microplastics (virgin and thermo-oxidation aged) to wastewater and then assessed their adsorption behaviour and cytotoxicity. Aged MPs adsorbed more contaminants from wastewater and showed greater cytotoxicity to human cells than virgin MPs, demonstrating that environmental ageing amplifies the health risks of microplastics.
Effects of Weathering on the Sorption Behavior and Toxicity of Polystyrene Microplastics in Multi-solute Systems
UV-irradiated and microbially degraded polystyrene microplastics showed altered sorption behavior for 4-methylbenzylidene camphor in multi-solute systems — with weathered MPs forming solute multilayers differently than pristine PS — highlighting how environmental aging changes the contaminant-carrying capacity of plastic particles.
The fate, impacts and potential risks of photoaging process of the microplastics in the aqueous environment
This review examines how ultraviolet light from sunlight causes microplastics in water to age and change their physical and chemical properties, including surface texture, chemical structure, and water-repelling ability. Researchers found that photoaged microplastics become better at carrying other pollutants and may pose greater environmental risks than fresh plastics. The study highlights that aged microplastics can also increase biological toxicity and human exposure risks compared to their original form.
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.
UVA-induced weathering of microplastics in seawater: surface property transformations and kinetics
Researchers studied how UVA radiation weathers microplastics in seawater, examining changes to surface properties and degradation rates. The study developed a model integrating an aging index with degradation kinetics, finding that UV exposure significantly transforms microplastic surface characteristics, which affects their behavior and potential ecological impact in marine environments.
Investigation of Surface Alteration of Microplastics by Using UV Irradiation
UV radiation causes polystyrene and other plastic microparticles to undergo photooxidative degradation, changing their surface chemistry and potentially making them more likely to adsorb or release chemical pollutants. Understanding these weathering processes is important for predicting the environmental behavior and toxicity of microplastics.
Photo-aging promotes the inhibitory effect of polystyrene microplastics on microbial reductive dechlorination of a polychlorinated biphenyl mixture (Aroclor 1260)
Researchers found that photo-aging of polystyrene microplastics enhances their inhibitory effect on microbial activity in the environment. UV weathering alters the surface chemistry of microplastics in ways that increase toxicity to microorganisms, with implications for nutrient cycling in plastic-contaminated ecosystems.
Insights into the Photoaging Behavior of Microplastics: Environmental Fate and Ecological Risk
This review examines how sunlight ages microplastics in the environment, breaking them into smaller pieces and changing their surface chemistry in ways that make them more toxic and more likely to carry other pollutants. Sun-aged microplastics release dissolved organic matter that can harm aquatic life, and their roughened surfaces attract more bacteria and chemical contaminants. Since most microplastics in nature have been exposed to sunlight, their real-world health risks may be higher than studies using fresh lab plastics suggest.
Microplastic removal from urban stormwater: Current treatments and research gaps
Researchers investigated the phototransformation of polystyrene microplastics under simulated solar radiation, finding surface oxidation and formation of carbonyl groups after UV exposure. Photo-aged particles showed increased release of dissolved organic carbon and greater toxicity to marine copepods.
Sorption of organic compounds by aged polystyrene microplastic particles
Researchers tested the sorption of organic compounds by aged polystyrene microplastic particles and found that weathering increased their sorption capacity, meaning environmental aging makes microplastics more effective at accumulating and transporting pollutants.
Aging Process of Microplastics in the Environment
This review examines how natural environmental processes — UV radiation, physical abrasion, chemical reactions, and biodegradation — alter the surface, shape, and chemistry of microplastics over time, and how these changes affect their ability to absorb and transport other pollutants. Understanding microplastic aging is critical because weathered particles behave differently than fresh plastic, often becoming more hazardous as pollutant carriers in ecosystems.
UV-aged nanoplastics induced stronger biotoxicity to earthworms: Differential effects and the underlying mechanisms of pristine and aged polystyrene nanoplastics
Researchers compared the toxicity of pristine versus UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics on earthworms and found that aged nanoplastics caused significantly stronger harmful effects. At higher concentrations, aged nanoplastics increased earthworm mortality by 11.1% and reduced reproduction, with the enhanced toxicity attributed to changes in surface properties that occur during environmental UV weathering.
Dynamic process of UV-aging polystyrene microplastics, simultaneous adsorption of drugs, and subsequently coagulative removal together
This study tracked what happens to polystyrene microplastics as they age under UV light — finding that particles rapidly shrank from micrometer to nanometer size while particle numbers increased 2-3 fold — and simultaneously tested how well these aged plastics adsorb common pharmaceutical drugs (an antibiotic and an antimalarial) from water. Aged microplastics adsorbed more drug compounds than fresh ones, and the study also found that coagulation treatment could remove both the aged plastics and their drug cargo together. The findings matter because plastic aging increases the number of particles in the environment and makes them better at carrying and transporting pharmaceutical contaminants.
Photoaging of polystyrene-based microplastics amplifies inflammatory response in macrophages
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight exposure for just three hours triggered stronger inflammatory responses and DNA damage in immune cells than fresh microplastics, even at very low concentrations. The aging process changed the particles' surface properties, making them more biologically reactive. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests their actual health impact may be greater than lab studies using pristine particles indicate.
Mechanistic insights into non-negligible toxicity evolution of microplastics under different aging processes
This review examines how different environmental aging processes, such as UV exposure, mechanical wear, and chemical weathering, change the physical and chemical properties of microplastics and alter their toxicity. Researchers found that aged microplastics and the chemicals they leach tend to be more harmful to organisms than fresh particles, causing growth inhibition and genetic damage. The findings suggest that the environmental risks of microplastics may increase significantly as they degrade over time.
A comprehensive review of microplastic aging: Laboratory simulations, physicochemical properties, adsorption mechanisms, and environmental impacts
This review examines how microplastics change as they age in the environment through exposure to sunlight, water, and chemicals, becoming rougher and more chemically reactive over time. Aged microplastics absorb more pollutants than fresh ones and release harmful additives and free radicals, meaning the microplastics people encounter in the real world may be more dangerous than the pristine particles typically used in lab studies.
Data on sorption of organic compounds by aged polystyrene microplastic particles
This data article reports the sorption behavior of 21 different chemicals by UV-aged polystyrene microplastics, providing a useful dataset for modeling chemical uptake by weathered plastic in the environment. Aged plastics often absorb more pollutants than fresh plastics, making environmental aging an important factor in assessing microplastic risk.