Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastics on tertiary/quaternary treatment of urban wastewater: Fe-biochar/peroxymonosulfate/sunlight vs solar photo-Fenton

Researchers evaluated how microplastics present in secondary-treated urban wastewater affect the degradation of four pharmaceutical micropollutants and the inactivation of antibiotic-resistant E. coli using two advanced oxidation processes. Microplastics were found to influence the performance of both iron-modified biochar/peroxymonosulfate and solar photo-Fenton treatments.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The Photocatalytic Degradation of Enrofloxacin Using an Ecofriendly Natural Iron Mineral: The Relationship Between the Degradation Routes, Generated Byproducts, and Antimicrobial Activity of Treated Solutions

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research; it investigates the photocatalytic degradation of the antibiotic enrofloxacin in water using a natural iron mineral, focusing on pharmaceutical contamination rather than plastic particles.

2024 Molecules 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable removal of contaminants of emerging concern from wastewater by the living membrane bioreactor: effect of the co-occurrence of microplastics and antibiotics

Researchers investigated a living membrane bioreactor (LMBR) for removing the antibiotic ofloxacin and oxidized polyethylene microplastics from urban wastewater, finding that the biological membrane effectively retained both contaminants of emerging concern and that microplastics acted as antibiotic carriers, with their co-presence influencing overall removal efficiency.

2025 Global NEST International Conference on Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Understanding and characteristics of coagulation removal of composite pollution of microplastic and norfloxacin during water treatment

The coagulation removal of microplastics and the antibiotic norfloxacin together was studied in a water treatment context, finding that the presence of microplastics altered the coagulation behavior of norfloxacin and that their combined removal was less effective than treating either pollutant alone. The results highlight composite pollution as a challenge for conventional water treatment processes.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Norfloxacin removal by ultraviolet-activated sodium percarbonate and sodium hypochlorite: process optimization and anion effect

This paper is not about microplastics; it evaluates UV-activated chemical processes for removing the antibiotic norfloxacin from water.

2023 Water Science & Technology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Photo-Fenton treatment of emerging pollutants in municipal wastewater using nanocatalysts: A sustainable approach

This study evaluated photo-Fenton oxidation using nanocatalysts as a sustainable treatment for pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products, and microplastics in municipal wastewater. The nanocatalyst-driven process achieved higher removal efficiencies for emerging pollutants than conventional treatment, offering a promising upgrade for wastewater plants struggling with micropollutant removal.

2025 Results in Chemistry
Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastics on urban wastewater disinfection and impact on effluent reuse: Sunlight/H2O2 vs solar photo-Fenton at neutral pH

Researchers found that microplastics interfere with the inactivation of E. coli in urban wastewater during advanced oxidation processes (sunlight/H2O2 and solar photo-Fenton), with higher microplastic concentrations reducing bacterial inactivation efficiency and complicating effluent reuse.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances and challenges in advanced oxidation processes for degradation of nano- and microplastics in water: a critical review

This critical review evaluates four main advanced oxidation processes — ozonation, photocatalysis, Fenton reactions, and electrochemical oxidation — for breaking down nano- and microplastics in water, summarizing what has been achieved and where major technical gaps remain. Developing effective degradation technologies is urgently needed because conventional water treatment systems do not reliably remove small plastic particles.

2026 RSC Advances
Article Tier 2

Optimizing composite microplastics for antibiotics removal in water: An eco-friendly solution

Researchers investigated the adsorption of antibiotics ciprofloxacin and flucloxacillin onto PET and HDPE microplastics, characterizing the particles via FTIR, SEM, and EDX and fitting isotherm models to show that microplastics can serve as carriers of antibiotic pollutants in aquatic environments.

2025 Sustainable Environment
Article Tier 2

Ecosafety Screening of Photo-Fenton Process for the Degradation of Microplastics in Water

Researchers evaluated a photo-Fenton process using a zinc oxide and iron nanoparticle catalyst to degrade polypropylene and PVC microplastics in a continuous water flow system. They achieved more than 95% reduction in average particle volume after one week of treatment. The study also assessed the environmental safety of the treated water through ecotoxicological bioassays, working toward a degradation method that does not introduce new ecological risks.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Developments in advanced oxidation processes for removal of microplastics from aqueous matrices

This review evaluates advanced oxidation processes for removing microplastics from water, finding that photocatalysis, Fenton reactions, and electrochemical methods can effectively degrade microplastics into smaller molecules, offering promising alternatives to conventional non-destructive treatment approaches.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal and toxic forecast of microplastics treated by electrocoagulation: Influence of dissolved organic matter

Electrocoagulation was evaluated for removing microplastics from water, with researchers investigating how co-pollutants and water chemistry affect removal efficiency and identifying the degradation products and toxicity of residual MPs post-treatment. The method showed high removal rates under optimized conditions but generated some toxic byproducts that require further management.

2022 Chemosphere 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers as Selective Solid-Phase Extraction Sorbents for the Detection of Cloxacillin in Drinking and River Water

Not relevant to microplastics — this paper develops a molecularly imprinted polymer method for detecting the antibiotic cloxacillin in drinking water, with no connection to plastic particles.

2023 Polymers 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Advanced oxidation processes for the elimination of microplastics from aqueous systems: Assessment of efficiency, perspectives and limitations

This review evaluates advanced oxidation processes as a strategy for breaking down microplastics in water systems, comparing techniques such as photocatalysis, Fenton reactions, and ozonation. Researchers found that while these methods show promise for degrading microplastics into smaller, less harmful molecules, challenges remain in scaling them for practical use. The study identifies key limitations and suggests directions for making these technologies more efficient and applicable to real-world water treatment.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 99 citations
Article Tier 2

Advanced Oxidation Techniques and Hybrid Approaches for Microplastic Degradation: A Comprehensive Review

This review examines advanced oxidation processes for degrading microplastics, including photocatalysis, electrochemical oxidation, Fenton reactions, and plasma technologies, which generate reactive species capable of breaking down polymer chains. Hybrid systems combining these oxidation methods with biological treatments or membrane filtration showed particular promise for scalable microplastic remediation. The authors identify challenges around energy consumption, secondary pollutant formation, and the need for optimization before these technologies can be integrated into existing wastewater treatment infrastructure.

2026 Catalysts
Article Tier 2

Remoção de antibióticos da água por nanofiltração

This paper is not about microplastics. It evaluates nanofiltration membrane technology for removing antibiotics (tetracycline, norfloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole) from water, achieving up to 95% removal. While water treatment technology is broadly relevant to contaminant removal, this study focuses specifically on pharmaceutical contamination rather than microplastic pollution or exposure.

2024 Revista Interdisciplinar de Ciência Aplicada
Article Tier 2

Aged microplastics enhance their interaction with ciprofloxacin and joint toxicity on Escherichia coli

Researchers found that aged microplastics showed enhanced adsorption of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin compared to pristine particles, and that their combined exposure produced greater toxicity to E. coli at the molecular level than either pollutant alone.

2022 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 39 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

When antibiotics encounter microplastics in aquatic environments: Interaction, combined toxicity, and risk assessments

A meta-analysis of the combined toxicity of antibiotics and microplastics in aquatic environments found significant adverse effects on algae but limited apparent effects on fish and daphnia. Microplastics alter antibiotic environmental behavior through adsorption and co-transport, and their coexistence is widespread across global aquatic study sites, though standardized risk assessment methods for combined exposure remain lacking.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 33 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

Effect of microplastics on simultaneous degradation of antibiotics and bacterial inactivation in groundwater and secondary wastewater treatment plant effluents with Fenton process using pyrite as the catalyst

**TLDR:** Scientists tested a natural mineral called pyrite that can clean antibiotics and harmful bacteria from drinking water and wastewater. However, when tiny plastic particles (microplastics) are present in the water, they interfere with this cleaning process and make it much less effective. This is concerning because microplastics are everywhere in our water systems and could be making it harder to remove dangerous germs and drug-resistant bacteria from our water supply.

2026