Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Adsorption characteristics of cadmium onto microplastics from aqueous solutions

Laboratory adsorption experiments characterized how cadmium is taken up by microplastics of different polymer types from aqueous solutions, finding adsorption capacity varied significantly with polymer chemistry, particle size, and solution conditions. The results help predict how microplastics in contaminated waterways accumulate and transport cadmium, a highly toxic heavy metal.

2019 Chemosphere 331 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as a vehicle of heavy metals in aquatic environments: A review of adsorption factors, mechanisms, and biological effects

This review summarizes how microplastics in water can absorb and carry toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium, making them more dangerous to aquatic life than either pollutant alone. Environmental factors such as water acidity, salinity, and organic matter influence how much metal sticks to microplastic surfaces. Since contaminated seafood is a major source of human exposure, understanding these interactions is important for assessing health risks.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 385 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption properties of cadmium on microplastics: The common practice experiment and A two-dimensional correlation spectroscopic study

Laboratory experiments examined how cadmium adsorbs onto microplastics of different polymer types and aging states, finding that surface chemistry and weathering significantly affect how much heavy metal the plastics can carry. This matters because microplastics contaminated with heavy metals represent a dual pollution risk when ingested by aquatic organisms.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 253 citations
Article Tier 2

Metal adsorption by microplastics in aquatic environments under controlled conditions: exposure time, pH and salinity

Scientists systematically varied pH, salinity, and exposure time during metal adsorption experiments on different microplastic types, finding that pH had the greatest influence on metal uptake, with higher pH favoring adsorption of copper, lead, and cadmium onto most tested polymers.

2020 International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption mechanism of cadmium on microplastics and their desorption behavior in sediment and gut environments: The roles of water pH, lead ions, natural organic matter and phenanthrene

Researchers compared how cadmium adsorbs onto five different microplastic types and then desorbs in simulated sediment and gut environments, finding that pH, competing ions, natural organic matter, and co-pollutants like phenanthrene all significantly alter how much cadmium is released.

2020 Water Research 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of Cadmium, Copper and Lead on Polypropylene and Polyethylene Microplastics

This laboratory study measured how cadmium, copper, and lead adsorb onto polypropylene and polyethylene microplastic particles in seawater, finding that microplastics concentrate these toxic metals at levels well above surrounding water concentrations. The results reinforce concerns that microplastics act as carriers of heavy metal contamination in marine ecosystems.

2018 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on the Adsorption Behavior and Mechanism of Heavy Metals in Aquatic Environment before and after the Aging of Typical Microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption behavior and mechanisms of heavy metals by typical microplastics before and after environmental aging, finding that aging significantly alters microplastics' surface properties and capacity to bind metals such as cadmium and lead in aquatic systems.

2024
Article Tier 2

[Effects of Aging on the Cd Adsorption by Microplastics and the Relevant Mechanisms].

This study examined how aging affects the ability of microplastics — including polyethylene and polystyrene — to adsorb the heavy metal cadmium. Weathered microplastics showed different adsorption behavior than virgin particles, which has implications for how microplastics transport toxic metals through aquatic environments.

2022 PubMed 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Reframing microplastics as a ligand for metals reveals that water quality characteristics govern the association of cadmium to polyethylene

Researchers reframed microplastics as a chemical ligand for metals and studied how water quality characteristics govern cadmium binding to polyethylene particles. They found that factors like pH, dissolved organic carbon, and water hardness significantly influenced how much cadmium adhered to the plastic surface. The study suggests that the environmental risk of microplastics as metal carriers depends heavily on local water chemistry conditions.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 2 citations
Article Tier 2

A Mini-Review On The Microplastic-Heavy Metal Interactions And The Factors Affecting Their Fate In Aquatic Habitats

This mini-review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in aquatic environments, serving as vectors that can transport toxic pollutants. Researchers describe how factors like polymer type, surface area, water pH, and salinity influence the adsorption of heavy metals onto microplastic surfaces, potentially increasing their bioavailability to aquatic organisms.

2024 Communications Faculty of Science University of Ankara Series C Biology Geological Engineering and Geophysical Engineering 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Microplastics on the Adsorption and Desorption Properties of Cadmium in Soil

Polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics were found to reduce soil's capacity to adsorb cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, raising concerns that microplastic contamination in farmland soils could increase the mobility and risk of heavy metal pollutants.

2022 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Adsorption Behavior of Heavy Metals onto the MPs and Their Impact

This review examines how microplastics adsorb heavy metals from soil and aquatic environments and how this adsorption affects the transport, bioavailability, and toxicity of both contaminants. The authors synthesize evidence showing that microplastics act as effective carriers for heavy metal transport through freshwater and marine systems, amplifying the ecological hazard of metal contamination.

2024 ACS symposium series 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as adsorbent for Pb2+ and Cd2+: A comparative study of polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene, and low-density polyethylene

Researchers compared how four common types of microplastics adsorb lead and cadmium heavy metals in aquatic environments. The study found that polypropylene had the highest adsorption capacity for both metals, with oxygen-containing functional groups playing a key role in the adsorption process, suggesting that different microplastic types pose varying levels of environmental risk as heavy metal carriers.

2024 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 15 citations
Article Tier 2

The types of microplastics, heavy metals, and adsorption environments control the microplastic adsorption capacity of heavy metals

Using nearly 5,000 data points, researchers mapped out which types of microplastics are best at absorbing which heavy metals from water. They found that the plastic type, the specific metal, and environmental conditions like pH and temperature all significantly affect how much metal sticks to the plastic. This is important because microplastics carrying heavy metals into the food chain could amplify the toxic effects of both pollutants on human health.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption mechanism of cadmium on polystyrene microplastics containing hexabromocyclododecane

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics containing hexabromocyclododecane (PS-HBCD) adsorb cadmium via electrostatic attraction and surface complexation, with pH, salinity, and particle size all influencing adsorption capacity.

2021 Environmental Technology & Innovation 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption Behaviors of Cadmium Regulated by Microplastics Properties in a Forest Soil

Microplastics and cadmium (a toxic heavy metal) frequently pollute forest soils together, and this study examined how different types, sizes, and concentrations of microplastics affect cadmium's behavior in soil. Biodegradable plastics like PBS and PBA adsorbed and released more cadmium than conventional polyethylene, and microplastics altered the soil's organic matter in ways that influenced how cadmium moved and became available to organisms. These findings matter because co-contamination by microplastics and heavy metals in soils may compound environmental and food-chain risks beyond what either pollutant causes alone.

2025 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling Complexation and Contaminant Vector Potentialin Aged Polyamide-Heavy Metal Interactions

Researchers found that aged polyamide (PA) microplastics exhibited enhanced adsorption capacity for cadmium and copper compared to pristine PA, with increased surface roughness from aging promoting stronger metal binding via electrostatic interactions, and environmental factors such as pH influencing subsequent metal desorption.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Factors Affecting Metal Ion Desorption from the Surface of Microplastics

Laboratory experiments show that key environmental variables — pH, temperature, contact time, and polymer type — strongly influence how quickly metal ions desorb from microplastic surfaces into water. Because microplastics can concentrate and then release metals like lead and cadmium into food and drinking water, understanding these desorption parameters is critical for assessing the chemical hazard that microplastics pose beyond their physical presence.

2023 SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología
Article Tier 2

Adsorption mechanism of trace heavy metals on microplastics and simulating their effect on microalgae in river

Researchers investigated how three common types of microplastics adsorb trace heavy metals under varying temperature and salinity conditions in freshwater. They found that microplastics adsorb metals primarily through electrostatic forces in a single-layer pattern, with warmer temperatures and lower salinity increasing adsorption capacity. The study also showed that heavy metals carried by microplastics can inhibit the growth of freshwater microalgae, demonstrating how plastics act as vectors for metal contamination in rivers.

2022 Environmental Research 177 citations
Article Tier 2

Factors Affecting the Adsorption of Heavy Metals by Microplastics and Their Toxic Effects on Fish

This review examines how microplastics absorb heavy metals from water and how the combined pollution harms fish. Factors like water pH, temperature, and the age of the plastic all affect how much metal sticks to the surface. Since fish are a major protein source for humans, the combination of microplastics and heavy metals entering fish tissue is a potential pathway for these pollutants to reach people through their diet.

2023 Toxics 82 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of three bivalent metals by four chemical distinct microplastics

Researchers measured the sorption of copper, cadmium, and lead onto four types of microplastic particles — including chlorinated PE, PVC, and two PE variants — finding that higher crystallinity and surface area drove greater metal adsorption, and that all four plastics had different capacities for each metal.

2020 Chemosphere 306 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in soils with contrasting texture, organic carbon and mineralogy: changes in cadmium adsorption forms and their mobility in soil columns

This study investigated how high-density polyethylene microplastics alter the behavior of cadmium — a toxic heavy metal — in soils with different textures, organic carbon contents, and mineral compositions. Using soil column experiments, researchers found that microplastics changed how cadmium binds to soil particles and how easily it leaches downward, with effects varying depending on the soil type and microplastic particle size. Since cadmium is a known carcinogen and agricultural soils commonly contain both microplastics and heavy metals, understanding their interactions is critical for food safety.

2025 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of virgin microplastics on the transport of Cd (II) in Xiangjiang River sediment

Six types of microplastics were found to change how cadmium (a toxic heavy metal) binds to and moves through river sediments. The presence of microplastics altered cadmium adsorption behavior, suggesting that plastics in river sediments can affect the mobility and bioavailability of co-occurring heavy metal pollutants.

2021 Chemosphere 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Heavy Metal Adsorption on Microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption of lead (Pb) and aluminium (Al) onto polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, and ethylene vinyl acetate microplastics, finding that pH, contact time, initial metal concentration, and temperature all significantly affect adsorption capacity. Experimental data were best described by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, confirming that microplastics act as vectors for heavy metal contaminants in aquatic environments.

2019 Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 73 citations