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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Mechanical and Thermal Properties of HDPE/PET Microplastics, Applications, and Impact on Environment and Life
ClearPolymers and Microplastics: Implications on Our Environment and Sustainability
This review discusses the environmental implications of polymers and microplastics, covering their properties, production trends, degradation pathways, and ecological impacts. It highlights the tension between the industrial utility of plastics and their growing threat to environmental and human health.
An Overview of the Sorption Studies of Contaminants on Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Microplastics in the Marine Environment
This review examines how polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics adsorb and release both organic and metallic contaminants in the marine environment. Researchers analyzed the sorption mechanisms and kinetic models used to study how pollutants bind to PET particles. The study underscores the growing concern that PET microplastics, one of the most common plastics found in ocean pollution, may serve as carriers for toxic chemicals in marine ecosystems.
Sustainable Management of Microplastic Pollutions from PET Bottles: Overview and Mitigation Strategies
Researchers reviewed the environmental impact of PET bottle degradation and strategies for managing the resulting microplastic pollution. The study highlights that PET bottle usage continues to grow, and its breakdown releases low-molecular-weight compounds and microplastics, while outlining mitigation approaches including improved recycling and waste management practices.
Environmental risk, toxicity, and biodegradation of polyethylene: a review.
This review covers the environmental persistence, toxicity, and potential biodegradation of polyethylene — one of the world's most widely produced plastics. Because polyethylene does not biodegrade, it persists for decades and breaks into microplastics that accumulate in soil, water, and living organisms, with documented toxic effects across multiple species.
A focused review on recycling and hydrolysis techniques of polyethylene terephthalate
This review examines techniques for recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most common plastics found as microplastic pollution. Chemical recycling through hydrolysis shows the most promise for breaking PET back into its original building blocks for reuse. Improving PET recycling is important because reducing plastic waste at the source is one of the most effective ways to decrease microplastic contamination in the environment.
From macroplastic to microplastic: Degradation of high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene in a salt marsh habitat
Researchers subjected high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, and other plastics to simulated environmental degradation and tracked their fragmentation from macro- to microplastic sizes, characterizing surface changes and particle generation rates.
Occurrence, analysis, and toxicity of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics: a review
This review focuses on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most common types of plastic found as microplastic contamination in food, beverages, dust, wildlife, and human tissues. The authors found major inconsistencies in how researchers measure and detect PET microplastics, making it difficult to accurately assess health risks. Better standardized methods are needed to understand the true scope of PET contamination.
Polyethylene plastic degradation: The dual pathways from macroplastics to nanoplastics
Researchers traced the dual degradation pathways of polyethylene from large plastic items down to microplastics and eventually nanoplastics, mapping both mechanical fragmentation and chemical oxidation routes. Understanding the full breakdown continuum helps quantify how much of the plastic mass ends up as invisible nanoscale particles.
Microplastics in ecosystems: Critical review of occurrence, distribution, toxicity, fate, transport, and advances in experimental and computational studies in surface and subsurface water
This review provides a broad overview of microplastic contamination across freshwater, marine, and land environments, finding concentrations ranging from negligible to hundreds of thousands of particles per kilogram of sediment. The most common types are polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, and PET, spread by wastewater discharge, stormwater runoff, and poor waste management. The wide variability in contamination levels makes it difficult to assess overall risk to ecosystems and human health.
Rheological Characterization of UV and Shear‐Induced Degradation of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate): Linking Environmental and Processing Histories to Recyclability
Researchers studied how UV light exposure and mechanical processing degrade PET plastic at the molecular level. They found that UV aging in water environments causes the plastic chains to break apart, while dry conditions promote crosslinking, and that even a single round of recycling processing dramatically reduces crystal size and releases volatile byproducts. The study reveals that both environmental weathering and recycling significantly weaken PET's mechanical properties, which has implications for both microplastic generation and plastic recyclability.
Photo-induced degradation of single-use polyethylene terephthalate microplastics under laboratory and outdoor environmental conditions
Researchers tested how sunlight, water, and physical wear work together to break down PET microplastics, the type commonly found in plastic bottles and food packaging. Over 60 days, combined UV light and water exposure caused significant chemical degradation of the plastic surfaces. This matters because as microplastics break down in the environment, they release smaller fragments and potentially harmful chemicals that are easier for organisms to absorb.
Generation of Nanoplastic Aerosols from Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Macroplastics
This German-language thesis investigated the generation of nanoplastic aerosols from common plastic types (PE, PP, PET) through environmental weathering and mechanical processes. The research addresses how airborne nanoplastics form and how they may be inhaled, contributing to understanding this underappreciated human exposure pathway.
Environmental source, fate, and toxicity of microplastics
This comprehensive review covers the sources, environmental fate, and toxic effects of microplastics across both aquatic and terrestrial environments. The study highlights that microplastics are now found virtually everywhere on Earth and can harm organisms through physical damage, chemical leaching, and by acting as carriers for other pollutants.
Microbial Degradation of Plastic Polymers
This review examines microbial degradation pathways for common synthetic plastics including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC, polyurethane, and PET, describing how mechanical and biological processes fragment plastics into microplastics and how microorganisms can be leveraged to address plastic pollution in aquatic and terrestrial environments.
A Mini Review on Recent Insight into Degradation of Environmental Plastics
This mini-review summarizes current knowledge on how plastics break down in the environment to form microplastics, covering mechanical, photochemical, thermal, and biological degradation pathways, and identifies key gaps in understanding how environmental conditions and plastic properties influence degradation rates.
From cracks to secondary microplastics - surface characterization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) during weathering
Scientists tracked how PET plastic, the material used in water bottles and clothing, develops cracks and eventually breaks into microplastics during exposure to UV light and water. Different forms of PET broke down in different ways and at different speeds, with water-submerged samples showing organized crack networks within 30 days. The study helps explain how everyday plastic products fragment into the microplastics found throughout the environment, with fibers being one of the most common shapes produced.
Microplastic Pollution in the Environment
This review examines the ubiquitous presence of microplastics as emerging environmental pollutants across all major environmental compartments, synthesizing data on their sources, fates, and concentrations over time and space to characterize the scale of global contamination.
Pollution of Freshwater Ecosystems by Microplastics: A Short Review on Degradation, Distribution, and Interaction with Aquatic Biota
This review synthesizes published literature on the distribution, degradation, and ecological interactions of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems globally. The paper covers MP distribution patterns, interactions with heavy metals in freshwater, and documented uptake by aquatic organisms along with associated biological impacts.
Microplastics in aquatic systems: A review of occurrence, monitoring and potential environmental risks
Researchers review the presence of microplastics — tiny plastic fragments less than 5 mm — across freshwater and marine environments worldwide, finding that polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene are the most commonly detected types. Exposure disrupts feeding, movement, and reproduction in aquatic wildlife, and the authors call for standardized measurement methods and legal limits to protect ecosystems.
Role of Structural Morphology of Commodity Polymers in Microplastics and Nanoplastics Formation: Fragmentation, Effects and Associated Toxicity in the Aquatic Environment
This review examines how the structural morphology and chemical composition of commodity polymers influence the formation and environmental behaviour of microplastics and nanoplastics, arguing that chemical degradation pathways have been largely overlooked in favour of purely physical abrasion explanations for plastic fragmentation.
Approaches for the preparation and evaluation of hydrophilic polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate microplastic particles suited for toxicological effect studies
Researchers developed methods to create large quantities of artificially aged, hydrophilic microplastic particles from PET and polyethylene, eliminating the need for surfactants in toxicity experiments. Using alkaline and acidic treatments, they produced particles smaller than 5 micrometers with significantly increased water compatibility. These standardized, aged particles better represent real-world microplastics and could improve the consistency and relevance of laboratory toxicity studies.
СУЧАСНЕ УЯВЛЕННЯ ПРО ПЕРЕБІГ ПРОЦЕСІВ ДЕСТРУКЦІЇ ПОЛІЕТИЛЕНТЕРЕФТАЛАТУ
This Ukrainian review summarizes current understanding of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) degradation mechanisms, including hydrolysis, thermal, photodegradation, and mechanical breakdown. Understanding how PET degrades is important because it is one of the most abundant plastics that fragments into microplastics in the environment.
Degradation and Recycling of Polymer Materials
This review synthesizes research on the degradation and recycling of polymer materials, covering microplastic formation, recycling strategies, and plastic degradation mechanisms as responses to the significant environmental damage caused by discarded plastics in ocean and other ecosystems.
Changes in the Chemical Composition of Polyethylene Terephthalate under UV Radiation in Various Environmental Conditions.
Researchers exposed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to UV radiation under controlled humidity conditions and tracked changes in its chemical composition, finding progressive oxidation and chain scission that alter the polymer's surface properties. Understanding how PET degrades under UV exposure is important for predicting how PET microplastics form and what chemical changes make them more or less bioavailable.