Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Continuous long-term monitoring of leaching from microplastics into ambient water – A multi-endpoint approach

Researchers conducted continuous long-term monitoring of leaching from 16 types of microplastics into water, finding that most released significant dissolved organic carbon and various chemicals, with leaching patterns varying by polymer type and environmental conditions.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Elucidating the characteristic of leachates released from microplastics under different aging conditions: Perspectives of dissolved organic carbon fingerprints and nano-plastics

Researchers investigated how different aging conditions affect the release of dissolved organic carbon and nanoplastics from PVC and polystyrene microplastics over 130 days. The study found that UV aging and high temperatures promoted the release of nanoplastics and altered the chemical characteristics of leached substances, with UV-aged treatments producing smaller, rougher nanoparticles that may pose greater ecological risks.

2023 Water Research 76 citations
Article Tier 2

Release of additives and non-intentionally added substances from microplastics under environmentally relevant conditions

Researchers measured how chemical additives leach out of different types of microplastics under realistic environmental conditions and found wildly different release rates — spanning five orders of magnitude over 64 days — highlighting that the type of plastic matters greatly when assessing the chemical risks microplastics pose to ecosystems.

2023 Environmental Advances 60 citations
Article Tier 2

Leaching of microplastic-associated additives in aquatic environments: A critical review

This review examined how microplastic-associated chemical additives leach into aquatic environments, summarizing recent advances in understanding release kinetics, phase equilibrium between microplastics and water, and the environmental and health risks posed by organic additives and heavy metals.

2022 Environmental Pollution 181 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics release a range of substances into the surrounding water

Researchers monitored the leaching of chemical substances from microplastics into surrounding water over time, quantifying what compounds are released under aquatic conditions. The study found that microplastics continuously release a range of substances, adding to their environmental hazard beyond physical particle effects.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Plastic additives and microplastics as emerging contaminants: Mechanisms and analytical assessment

Researchers reviewed how chemical additives mixed into plastics during manufacturing — including stabilizers, flame retardants, and plasticizers — can leach out throughout a plastic's lifecycle and pose risks to ecosystems and human health, with microplastics acting as carriers that concentrate and transport these hazardous chemicals.

2022 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 194 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Reshape the Fate of Aqueous Carbon by Inducing Dynamic Changes in Biodiversity and Chemodiversity

Researchers found that microplastics reshape aqueous carbon cycling by releasing chemical additives that inhibit autotrophic bacteria, promoting CO2 emissions, and stimulating microbial metabolic pathways that transform dissolved organic matter into more stable, less bioavailable forms.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Leaching kinetics and bioaccumulation potential of additive-derived organophosphate esters in microplastics

Researchers studied the leaching kinetics of organophosphate ester additives from microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that these flame retardants and plasticizers are released at rates that depend on temperature and water chemistry, with implications for bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms.

2024 Environmental Pollution 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of chemical and natural ageing on the release of potentially toxic metal additives in commercial PVC microplastics

Researchers aged commercial PVC microplastics under chemical and natural weathering conditions and measured release of potentially toxic trace metals added as stabilizers, finding that weathering significantly increased metal leaching rates, with cadmium and lead among the metals released.

2021 Chemosphere 134 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics release a range of substances into the surrounding water

This study monitored the continuous leaching of chemical substances from microplastics into surrounding water, identifying a range of compounds released over time. The findings confirm that microplastics act as a persistent source of chemical contamination in aquatic environments, beyond their direct physical effects.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Dissolved organic carbon leaching from microplastics and bioavailability in coastal ecosystems

Researchers evaluated dissolved organic carbon leaching from polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics in coastal ecosystems, finding that up to 85% of the leached carbon was biodegradable by microbial communities. The study found that different coastal environments, such as seagrass beds and river mouths, showed varying abilities to utilize this plastic-derived carbon, suggesting microplastics may be an underappreciated source of dissolved organic carbon in marine systems.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Metal leaching from plastics in the marine environment: An ignored role of biofilm.

Researchers investigated how biofilms on marine plastics influence metal leaching, finding that microbial colonization significantly alters the release rates of metal additives from common polymers, representing a previously underappreciated pathway for heavy metal transfer from plastic debris into marine ecosystems.

2023 Environment international
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-derived dissolved organic matter and its biogeochemical behaviors in aquatic environments: A review

This review examines how microplastics release dissolved organic matter (MP-DOM) as they break down in water, and how these released chemicals affect water ecosystems. MP-DOM can interact with other pollutants and alter carbon cycling in natural waters, with the type and amount varying based on plastic composition and weathering conditions. Understanding what microplastics release into water as they degrade is important because these dissolved chemicals may have their own toxic effects on aquatic life and water quality.

2024 Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics altered contaminant behavior and toxicity in natural waters

This review examines how microplastics in natural waters can leach chemical additives and alter the behavior and toxicity of other pollutants like heavy metals and organic contaminants. Researchers found that factors such as particle size, aging, and water chemistry influence how much contamination microplastics release and absorb. The findings highlight that microplastics act not just as pollutants themselves but also as carriers that can change the environmental fate and risk of other toxic substances.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 103 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

Adsorption of trace metals by microplastic pellets in fresh water

Researchers measured the adsorption of trace metals by microplastic pellets in freshwater, finding that pellets accumulate metals from the surrounding water, potentially concentrating metals and altering their bioavailability to aquatic organisms.

2015 Environmental Chemistry 554 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of microplastic contamination by metals in a controlled environment: A risk to be considered

Researchers found that polyethylene terephthalate microplastics readily adsorb nickel, copper, and zinc metals in aquatic environments, demonstrating that degraded plastics can act as carriers for metal contaminants and pose compounded environmental risks.

2023 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Contaminant release from aged microplastic

Researchers exposed recycled plastic granules of polyethylene, PVC, and polystyrene to simulated aging conditions including UV radiation and high temperatures. They found that aging significantly increased the rate at which chemical additives leached from the plastic particles into water, with UV exposure having the greatest effect. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the environment may release harmful chemicals at much higher rates than fresh plastic materials.

2017 Environmental Chemistry 285 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular properties of dissolved organic matter leached from microplastics during photoaging process

Researchers studied the molecular properties of dissolved organic matter that leaches from polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET microplastics during UV-driven photoaging. They found that PET released the most dissolved organic carbon, and that aging transformed protein-like components into humic-like substances. The leachate contained antioxidants, plasticizers, and antimicrobial agents, suggesting that aging microplastics release a complex mix of chemicals into aquatic environments.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Monitoring the migration of additives from multiple recycled polyethylene microplastics

Researchers monitored the migration of chemical additives from multiple-recycled polyethylene microplastics, examining how repeated mechanical recycling cycles affect the release of stabilizers, antioxidants, and other polymer additives into aqueous environments.

2025 Repository of Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb
Article Tier 2

Microplastics release precursors of chlorinated and brominated disinfection byproducts in water

Researchers investigated whether microplastics leach chemical additives that serve as precursors for chlorinated and brominated disinfection byproducts when exposed to hydrolysis and simulated sunlight, testing seventeen microplastics across seven polymer types and finding that this previously unrecognized pathway poses potential risks to drinking water quality.

2020 Chemosphere 88 citations
Article Tier 2

Insight into the fate of bioplastic and similar plant-based material debris in aquatic environments via continuous monitoring of their leachate composition – Release of carbon, metals, and additives

Researchers examined the fate of bioplastic and plant-based material debris in aquatic environments, tracking degradation rates and intermediate products to assess whether these materials break down more benignly than conventional plastics.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Surface adsorption of metallic species onto microplastics with long-term exposure to the natural marine environment

Researchers deployed pre-production polyethylene pellets in the ocean following an accidental spill and recovered them after extended natural exposure, finding that the pellets accumulated a diverse range of metals from seawater, with concentrations increasing over time and varying by metal based on surface chemistry.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 34 citations
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