Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in natural soils: Effect of soil properties, ionic strength and cation type

Researchers used column experiments across three soil types to show that polystyrene nanoplastic transport is governed by soil iron and aluminum oxide content and pH — with high-pH, low-oxide soils allowing up to 97% nanoplastic passage — and that calcium ions and higher ionic strength significantly increase retention, revealing that soil chemistry strongly controls nanoplastic mobility toward groundwater.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 290 citations
Article Tier 2

Binary transport of PS and PET microplastics in saturated quartz sand: Effect of sand particle size and PET shape

Not all microplastics behave the same way when they enter groundwater or soil — their shape, size, and the plastic type all influence how far they travel. This study tracked how spherical and fragment-shaped microplastics of two polymer types (polystyrene and PET) moved through sand columns, finding that fragment-shaped particles were significantly less mobile than spheres, and that when both types were present together, the spheres helped carry fragments further by forming aggregates. These findings are important for predicting how microplastics contaminate groundwater and for designing remediation strategies.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantification of two-site kinetic transport parameters of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media

This laboratory study tracked how polystyrene nanoplastics move through different soil types by measuring their transport through columns packed with quartz sand and clay minerals. Higher pH conditions reduced the ability of clay minerals to trap nanoplastics, meaning they traveled farther and faster through soil toward groundwater. Understanding these transport dynamics is key to predicting how nanoplastic contamination spreads through soils and ultimately reaches drinking water sources.

2023 Chemosphere 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of shape on the transport and retention of nanoplastics in saturated quartz sand

Researchers compared the transport of spherical versus toroid-shaped nanoplastics through quartz sand columns, finding that irregular toroid particles traveled significantly less far than spheres due to lower energy barriers and greater tendency to accumulate along pore walls — highlighting that particle shape must be considered when predicting nanoplastic fate in soil and groundwater.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of particle size on the transport of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastic particles through quartz sand under unsaturated conditions

This study tested how different sizes of polystyrene micro and nanoplastics move through sand under conditions similar to soil with some moisture. Smaller particles (120 nanometers) passed through easily with 95% recovery, while larger particles (10,000 nanometers) were completely trapped. The findings suggest that the tiniest nanoplastics can readily travel through soil to reach groundwater, creating a potential pathway for plastic contamination of drinking water sources.

2024 Environmental Pollution 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport and retention of polyethylene microplastics in saturated porous media: Effect of physicochemical properties

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics move through water-saturated sand and gravel, testing the effects of particle size, water chemistry, and flow speed. They found that smaller microplastics traveled farther through the porous material, while higher salt concentrations and lower flow rates increased particle retention. The findings help explain how microplastics may spread through groundwater systems under real-world conditions.

2025 Environmental Pollution and Management 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sensitivity of the Transport of Plastic Nanoparticles to Typical Phosphates Associated with Ionic Strength and Solution pH

This study investigated how phosphate ions in soil pore water influence the transport of plastic nanoparticles through porous media under varying pH and ionic strength conditions. Phosphate affected nanoparticle surface charge and aggregation behavior, altering how far particles traveled. The findings are relevant to understanding how plastic nanoparticles move through soils and groundwater systems.

2022 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Concentration, Surface Charge, and Natural Water Components on the Transport and Adsorption of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in Sand Columns

Laboratory column experiments showed that nanoplastics made of polystyrene behave very differently in groundwater depending on their surface charge — positively charged particles were retained much more readily in sand than negatively charged ones, and the presence of natural organic matter in real lake water reduced the retention of both types. These findings matter for understanding whether nanoplastics released into the environment will travel through soil and reach drinking water sources, which depends critically on the plastic's surface chemistry.

2024 Nanomaterials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of low-molecular-weight organic acids on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers studied how low-molecular-weight organic acids (common in soil and groundwater) affect the movement of polystyrene nanoplastics through saturated porous media, finding that low concentrations promote transport while high concentrations increase particle deposition, with the effect scaling with the number of functional groups on the organic acid.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate and polymethyl methacrylate microplastics in porous media under gradient ionic strength

Researchers used column experiments to study how four types of microplastics — polypropylene, PVC, PET, and PMMA — move through soil-like porous media under different salt concentrations. They found that increasing salinity reduces microplastic mobility by causing particles to stick to sand surfaces, which has implications for predicting how far microplastics can travel through soils to reach groundwater.

2023 Environmental Pollutants and Bioavailability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Statuses, shortcomings, and outlooks in studying the fate of nanoplastics and engineered nanoparticles in porous media respectively and borrowable sections from engineered nanoparticles for nanoplastics

Researchers reviewed the state of knowledge on how nanoplastics and engineered nanoparticles move through porous media like soil and groundwater, synthesizing key transport mechanisms (advection, diffusion, electrostatic forces, straining) and arguing that while lessons from engineered nanoparticle research offer useful frameworks, nanoplastics require dedicated investigation due to fundamental differences in surface properties.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and transport of fragmented and spherical microplastics in saturated gravel and quartz sand

Researchers studied the fate and transport of fragmented and spherical microplastics through saturated gravel aquifer columns, finding that particle shape strongly influences transport distance, with fragments traveling farther than spheres.

2024 Journal of Environmental Quality 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of physicochemical factors on transport and retention of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) in homogeneous and heterogeneous saturated porous media

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics move through different types of underground soil and sand formations. They found that smaller sand grains, higher salt concentrations, and the presence of calcium ions all increased microplastic retention, while mixed soil layers created preferential flow paths that allowed some particles to break through faster. The findings help explain how microplastics could potentially contaminate groundwater aquifers.

2025 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Deposition of environmentally relevant nanoplastic models in sand during transport experiments

This study tracked how environmentally relevant nanoplastic models move through sand columns in laboratory conditions, finding they can be transported substantial distances in groundwater. The findings raise concerns about nanoplastic contamination of soil and aquifer systems, which are critical sources of drinking water.

2020 Chemosphere 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of micron-sized polyethylene particles in confined aquifer: Effects of size, aging, and confining pressure

Researchers investigated the transport of irregularly shaped polyethylene microplastics through sand-packed columns, finding that smaller particles (22-37 um) were generally more mobile than larger ones (44-74 um), while aging reduced hydrophobicity and affected transport behavior under varying confining pressures. The study highlights that size, weathering state, and pore pressure together control how microplastics migrate through confined aquifer systems.

2023 Heliyon 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics as carriers of organic pollutants in seawater-saturated porous media: a quantitative comparison of transport pathways

Researchers quantitatively compared transport pathways of non-polar organic pollutants carried by nanoplastics through seawater-saturated porous media, demonstrating that the carrier effect of nanoplastics is the primary mechanism inhibiting pollutant migration and enabling their co-transport in coastal and marine subsurface environments.

2025 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Impact of Type and Shape of Microplastics on the Transport in Column Experiments

Controlled column experiments showed that microplastic particle shape and polymer type both influence how far microplastics travel through soil and aquifer material, with all tested types (polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester) being retarded compared to a dissolved tracer—fibers and fragments behaving differently from spheres. These findings help predict how microplastics contaminate groundwater and drinking water sources, and which particle characteristics most need to be targeted by filtration or remediation strategies.

2023 Ground Water 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Vertical transport and retention behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in simulated hyporheic zone

Researchers investigated polystyrene nanoplastic transport through quartz sand columns under varying flow rates, orientations, water saturation, salinity, and temperature, finding that high salinity was the most powerful driver of retention. Increasing salinity from 0 to 35 PSU caused the penetration rate of nanoplastics to drop from 100% to zero by compressing the electrical double layer and facilitating aggregation.

2022 Water Research 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Vertical transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in natural soils under unsaturated conditions: influence of particle size and texture

Laboratory experiments showed that polystyrene nanoplastics can travel downward through unsaturated soils, but larger particles and clay-rich soils retain them more effectively than smaller particles in sandy soils. Understanding how nanoplastics move through soil is important for predicting whether they will reach groundwater and contaminate drinking water sources.

2026 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Impact of fertilizers on polyethylene terephthalate nanoplastics migration in groundwater: A combined experimental and simulation approach

Researchers investigated how three fertilizer components — urea, calcium phosphate, and sodium sulfate — individually and in combination affect the migration behaviour of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanoplastics through quartz sand porous media, using column experiments combined with simulation modelling. The study found that fertilizer composition significantly altered nanoplastic transport, with ionic strength and specific ion effects modulating particle mobility in groundwater systems.

2025 Water Research
Article Tier 2

Dispersion properties of nanoplastic spheres in granular media at low Reynolds numbers

Researchers measured how nanoplastic spheres of different sizes (100-1000 nm) move through porous granular media at low flow rates, finding that existing models significantly underestimate the dispersion of colloidal-sized nanoplastics. Size exclusion effects reduced the mobility of larger nanoplastics in fine-grained sediments, with implications for predicting nanoplastic transport in soils and groundwater.

2023 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of input concentration, media particle size, and flow rate on fate of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers systematically tested how input concentration, sand grain size, and flow rate control nanoplastic transport through saturated porous media, finding that nanoplastics are highly mobile under most conditions and — crucially — fragment into smaller sub-100 nm particles during long-term release, potentially increasing their environmental persistence and bioavailability.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating transport kinetics of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers investigated how ionic strength, pH, and organic matter influence the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through saturated porous media using column experiments and DLVO modeling, finding that increasing sodium ion concentrations promote nanoplastic aggregation and reduce mobility in soil and groundwater systems.

2022 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of clay minerals on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastic in groundwater

Researchers investigated how clay minerals affect nanoplastic transport in groundwater, finding that montmorillonite, kaolinite, and illite each uniquely influenced polystyrene nanoparticle mobility, with montmorillonite showing the strongest retention capacity due to its high surface charge.

2022 Water Research 82 citations