Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

An insight into laboratory column experiments for microplastic transport in soil

This review synthesizes findings from laboratory column experiments on microplastic transport through soil, examining how particle size, shape, surface chemistry, and soil properties influence how far plastics migrate in the subsurface.

2024 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Transport of different microplastics in porous media: Effect of the adhesion of surfactants on microplastics

Researchers investigated how surfactant adhesion on different microplastic surfaces affects their transport through porous media, finding that surfactant interactions vary with microplastic type and significantly alter their mobility in subsurface environments.

2022 Water Research 99 citations
Article Tier 2

Behaviour and transport of microplastics under saturated flow conditions in sediments and soils

Researchers investigated the behaviour and transport of microplastics under saturated flow conditions in sediments and soils, examining how particle properties influence movement through porous media. The study aimed to improve understanding of subsurface microplastic fate and transport relevant to both soil and groundwater contamination.

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

Microplastics/nanoplastics in porous media: Key factors controlling their transport and retention behaviors

This review examines what controls how microplastics and nanoplastics move through soil and other porous materials like sand and sediment. Factors like particle size, shape, surface charge, water flow speed, and the presence of other pollutants all influence whether plastics stay in place or travel deeper into groundwater. Understanding these transport behaviors is important for assessing the risk of microplastics contaminating underground drinking water sources.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Morphology-dependent degradation and fragmentation of PVC microplastic particles influence their transport in saturated quartz sand columns

This study examined how the shape and surface characteristics of PVC microplastic particles change over time during degradation and how these changes affect their transport in sand columns. More degraded particles with rougher surfaces were retained more strongly in the sand. The findings show that microplastic weathering state affects environmental mobility, which matters for predicting how long-buried plastic particles move through soil to groundwater.

2023
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics retention in porous media exhibits different dependence on grain surface roughness and clay coating with particle size

Researchers found that grain surface roughness and clay coatings affect the retention of microplastics and nanoplastics in porous media differently depending on particle size, with nanoplastics behaving oppositely to microplastics in certain soil conditions — complicating predictions of plastic transport in groundwater systems.

2022 Water Research 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Behaviour and transport of microplastics under saturated flow conditions in sediments and soils

Researchers investigated the behavior and transport of microplastics under saturated flow conditions in sediments and soils, examining how physical and chemical properties of microplastic particles influence their mobility through porous geological media. The study addressed knowledge gaps in understanding subsurface microplastic transport relevant to groundwater contamination and the fate of microplastics deposited in terrestrial environments.

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

Impact of particle density on the mobility of microplastics in sediments

This study investigates how the density of microplastic particles affects their mobility through soil and potential to reach groundwater, using column experiments with polyethylene particles of different densities. Particle density was found to influence transport behavior, with implications for understanding how microplastics migrate through terrestrial environments.

BOK:ePub (Universitätsbibliothek der Universität f Bodenkultur Wien)
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

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

Exploring the vertical transport of microplastics in subsurface environments: Lab-scale experiments and field evidence

Researchers investigated how microplastics move downward through soil using laboratory column experiments and field sampling of groundwater. They found that heavier rainfall, smaller particle size, and fiber-shaped microplastics all increased vertical transport through unsaturated soil. Field samples confirmed the presence of microplastics in both soil layers and groundwater, suggesting that surface plastic pollution can migrate into underground water supplies.

2023 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic polymer type impacts water infiltration and its own transport in soil

Researchers conducted laboratory soil column experiments to examine how microplastic polymer type affects both water infiltration rates and the transport of the plastic particles themselves through soil, testing the two most commonly used agricultural microplastic types under controlled hydrological conditions. The study found that polymer type significantly influenced both water flow dynamics and microplastic mobility in soil, with important implications for predicting plastic fate in agricultural and natural terrestrial ecosystems.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics undergo accelerated vertical migration in sand soil due to small size and wet-dry cycles

Polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics of varying sizes were tracked through sand soil columns under repeated wet-dry cycles, finding that the smallest particles (21 μm PE) migrated deepest and that migration depth increased linearly with the number of wet-dry cycles. The study reveals that small microplastics can penetrate much deeper into soil profiles than larger particles, raising concern about groundwater contamination.

2019 Environmental Pollution 495 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

Understanding microplastic transport and retention in soil: insights from laboratory and field studies

This study combined laboratory column experiments and field observations to characterize how polyethylene, PBAT, and starch-based biodegradable microplastics move through sandy loam and loamy sand soils under different hydrological conditions. Transport distance and retention depth varied significantly by polymer type and soil texture, with rainfall intensity being a key driver of vertical microplastic migration.

2025
Article Tier 2

Subsurface transport of microplastic particles in gravel columns: Impacts of different rain events and particle characteristics

Researchers conducted column experiments using pre-stained microplastic particles of two density types in gravel sediment to investigate how different rainfall intensities and land-use scenarios influence the vertical transport and retention of microplastics in subsurface environments. The study found that both particle density and rainfall event characteristics significantly affected microplastic mobility through subsurface sediments, informing models of microplastic fate in soil-water systems.

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

Mechanism comparisons of transport-deposition-reentrainment between microplastics and natural mineral particles in porous media: A theoretical and experimental study

Researchers compared the transport, deposition, and re-entrainment behavior of microplastic particles versus natural mineral particles in porous media, finding key differences driven by density, surface charge, and shape that affect how microplastics migrate through soils and sediments.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 30 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

Microplastics transport in soils: A critical review

This critical review examined how microplastics are transported through soils, evaluating the role of particle size and shape, soil texture, water flow, and bioturbation in governing vertical and lateral transport. The authors identify knowledge gaps in field-scale transport processes and call for standardized leaching experiments to improve predictions of microplastic mobility in terrestrial systems.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of fragmentation on the transport of polyvinyl chloride and low-density polyethylene in saturated quartz sand

Researchers examined how fragmentation affects the transport of PVC and LDPE microplastics through saturated quartz sand columns, finding that smaller PVC fragments traveled farther and that PVC particles continued breaking down during column experiments, promoting migration. Spherical LDPE particles remained immobile without fragmenting, suggesting that particle morphology and secondary fragmentation are key controls on microplastic subsurface transport.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations