Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Interactions between microplastics, pharmaceuticals and personal care products: Implications for vector transport

This review examines how microplastics can absorb pharmaceuticals and personal care products (like medications, sunscreen, and antibacterials) onto their surfaces in the environment. Environmental factors like water acidity, salt levels, and organic matter all affect how strongly these chemicals bind to plastic surfaces. When organisms ingest microplastics carrying these absorbed chemicals, the combined exposure could pose greater health risks than either the plastics or chemicals alone.

2021 Environment International 520 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic–Pharmaceuticals Interaction in Water Systems

This review examined the interactions between microplastics and pharmaceutical compounds in aquatic environments, exploring how microplastics act as vectors that concentrate, transport, and potentially enhance the bioavailability and toxicity of drug residues in water.

2023 Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Pharmaceuticals and micro(nano)plastics in the environment: Sorption and analytical challenges

This review examines how pharmaceutical residues and micro- and nanoplastics interact in water environments, finding that microplastics can adsorb medications and alter their environmental behavior. Factors like plastic type, surface area, and biological film growth all influence these interactions, but very few studies have been conducted under real-world conditions. The authors highlight persistent analytical challenges and the need for field-based research to understand actual risks.

2024 Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior of organic pollutants and metals on micro/nanoplastics in the aquatic environment

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments adsorb organic pollutants and metals onto their surfaces, effectively acting as carriers for other contaminants. Researchers found that environmental factors like pH, salinity, and aging of the plastic significantly influence this sorption behavior. The findings raise concerns that microplastics may increase the bioavailability and toxicity of chemical pollutants in waterways.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 685 citations
Article Tier 2

Mini Review on Recent Advances of the Adsorption Mechanism Between Microplastics and Emerging Contaminants for Conservation of Water

This mini-review examines the adsorption mechanisms between microplastics and emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, highlighting how physicochemical properties like hydrophobicity and pH influence pollutant uptake onto different polymer types. The review synthesizes recent advances relevant to understanding how microplastics act as vectors for pharmaceutical contaminants in aquatic environments.

2023 International Journal of Conservation Science 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of selected pharmaceutical compounds on polyethylene microplastics: Roles of pH, aging, and competitive sorption

Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics adsorb pharmaceutical compounds including an antibiotic, a beta-blocker, and an antidepressant, with sorption capacity influenced by pH, aging of the plastic, and competition between compounds — raising concern about microplastics as carriers of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments.

2022 Chemosphere 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Meet Metoprolol in Natural Water: Sorption Behavior and Mechanism

Laboratory experiments showed that common plastic types — polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene — readily adsorb the heart medication metoprolol from water, and that this adsorption increases at higher pH and in the presence of dissolved organic matter (humic acids). These findings raise concern that microplastics in aquatic environments could act as transport vectors for pharmaceutical drugs, potentially delivering them to fish and other organisms in concentrated doses.

2024 Water 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions between microplastics and organic compounds in aquatic environments: A mini review

Researchers reviewed the mechanisms of interaction between microplastics and organic compounds in aquatic environments, examining factors related to the plastics themselves, the organic compounds, and environmental conditions. The study found that properties like crystallinity, surface area, and weathering state of microplastics all influence how they adsorb and transport organic pollutants, with implications for environmental and health risk assessments.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 290 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior and interaction mechanism of microplastics with typical hydrophilic pharmaceuticals and personal care products

This study examined how different types of microplastics adsorb hydrophilic pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in aquatic environments, finding that polymer type and surface properties governed the interaction mechanisms. The results indicate that microplastics can act as vectors for these emerging contaminants.

2023 Environmental Research 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors of pharmaceuticals in aquatic organisms – An overview of their environmental implications

Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as "vectors" for pharmaceutical contaminants in aquatic environments, absorbing drugs onto their surfaces and then releasing them inside organisms after ingestion — potentially amplifying the toxicity of pharmaceuticals throughout the food web.

2021 Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering 100 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of a diverse range of pharmaceuticals to polyethylene microplastics in wastewater and their desorption in environmental matrices

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics adsorb pharmaceuticals in municipal wastewater and release them in environmental and biological fluids. They found that drug adsorption depended heavily on the compound's charge and hydrophobicity, with cationic and hydrophobic drugs adsorbing most readily. The study suggests that microplastics could act as vectors for certain pharmaceuticals, potentially transporting them through waterways and into organisms.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of pharmaceuticals on the surface of microplastics

Researchers tested the ability of four common microplastic types to adsorb nine pharmaceutical compounds frequently found as water pollutants. They found that sorption involved both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, but under natural environmental conditions the binding was relatively weak. The study suggests that while microplastics can interact with pharmaceutical residues, their role as carriers of these contaminants in real aquatic environments may be more limited than previously assumed.

2020 Chemosphere 169 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of Pharmaceuticals on Microplastics

This review examines the sorption of pharmaceuticals onto microplastics in aquatic environments, analyzing how polymer type, particle size, surface area, polarity, and pharmaceutical properties such as log Kow and pKa influence sorption behavior, and how weathering and aging processes increase sorption capacity by altering microplastic surface chemistry and topography.

2022 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactive effects of micro/nanoplastics and nanomaterials/pharmaceuticals: Their ecotoxicological consequences in the aquatic systems

Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics interact with co-occurring nanomaterials and pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments, finding that plastics act as vectors that can either amplify or attenuate the bioavailability and toxicity of these contaminants depending on species, trophic level, and environmental conditions.

2021 Aquatic Toxicology 61 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Micro(nano)plastics as a vector of pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystem: Historical review and future trends

This systematic review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics in water can absorb and carry pharmaceutical drugs, creating a combined pollution threat. When medications attach to tiny plastic particles in rivers and oceans, they may become more harmful to aquatic life and potentially to humans who consume contaminated seafood or water. The research traces how this emerging double-threat has grown since 2018 and identifies key knowledge gaps.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 32 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

Sorption of pharmaceuticals over microplastics’ surfaces: interaction mechanisms and governing factors

Researchers reviewed the sorption mechanisms by which pharmaceuticals interact with microplastic surfaces in the environment. The study found that electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic forces are the primary mechanisms governing pharmaceutical adsorption onto microplastics, suggesting that microplastics can serve as vectors for transporting pharmaceutical contaminants through ecosystems.

2022 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of persistent organic pollutants: Another effect of microplastic pollution?

This review examines how microplastics act as vectors for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in aquatic environments, covering the physical and chemical factors governing pollutant adsorption and desorption. The authors discuss how interactions between microplastics and POPs vary with polymer type, particle properties, and environmental conditions, and when these interactions may result in toxic effects on aquatic organisms.

2022 Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behaviour and interaction of organic micropollutants with nano and microplastics – A review

This review analyzed the adsorption behavior of organic micropollutants — including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals — onto nano- and microplastics, finding that adsorption is governed by pollutant hydrophobicity, particle surface area, and aging state, and that microplastics can act as vectors delivering co-contaminants to aquatic organisms.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 216 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption and desorption of selected pharmaceuticals by polyethylene microplastics

Researchers tested the sorption and desorption of three pharmaceuticals — sulfamethoxazole, propranolol, and sertraline — onto polyethylene microplastics in water, finding that all three compounds sorbed to the plastic surface and were only partially released over time. The results suggest microplastics can act as vectors for pharmaceutical compounds in aquatic environments, potentially affecting their bioavailability.

2018 Marine Pollution Bulletin 284 citations