Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors for environmental contaminants: Exploring sorption, desorption, and transfer to biota

This review explores how microplastics interact with hydrophobic organic chemicals in aquatic environments, examining the processes of chemical sorption onto and desorption from plastic particles. Researchers discuss the factors that influence whether microplastics act as significant carriers of environmental contaminants into living organisms compared to natural pathways. Understanding these processes is essential for accurately assessing the real-world risk that microplastics pose as chemical transport vehicles.

2017 Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 632 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 of organic pollutants on microplastics

This review summarizes the main mechanisms by which microplastics adsorb organic pollutants, including hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic forces, and hydrogen bonding. Researchers found that particle size, surface area, aging, and environmental factors like pH and temperature significantly influence how much pollution microplastics can carry. The study highlights the need for more field-based research to understand how microplastics behave as pollutant carriers in real environmental conditions.

2021 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 822 citations
Review Tier 2

Physisorption and Chemisorption Mechanisms Influencing Micro (Nano) Plastics-Organic Chemical Contaminants Interactions: A Review

This review explains the chemical and physical mechanisms by which microplastics attract and carry organic pollutants like pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals in the environment. The ability of microplastics to absorb these contaminants depends on factors like plastic type, particle size, weathering, and water conditions. Understanding these interactions is critical because when contaminated microplastics are ingested by organisms or humans, the absorbed chemicals can be released inside the body.

2021 Frontiers in Environmental Science 295 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as a vector of hydrophobic contaminants: Importance of hydrophobic additives

This paper examines the role of hydrophobicity in determining whether organic pollutants sorbed to microplastics pose a meaningful additional risk beyond direct water exposure. The authors argue that for most scenarios, the contribution of microplastics to total pollutant exposure is smaller than commonly assumed and depends heavily on the properties of the specific chemical and polymer.

2017 Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 211 citations
Article Tier 2

The bioaccumulation effects of microplastics and associated organic pollutants in the aquatic environment

This review examined how microplastics in aquatic environments interact with organic pollutants through adsorption, affecting the bioaccumulation and toxicity of those pollutants in aquatic organisms due to the high hydrophobicity of microplastic surfaces.

2021 Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Review on microplastic-polymer composite interactions: assessing contaminant adsorption, structural integrity, and environmental impacts

This review examined how microplastics interact with polymer composites and serve as carriers for heavy metals, organic pollutants, and pathogens. The study assessed how polymer type, surface properties, and environmental conditions influence contaminant adsorption and transport, highlighting the complex role of microplastics in pollutant cycling.

2025 Communication in Physical Sciences
Article Tier 2

Research progress on environmental occurrence of microplastics and their interaction mechanism with organic pollutants

This review summarizes how microplastics in the environment interact with organic pollutants—adsorbing, carrying, and releasing them. Microplastics act as mobile carriers for persistent organic chemicals, altering their distribution and toxicity in ecosystems and the organisms, including humans, that consume them.

2021 Scientia Sinica Chimica 4 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

Interakcije mikroplastike i organskih onečišćivala u vodi

This Croatian-language review covers how microplastics adsorb and transport organic contaminants in water, examining the adsorption mechanisms (hydrophobic partitioning, surface interactions), factors affecting uptake capacity (polymer type, aging, particle size), and how co-contamination may amplify overall toxicity.

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

Microplastic-Toxic Chemical Interaction: A Review Study on Quantified Levels, Mechanism and Implication

This review summarizes quantified levels of heavy metals and hydrophobic organic contaminants sorbed onto microplastics in environmental media, examining adsorption and desorption mechanisms and discussing health implications of ingested microplastics acting as vectors for toxic chemical transport.

2019 Preprints.org 21 citations
Review Tier 2

The chemical behaviors of microplastics in marine environment: A review

This review summarized interactions between microplastics and organic pollutants and metals in the marine environment, covering sorption behavior across polymer types, the role of degradation in altering sorption capacity, and global monitoring data on pollutant concentrations on marine plastics. The authors conclude that microplastic type, pollutant properties, and environmental conditions all strongly influence chemical accumulation on plastic surfaces.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 654 citations
Article Tier 2

Partitioning of chemical contaminants to microplastics: Sorption mechanisms, environmental distribution and effects on toxicity and bioaccumulation

This review critically examines how chemical contaminants like persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals sorb onto microplastic surfaces in the environment. Researchers found that while microplastics can concentrate pollutants at levels far above surrounding water, the actual contribution of microplastics to contaminant transfer into organisms may be less significant than direct exposure from water and food. The study calls for more realistic experimental designs to clarify the true risk.

2019 Environmental Pollution 487 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics with organic, inorganic and bio-pollutants and the ecotoxicological effects on terrestrial and aquatic organisms

This review systematically examines how microplastics interact with organic pollutants, heavy metals, and biological contaminants in the environment. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb and transport these pollutants, creating complex combinations that may be more toxic to organisms than either pollutant alone. The study highlights the risks these interactions pose to both ecosystem health and human well-being.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 126 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

Microplastics as vectors for bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic chemicals in the marine environment: A state-of-the-science review

This state-of-the-science review examined whether microplastics serve as vectors for bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic chemicals in marine organisms. The study found that while microplastics can carry high concentrations of sorbed chemicals, their relative importance as an exposure route compared to other pathways like water and food remains an active area of research with varying conclusions depending on environmental conditions.

2016 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 476 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of organic pollutants by microplastics: Overview of a dissonant literature

This review critically examines the scientific literature on how microplastics adsorb organic pollutants in aquatic environments. Researchers found significant inconsistencies across studies regarding the mechanisms and extent of pollutant uptake by microplastics, noting that factors like particle size, polymer type, and environmental conditions all play important roles. The study calls for more standardized research methods to better understand whether microplastics meaningfully increase human and wildlife exposure to these co-pollutants.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 113 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions between microplastics and organic pollutants: Effects on toxicity, bioaccumulation, degradation, and transport

This review examines how microplastics interact with organic pollutants like pesticides and industrial chemicals in the environment. Researchers found that microplastics can absorb these pollutants and alter their toxicity, bioaccumulation, and transport, making the combined effects of microplastics and chemical contaminants potentially more harmful than either would be alone.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 399 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of organic compounds by microplastic

This German thesis studied how common microplastic polymers like polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyamide sorb and accumulate hydrophobic organic contaminants, investigating the mechanisms that make plastics effective carriers of pollutants. Understanding sorption behavior is key to assessing how microplastics transport toxic chemicals into marine food webs.

2016 University of Vienna
Review Tier 2

Interactions of Microplastics with Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Ecotoxicological Effects: A Review

This review examines how microplastics interact with persistent organic pollutants in the environment, including how factors like salinity, pH, and plastic type affect the sorption of toxic chemicals onto microplastic surfaces. The study suggests that when organisms ingest microplastics loaded with these pollutants, the chemicals can be released inside the body, posing combined ecotoxicological risks.

2021 Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution 79 citations