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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Aging of Microplastics across a Constructed Wetland
ClearAging of Microplasticsacross a Constructed Wetland
Researchers tracked the aging of five microplastic polymer types — LDPE, HDPE, polypropylene, polystyrene, and PET — across four habitats within a wastewater constructed wetland over 18 months, finding that physical, chemical, and biological processes jointly drive weathering and microorganism colonisation of plastics in these treatment systems.
Weathering Processand Characteristics of Microplasticsin Coastal Wetlands: A 24-Month In Situ Study
Researchers conducted a 24-month study of microplastic weathering in coastal wetlands, characterizing how wetland-specific conditions including UV exposure, salinity, and biological activity alter plastic surface chemistry, fragmentation, and biofilm colonization over time.
Characteristics analysis of plastisphere biofilm and effect of aging products on nitrogen metabolizing flora in microcosm wetlands experiment
Researchers placed three types of plastic in miniature constructed wetlands for 180 days and tracked how they aged and affected microbial communities. The plastics degraded at different rates, with PVC developing new chemical groups and all surfaces becoming less water-repellent as bacteria colonized them. The plastic surfaces altered nitrogen-processing bacteria in the wetland water, suggesting microplastics can disrupt nutrient cycling in natural wetland ecosystems.
Weathering Process and Characteristics of Microplastics in Coastal Wetlands: A 24-Month In Situ Study
Researchers placed five types of common microplastics in a coastal wetland for 24 months and tracked how they broke down over time. All plastics showed increasing surface damage, chemical changes, and fragmentation, with polystyrene degrading the fastest. The study demonstrates that natural environments actively break microplastics into ever-smaller pieces, which are more easily taken up by organisms and can eventually enter the human food chain.
Aging of microplastics in a subtropical river system in Florida, USA
Researchers conducted a two-year field study in a subtropical Florida river to track how five common polymer types age across different environmental layers from air to sediment. They found that aging processes, including surface cracking, chemical oxidation, and microbial colonization, varied significantly by polymer type and environmental position, revealing the complex ways microplastics transform in river systems.
Novel insight into the aging process of microplastics: An in-situ study in coastal wetlands
Scientists tracked how microplastics age and break down in a coastal wetland in China over three months and found that both sunlight and microbial communities work together to degrade the plastic surfaces. Different plastic types broke down at very different rates, with estimated lifespans ranging from 335 to 661 days before significant degradation. This research helps predict how long microplastics persist in coastal environments that are important for fisheries and human food sources.
Surface properties and changes in morphology of microplastics exposed in-situ to Chinese coastal wetlands
This study examined how microplastics change physically and chemically after being exposed in real coastal wetland environments, finding significant surface oxidation and biofouling after 90 days. Understanding how plastic particles age in natural settings is important because weathered microplastics may behave differently in organisms compared to pristine particles used in lab studies.
The fate of plastic wraps in constructed wetland: Surface structure and microbial community
Researchers buried four types of common plastic kitchen wrap — PE, PVC, PVDC, and PLA — in constructed wetlands and tracked how they degraded and what microbes colonized them over time. All plastics degraded and shed microplastics, with plant roots showing the most microbial diversity. PLA degraded fastest, while PVC and PVDC restricted microbial colonization due to their chlorine content, and the findings help clarify how agricultural and household plastic wraps contribute to microplastic contamination in wetland ecosystems.
Aging of polypropylene plastic and impacts on microbial community structure in constructed wetlands
This study examined how aging of polypropylene plastic from COVID-19 disposable masks affects microbial community structure in constructed wetland ecosystems. Results showed that weathered polypropylene altered the composition and function of wetland microbial communities, with implications for wetland biogeochemical cycling and pollutant treatment capacity.
Comprehensive Understanding on the Aging Process and Mechanism of Microplastics in the Sediment–Water Interface: Untangling the Role of Photoaging and Biodegradation
Researchers examined how microplastics break down at the boundary between water and sediment in coastal wetlands, comparing the roles of sunlight-driven aging and biological degradation. They found that photoaging was the dominant process, accounting for over 55% of surface changes, and that biodegradable plastics aged faster than conventional ones. The study provides important insights into how microplastics transform in real-world coastal environments.
Microplastic aging and plastisphere succession in mangrove sediments: Mechanisms, microbial interactions, and degradation potential
Microplastic aging processes and the succession of microbial communities (plastisphere) in mangrove sediments were tracked over time, revealing how the plastic surface microbiome changes as particles weather. Understanding plastisphere dynamics in coastal ecosystems is important for assessing how microplastics interact with and potentially disrupt mangrove ecology.
From macroplastic to microplastic: Degradation of high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene in a salt marsh habitat
Researchers subjected high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, and other plastics to simulated environmental degradation and tracked their fragmentation from macro- to microplastic sizes, characterizing surface changes and particle generation rates.
Distribution and Biological Response of Nanoplastics in Constructed Wetland Microcosms: Mechanistic Insights into the Role of Photoaging
This study looked at how sunlight aging changes the behavior of nanoplastics in wetland ecosystems. Researchers found that sun-aged nanoplastics accumulated differently in plants, water, and soil compared to fresh ones, and caused stronger biological responses in wetland organisms, suggesting that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may be more harmful than previously thought.
Nascently generated microplastics in freshwater stream are colonized by bacterial communities from stream and riparian sources
Researchers examined bacterial colonization of different types of nascently generated microplastics through time in a freshwater stream ecosystem, finding that colonizing taxa and their degradative abilities varied based on microplastic polymer type and time of exposure.
Microplastic residues in wetland ecosystems: Do they truly threaten the plant-microbe-soil system?
Researchers used a controlled pot experiment to assess microplastic effects on wetland plant growth, soil microbial communities, and nutrient cycling, finding that MPs altered soil enzyme activity and shifted bacterial community composition but had variable effects on plant growth depending on plastic type.
Niche vs. habitat: Insights of aging microplastics and wetland types on bacterial community assembly
Researchers studied how bacterial communities assemble on microplastic surfaces (plastispheres) versus surrounding soil in three types of wetlands using low-density polyethylene. They found that wetland habitat type had a stronger influence on bacterial diversity patterns than whether the plastic was virgin or aged, with plastisphere communities showing lower diversity and more stochastic assembly compared to soil communities.
Structural and Functional Characteristics of Microplastic Associated Biofilms in Response to Temporal Dynamics and Polymer Types
Researchers found that biofilm structural and functional characteristics on microplastics differ significantly depending on polymer type (polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene) and change over time, with implications for understanding microbial colonization and the plastisphere.
Distinct microbial communities in the microplastisphere of inland wetlands: Diversity, composition, co-occurrence networks, and functions.
Researchers collected samples from different inland wetland types to characterize the microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces (the microplastisphere), finding distinct bacterial and fungal communities compared to surrounding soils. Community composition varied by wetland type and plastic surface, highlighting the ecological diversity of plastic-associated microbiomes in freshwater habitats.
Microplastic polymer properties as deterministic factors driving terrestrial plastisphere microbiome assembly and succession in the field
Researchers incubated five common microplastic polymer types in landfill soil for 14 months and used 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the plastisphere communities that assembled on each polymer. Polymer type was a significant deterministic factor in plastisphere microbiome composition, which differed from surrounding soil communities and varied over time.
The structure and assembly mechanisms of plastisphere microbial community in natural marine environment
Researchers investigated how microbial communities colonize different types of microplastic surfaces in natural marine environments over an eight-week period. They found that the composition of these plastic-associated microbial communities, known as the plastisphere, was shaped more by environmental conditions and time than by the specific type of plastic. The study provides new understanding of the ecological processes governing how microorganisms assemble on ocean plastic debris.
Incubation habitats and aging treatments affect the formation of biofilms on polypropylene microplastics
Researchers studied how aging treatments and different aquatic habitats (marine, estuary, and river) affect biofilm formation on polypropylene microplastics. The study found that aging processes damaged the surface structure of microplastics and increased oxygen-containing groups, which enhanced microbial colonization. The results suggest that both environmental conditions and plastic degradation status significantly influence the microbial communities that form on microplastic surfaces.
Diatom and macroinvertebrate communities dynamic: a co-occurrence pattern analysis on plastic substrates
Researchers examined how diatoms and invertebrates colonize plastic debris in wetlands, finding that plastic surfaces host distinct biological communities compared to natural substrates. This suggests that plastic pollution in wetlands disrupts natural ecosystem processes beyond direct physical harm to wildlife.
Degradation of microplastics and the plastisphere bacteria in the acidogenic phase of simulated municipal solid waste landfilling
Researchers simulated conditions inside a municipal solid waste landfill and found that different microplastic types (PE, PS, and PLA) aged and degraded at very different rates during the acidogenic leachate phase, with distinct microbial communities forming on each plastic type. This matters because landfills are both sources and sinks for microplastics, and understanding how plastics degrade there helps predict what eventually leaches into groundwater and surrounding soil.
Investigating the roles of microbes in biodegrading or colonizing microplastic surfaces
Researchers investigated the roles of microbes in biodegrading or colonizing microplastic surfaces, examining how microbial communities interact with plastic polymers in environmental settings. The study characterized the 'plastisphere' — the community of microorganisms that colonize microplastic surfaces — and assessed the extent to which microbial activity contributes to plastic degradation in natural environments.