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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Aging of Microplasticsacross a Constructed Wetland
ClearAging of Microplastics across a Constructed Wetland
Researchers studied the weathering and microbial colonization of five microplastic polymer types over 18 months within four habitat zones of a constructed wastewater wetland, finding that microorganisms colonized plastics rapidly and that weathering rates varied by polymer type and habitat.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene
Researchers applied a multi-tiered approach combining laboratory aging, field deployment, and environmental simulation to study how polyethylene plastic undergoes physicochemical and biological weathering in natural settings. The study found that UV radiation and microbial colonization act synergistically to accelerate surface oxidation and fragmentation of PE into smaller particles.
Microplastics aging potentially enlarge the ecological risk to wetland sediments as revealed by their interactive effects on γ-HCH dissipation and methane production
Researchers found that aged (weathered) microplastics pose greater ecological risks to wetland sediments than pristine ones, through complex interactions with co-occurring pollutants and methane-producing microbes. Aged microplastics absorbed more of the pesticide gamma-HCH but paradoxically slowed its breakdown in wetland sediments. The study also showed that aged microplastics disrupted methane production by altering microbial communities, suggesting that weathered plastics in the environment may have more harmful effects than lab studies with new plastics predict.
Aging simulation of thin-film plastics in different environments to examine the formation of microplastic
Researchers aged polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene thin films under land, freshwater, estuarine, and oceanic conditions, finding that UV radiation was the primary driver of surface degradation and microplastic formation, with degradation rates varying substantially by environmental medium.
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.
Microplastics occurrence and fate in full-scale treatment wetlands
Researchers assessed microplastic occurrence and fate across full-scale treatment wetlands, finding that constructed wetlands effectively remove a significant proportion of MPs from wastewater but that removal efficiency varies with wetland design and MP characteristics.
Impact of microplastics on the treatment performance of constructed wetlands: Based on substrate characteristics and microbial activities
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastic accumulation in constructed wetlands initially improved nitrogen removal efficiency but ultimately impaired treatment performance over a 370-day experiment, altering substrate characteristics and microbial community activities.
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.
Aging of plastics and microplastics in the environment: a review on influencing factors, quantification methods, challenges, and future perspectives
This review examined how plastics and microplastics age and degrade in the environment through physical, chemical, and biological processes. Researchers found that while various analytical techniques exist to measure degradation, there is no widely accepted standard method for comparing how different environmental conditions affect microplastic breakdown rates. The study highlights the need for better tools to predict how long microplastics will persist in different environments, which is essential for understanding their long-term ecological impact.
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.