Papers

20 results
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Review Tier 2

Research progress on the role of biofilm in heavy metals adsorption-desorption characteristics of microplastics: A review

This review examines how biofilm formation on microplastics in aquatic environments modifies their properties and changes how they adsorb and release heavy metals. Researchers found that biofilm-covered microplastics behave significantly differently than bare microplastics, which has important implications for understanding the combined environmental risks of microplastics and heavy metal contamination.

2023 Environmental Pollution 53 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of microplastics biofilm in accumulation of trace metals in aquatic environments

This review examines how biofilms that form on microplastics in aquatic environments enhance the accumulation of trace metals from surrounding water. Researchers found that microorganisms colonizing plastic surfaces produce extracellular substances that facilitate metal sorption, effectively turning microplastics into concentrated carriers of metallic contaminants. The study highlights the dual pollution risk posed by microplastics serving as both physical pollutants and vehicles for toxic metal transport in waterways.

2022 World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of microplastics with heavy metals in the aquatic environment: Mechanisms and mitigation

This review synthesized mechanisms of heavy metal adsorption onto microplastics in aquatic environments and evaluated strategies for removing both contaminants simultaneously. The authors found that temperature, salinity, and plastic surface aging govern metal binding, and identified hybrid adsorbent materials as the most promising approach for co-removal of metals and microplastics from water.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances
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
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of heavy metals by biofilm-coated microplastics in aquatic environments: Mechanisms, isotherm and kinetic processes, and influencing factors

This review synthesizes research on how biofilms—microbial coatings that naturally form on microplastics in water—alter the particles' ability to absorb heavy metals like lead, copper, and cadmium, finding that biofilmed microplastics generally adsorb more metal than bare plastic and that electrostatic forces and surface complexation are the dominant mechanisms. This matters because microplastics coated in both biofilm and toxic metals may deliver a double dose of contamination to organisms that ingest them. The review identifies key gaps, including how competitive metal mixtures and shifting biofilm composition over time affect this combined pollution risk.

2026 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Co-occurrence and Interaction of Microplastics with Heavy Metals

This review examines the co-occurrence of microplastics and heavy metals in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, synthesizing evidence on how MPs adsorb metals, alter their bioavailability, and facilitate their transfer up food chains, compounding toxicological risks beyond either pollutant alone.

2025
Article Tier 2

Study on the Adsorption Behavior and Mechanism of Heavy Metals in Aquatic Environment before and after the Aging of Typical Microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption behavior and mechanisms of heavy metals by typical microplastics before and after environmental aging, finding that aging significantly alters microplastics' surface properties and capacity to bind metals such as cadmium and lead in aquatic systems.

2024
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Adsorption Behavior of Heavy Metals onto the MPs and Their Impact

This review examines how microplastics adsorb heavy metals from soil and aquatic environments and how this adsorption affects the transport, bioavailability, and toxicity of both contaminants. The authors synthesize evidence showing that microplastics act as effective carriers for heavy metal transport through freshwater and marine systems, amplifying the ecological hazard of metal contamination.

2024 ACS symposium series 6 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

[Research Progress on Trojan-horse Effect of Microplastics and Heavy Metals in Freshwater Environment].

This review examines the Trojan-horse effect in freshwater environments where microplastics adsorb and transport heavy metals, significantly increasing their potential ecological harm due to the large surface area and persistence of microplastic particles.

2023 PubMed 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Sequential interfacial contributions of microplastics to microbial adhesion and metal adsorption

Researchers uncovered the mechanistic sequence of interactions between microplastics, microorganisms, and metals in aquatic environments, finding that microbial adhesion to microplastic surfaces precedes and facilitates subsequent metal adsorption through temporal interfacial processes.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as a vehicle of heavy metals in aquatic environments: A review of adsorption factors, mechanisms, and biological effects

This review summarizes how microplastics in water can absorb and carry toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium, making them more dangerous to aquatic life than either pollutant alone. Environmental factors such as water acidity, salinity, and organic matter influence how much metal sticks to microplastic surfaces. Since contaminated seafood is a major source of human exposure, understanding these interactions is important for assessing health risks.

2021 Journal of Environmental Management 385 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro-nanoplastics and metals : Development of material models and sorption properties in natural environments

This dissertation examines how micro- and nanoplastics interact with heavy metals in natural environments, developing material models to understand their sorption properties. Since plastics can act as carriers for toxic metals — concentrating and transporting them through ecosystems — the research has important implications for understanding combined pollution risks.

2023 theses.fr (ABES)
Review Tier 2

Microplastics and potentially toxic elements: A review of interactions, fate and bioavailability in the environment

This review summarizes how microplastics interact with toxic metals in the environment, finding that microplastics absorb and transport metals through soil and water via processes like electrostatic attraction and surface bonding. When organisms consume microplastics carrying toxic metals, they can experience greater harm than from either pollutant alone. This combined threat is relevant to human health because contaminated microplastics in the food chain could deliver concentrated doses of toxic metals to people through food and water.

2023 Environmental Pollution 33 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

How aging microplastics influence heavy metal environmental fate and bioavailability: A systematic review

This systematic review found that environmental aging (UV, weathering) degrades microplastics into smaller particles with higher surface reactivity, increasing their capacity to adsorb heavy metals. These aged microplastic-heavy metal complexes bioaccumulate through the food chain, posing greater ecological and human health risks than either pollutant alone.

2025 Environmental Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-mediated environmental behavior of metal contaminants: mechanism and implication

This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals across water, soil, and air environments, acting as carriers that concentrate and transport toxic metals. Researchers found that microplastics can increase the bioavailability and toxicity of metal contaminants to living organisms. The study highlights major gaps in current analytical methods and calls for better tools to understand these complex pollutant interactions.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 8 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

Interactions Between Microplastics and Heavy Metals in Aquatic Environments: A Review

This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in water, with a particular focus on the role that microorganisms play in driving these interactions. Bacteria that colonize microplastic surfaces can change how metals bind to and release from the particles, potentially increasing their toxicity. The combined threat of microplastics and heavy metals to aquatic ecosystems and human health through seafood consumption is a growing concern that needs more research.

2021 Frontiers in Microbiology 271 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Associated Biofilms and Their Role in the Fate of Microplastics in Aquatic Environment

This review examines how microbial biofilms attached to microplastics in aquatic environments mediate the accumulation and transfer of chemical pollutants, exploring how the 'plastisphere' community influences the fate and ecotoxicological impact of microplastics and co-contaminants.

2025
Article Tier 2

Influence of Microplastics on the Mobility, Bioavailability, and Toxicity of Heavy Metals: A Review

This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in the environment, potentially influencing the metals' mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity to living organisms. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb heavy metals and transport them to new locations, but the interactions depend on the type of plastic, metal, and environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastics acting as carriers for toxic metals represents an underappreciated environmental and health risk.

2021 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 115 citations