Papers

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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

Polyamide microplastics in wastewater as vectors of cationic pharmaceutical drugs

Researchers investigated whether polyamide microplastics in wastewater can adsorb pharmaceutical drugs and transport them into the environment. They found significant adsorption of hydrophobic pharmaceuticals like propranolol, amitriptyline, and fluoxetine, with limited desorption in river water but increased release in simulated gastric fluids. The findings suggest that microplastics discharged from wastewater treatment could carry adsorbed medications over long distances and release them if ingested by wildlife or humans.

2021 Chemosphere 60 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging microplastics enhances the adsorption of pharmaceuticals in freshwater

Researchers found that aging microplastics through photo-oxidation significantly increases their ability to adsorb pharmaceutical compounds from freshwater compared to virgin particles. Among the drugs tested, fluoxetine showed the highest adsorption, binding to all aged microplastic types at rates up to 99%. The study highlights that environmentally weathered microplastics may act as more effective carriers of pharmaceutical pollutants in freshwater ecosystems than previously assumed.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 47 citations
Article Tier 2

The Sorption of Antidepressant Pharmaceuticals on Virgin and Aged Microplastics Is Lower than Bioconcentration in Protozoa

Researchers assessed the sorption of antidepressant pharmaceuticals — sertraline, fluoxetine, and duloxetine — onto virgin and UV-aged polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride microplastics, comparing these results to sorption onto biochar. The study found that microplastic sorption of these polar drugs was consistently lower than biochar sorption, suggesting that while microplastics can act as vectors for antidepressant transport in aquatic environments, their relative contribution may be smaller than previously assumed.

2024 Water 1 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
Article Tier 2

Assessing the adsorption of a diverse range of pharmaceuticals to virgin and aged poly (ethylene terephthalate) microplastics in different environmental matrices

Researchers studied the adsorption of a mixture of pharmaceuticals — including anti-inflammatory drugs diclofenac and ketoprofen, anti-hypertensive valsartan, and four antibiotics — onto both virgin and aged PET microplastics, providing the first multi-drug adsorption assessment on PET under realistic environmental conditions.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Desorption of pharmaceuticals from pristine and aged polystyrene microplastics under simulated gastrointestinal conditions

Researchers investigated how pharmaceuticals desorb from pristine and aged polystyrene microplastics under simulated stomach and intestinal conditions of marine organisms. The study found that pharmaceutical release was higher in gut conditions due to intestinal components enhancing solubility, while aging of microplastics actually suppressed desorption by strengthening electrostatic bonds. Risk assessment indicated that microplastic-associated pharmaceuticals posed relatively low risks to organisms overall.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 163 citations
Article Tier 2

An assessment of the concentration of pharmaceuticals adsorbed on microplastics

This study developed and validated an analytical method to measure pharmaceutical compounds adsorbed onto microplastic particles in marine water samples. Microplastics can concentrate pharmaceuticals from water and carry them through marine food chains, potentially delivering drug compounds to fish and other organisms at elevated concentrations.

2020 Chemosphere 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Aging on Physicochemical Properties and Size Distribution of PET Microplastic: Influence on Adsorption of Diclofenac and Toxicity Assessment

Researchers studied how environmental aging changes the physical and chemical properties of PET microplastics and their ability to absorb pharmaceutical pollutants. They found that aged microplastics had rougher surfaces and greater capacity to adsorb diclofenac, a common pain medication found in waterways. The study suggests that weathered microplastics may act as more effective carriers of pharmaceutical contaminants in the environment compared to fresh plastics.

2023 Toxics 18 citations
Article Tier 2

The adsorption and its mechanism of venlafaxine by original and aged polypropylene microplastic and the changes of joint toxicity

Researchers investigated how polypropylene microplastics from face masks interact with the antidepressant venlafaxine in water, finding that the plastics can absorb significant amounts of the drug within 24 hours. Aging of the microplastics through environmental weathering increased their ability to adsorb the medication. The study also found that the combination of microplastics and venlafaxine together produced greater toxic effects on test organisms than either contaminant alone.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Chiral pharmaceutical drug adsorption to natural and synthetic particulates in water and their desorption in simulated gastric fluid

Researchers investigated how microplastics and bioplastics in water adsorb the chiral pharmaceutical drugs fluoxetine and propranolol, finding that while fluoxetine adsorbed to all particle types, no enantioselectivity was observed, and that adsorption was significantly greater in real environmental water matrices than in laboratory buffer solutions.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 7 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

Effects of microplastics on the uptake, distribution and biotransformation of chiral antidepressant venlafaxine in aquatic ecosystem

Microplastics were found to affect how an antidepressant drug (venlafaxine) is absorbed and metabolized by fish, duckweed, and mud carp in lab aquatic systems. Microplastics can alter the behavior of pharmaceutical pollutants in water, potentially changing their toxicity to aquatic life.

2018 Journal of Hazardous Materials 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of Macrolide Antibiotics and a Metabolite onto Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polyethylene Microplastics in Aquatic Environments

Researchers studied how four macrolide antibiotics and a metabolite adsorb onto polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene microplastics in water. They found that antibiotic adsorption followed a linear model, with PET showing higher adsorption capacity than polyethylene. The study suggests that microplastics in aquatic environments may serve as carriers for antibiotics, potentially affecting how these pharmaceutical pollutants are distributed in water systems.

2024 Antibiotics 17 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

Effects of nanoplastics and microplastics on the availability of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in aqueous environment

Researchers found that nanoplastics and microplastics can sorb pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water, with smaller nanoplastics showing 1-2 orders of magnitude stronger sorption than microplastics, potentially reducing the bioavailability of these contaminants in aquatic environments.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption of two common antihypertensive drugs onto polystyrene microplastics in water matrices

Researchers examined the sorption of two common antihypertensive drugs onto polystyrene microplastics in water, finding that microplastics can adsorb pharmaceutical compounds and may serve as vectors for drug transport in aquatic environments.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction between Microplastics and Pharmaceuticals Depending on the Composition of Aquatic Environment

This review examines how aquatic environmental conditions — including dissolved organic matter, salinity, pH, and temperature — influence the adsorption and desorption of pharmaceuticals onto microplastic surfaces, showing that water composition significantly affects the extent to which microplastics act as vectors for drug contaminants.

2022 Microplastics 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanisms of Sorption of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products to Microplastics

This thesis investigated how pharmaceutical and personal care product chemicals sorb onto high-density polyethylene microplastic fragments, and how this affects the combined toxicity to aquatic organisms. Microplastics can carry drug compounds and personal care chemicals from wastewater into aquatic environments, concentrating pollutant exposure for marine organisms.

2021 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption of a Mixture of Daily Use Pharmaceuticals on Pristine and Aged Polypropylene Microplastics

This study examined polypropylene microplastics as carriers for a mixture of daily-use pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and other compounds under simulated environmental conditions. Polypropylene microplastics adsorbed all tested pharmaceuticals, with adsorption capacity and kinetics varying by compound, confirming that environmental microplastics can act as vectors concentrating multiple pharmaceutical contaminants simultaneously.

2024 Environments 5 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

Toxic effects of fluoxetine-loaded onto virgin or aged polypropylene, polyamide and polyvinyl chloride microparticles on Daphnia magna

Researchers tested whether microplastics loaded with the antidepressant fluoxetine could transfer the drug into the food chain using water fleas as a model organism. They found that all types of microplastics carrying fluoxetine were toxic to the water fleas, with virgin plastics causing more harm than weathered ones. The study provides evidence that microplastics can act as carriers for pharmaceutical pollutants in aquatic environments, delivering harmful chemicals to organisms that ingest them.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Modeling of multicomponent adsorption equilibria of phenol and ciprofloxacin on pristine, acid-modified and thermo-oxidatively-aged polyethylene terephthalate microplastics

PET microplastics — both fresh and weathered — strongly adsorb the pharmaceutical antibiotic ciprofloxacin and the industrial chemical phenol from water, with adsorption in mixtures exceeding single-contaminant levels and a neural network model outperforming classical isotherms in predicting outcomes. This demonstrates that microplastics act as carriers concentrating multiple pollutants simultaneously, potentially delivering higher toxic doses to aquatic organisms than the individual chemicals would cause alone.

2024 Cambridge Prisms Plastics 3 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