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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Non-Negligible Effects of UV Irradiation on Transformation and Environmental Risks of Microplastics in the Water Environment
ClearProgress on the photo aging mechanism of microplastics and related impact factors in water environment
This review examined the photo-aging mechanisms of microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that solar UV radiation drives oxidation reactions that alter surface chemistry, fragment particles further, and enhance their capacity to adsorb and release co-occurring pollutants.
The fate, impacts and potential risks of photoaging process of the microplastics in the aqueous environment
This review examines how ultraviolet light from sunlight causes microplastics in water to age and change their physical and chemical properties, including surface texture, chemical structure, and water-repelling ability. Researchers found that photoaged microplastics become better at carrying other pollutants and may pose greater environmental risks than fresh plastics. The study highlights that aged microplastics can also increase biological toxicity and human exposure risks compared to their original form.
Insights into the Photoaging Behavior of Microplastics: Environmental Fate and Ecological Risk
This review examines how sunlight ages microplastics in the environment, breaking them into smaller pieces and changing their surface chemistry in ways that make them more toxic and more likely to carry other pollutants. Sun-aged microplastics release dissolved organic matter that can harm aquatic life, and their roughened surfaces attract more bacteria and chemical contaminants. Since most microplastics in nature have been exposed to sunlight, their real-world health risks may be higher than studies using fresh lab plastics suggest.
Environmental behaviors of microplastics in aquatic systems: A systematic review on degradation, adsorption, toxicity and biofilm under aging conditions
Aging processes like UV irradiation and physical abrasion alter microplastic surface properties, increasing their capacity to adsorb environmental pollutants while also enhancing leaching of toxic additives like phthalates, collectively amplifying the environmental toxicity of weathered microplastics.
Investigation of Surface Alteration of Microplastics by Using UV Irradiation
UV radiation causes polystyrene and other plastic microparticles to undergo photooxidative degradation, changing their surface chemistry and potentially making them more likely to adsorb or release chemical pollutants. Understanding these weathering processes is important for predicting the environmental behavior and toxicity of microplastics.
Migration, transformation, and ecological effects of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems
Researchers reviewed how microplastics migrate, transform, and affect aquatic ecosystems, summarizing evidence that physical aging, photochemical weathering, and biofouling reshape particle surfaces and enhance co-contaminant uptake, while ecological effects span oxidative stress and genotoxicity at the organism level to disrupted biogeochemical cycling at the ecosystem level.
Which factors mainly drive the photoaging of microplastics in freshwater?
This study systematically investigated the roles of UV irradiation, oxygen, temperature, and physical abrasion in the photoaging of polystyrene microplastics in freshwater. UV irradiation and mechanical abrasion were identified as the dominant aging factors, and their combined effect caused more extensive surface oxidation and fragmentation than either alone.
Влияние ультрафиолетового излучения на фрагментацию полимеров в водной среде
This review examines how UV radiation drives polymer fragmentation in aquatic environments through autocatalytic thermal oxidation initiated by solar radiation, which combined with wind and mechanical stress causes molecular chain scission. The authors also discuss how prior UV aging accelerates subsequent mechanical fragmentation, providing a mechanistic framework for understanding microplastic generation from larger plastic items in water.
UVA-induced weathering of microplastics in seawater: surface property transformations and kinetics
Researchers studied how UVA radiation weathers microplastics in seawater, examining changes to surface properties and degradation rates. The study developed a model integrating an aging index with degradation kinetics, finding that UV exposure significantly transforms microplastic surface characteristics, which affects their behavior and potential ecological impact in marine environments.
Aging Process of Microplastics in the Environment
This review examines how natural environmental processes — UV radiation, physical abrasion, chemical reactions, and biodegradation — alter the surface, shape, and chemistry of microplastics over time, and how these changes affect their ability to absorb and transport other pollutants. Understanding microplastic aging is critical because weathered particles behave differently than fresh plastic, often becoming more hazardous as pollutant carriers in ecosystems.
From Macro to Micro Plastics; Influence of Photo-oxidative Degradation
This study used simulated UV aging to investigate how photo-oxidative degradation of common plastics drives fragmentation from macro to micro scale, characterizing the surface property changes and structural breakdown that generate microplastic particles in the environment.
Aging Process of Microplastics in the Aquatic Environments: Aging Pathway, Characteristic Change, Compound Effect, and Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals Formation
This review summarizes how microplastics age and transform in aquatic environments through oxidation, weathering, and fragmentation. Researchers documented changes in particle size, crystallinity, and surface chemistry during the aging process, and found that aged microplastics may interact synergistically with other environmental pollutants. The study also describes how photoaging generates environmentally persistent free radicals that could pose additional toxicity concerns.
Ecotoxicological assessment of microplastics in limnic systems with emphasis on chemicals released by weathering
This study examined both the physical and chemical toxicity of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems, with special focus on chemicals released when plastics are weathered by ultraviolet light. The research tested conventional and biodegradable plastics, addressing whether particle properties or leaching chemicals drive ecotoxicological effects.
Developing environmentally relevant test materials for microplastic research through UV-induced photoaging
Researchers used UV irradiation to create photoaged microplastics from multiple polymer types as environmentally relevant test materials for ecotoxicology research, characterizing how aging changes surface chemistry, particle size distribution, and potential biological effects.
Studies of the Photo-transformation of Emerging Contaminants Adsorbed onto Plastic in an Aqueous Environment
This thesis investigated how light exposure transforms chemical contaminants adsorbed onto microplastics in water, examining how UV-driven photo-transformation changes the toxicity of pollutants like PCBs and PAHs attached to plastic surfaces. Understanding these transformations is important for assessing the true environmental risk of chemical-laden microplastics.
Aging mechanism of microplastics with UV irradiation and its effects on the adsorption of heavy metals
Researchers aged polystyrene microplastics using UV irradiation under three conditions (air, pure water, seawater) and found that aging changed surface chemistry and increased the microplastics' capacity to adsorb heavy metals, with seawater aging producing the most pronounced surface oxidation.
New Insights into the Mechanisms of Toxicity of Aging Microplastics
This study showed that UV-aged polypropylene microplastics are significantly more toxic than fresh ones, absorbing more chemicals and generating more harmful reactive oxygen species in seawater. The aged particles caused greater damage to cell membranes in mussels compared to pristine plastics. Since most microplastics in the ocean have been weathered by sunlight, real-world exposure risks may be higher than laboratory studies using new plastics suggest.
Emerging investigator series: microplastic-based leachate formation under UV irradiation: the extent, characteristics, and mechanisms
Six common microplastic types were exposed to UV irradiation to characterize surface changes and leachate chemical profiles, finding that UV treatment generated oxidized surface groups and released diverse organic compounds. Leachate composition varied by polymer type, highlighting the role of weathering in generating secondary chemical pollution from microplastics.
Recent advances on microplastic aging: Identification, mechanism, influence factors, and additives release
This review found that environmental aging transforms microplastic surface properties through abrasion, chemical oxidation, UV irradiation, and biodegradation, altering their environmental behavior and ecological risk. Aging also triggers the release of toxic plastic additives, but significant gaps remain between laboratory aging simulations and real-world conditions.
The environmental effects of microplastics and microplastic derived dissolved organic matter in aquatic environments: A review
This review examines how microplastics interact with other pollutants in water and how aging from sunlight and weathering changes their behavior. As microplastics break down, they release dissolved organic matter and develop surface changes that increase their ability to carry harmful chemicals like pesticides and pharmaceuticals. The findings suggest that weathered microplastics in real-world environments may be more dangerous than fresh plastics used in most lab studies.
Nanoplastics in aquatic environments: The hidden impact of aging on fate and toxicity
This review highlights that most toxicity studies on nanoplastics use brand-new pristine particles, but real-world nanoplastics are aged by sunlight and chemical exposure, which fundamentally changes their surface properties and toxicity. Aged nanoplastics may be more harmful than pristine ones because they interact differently with biological systems, meaning current safety assessments likely underestimate the true risks.
Mechanistic insights into non-negligible toxicity evolution of microplastics under different aging processes
This review examines how different environmental aging processes, such as UV exposure, mechanical wear, and chemical weathering, change the physical and chemical properties of microplastics and alter their toxicity. Researchers found that aged microplastics and the chemicals they leach tend to be more harmful to organisms than fresh particles, causing growth inhibition and genetic damage. The findings suggest that the environmental risks of microplastics may increase significantly as they degrade over time.
Linking UV aging of polymers and microplastics formation: An assessment employing various characterization techniques
Researchers examined the link between UV aging of plastic polymers and the generation of microplastics in marine environments, using environmental assessment tools to model the process. The study clarifies how photodegradation rates and polymer type influence the rate and quantity of microplastic formation.
Laboratory simulation of microplastics weathering and its adsorption behaviors in an aqueous environment: A systematic review
UV photo-oxidation and physical abrasion are the most practical laboratory methods for simulating microplastic weathering; aging increases surface area and oxygen-containing functional groups, altering pollutant adsorption behavior and potentially increasing environmental risks.