Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

[Effects of Aging on the Cd Adsorption by Microplastics and the Relevant Mechanisms].

This study examined how aging affects the ability of microplastics — including polyethylene and polystyrene — to adsorb the heavy metal cadmium. Weathered microplastics showed different adsorption behavior than virgin particles, which has implications for how microplastics transport toxic metals through aquatic environments.

2022 PubMed 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Transformation characteristics of microplastics derived from sludge and their Cd(II) adsorption behavior during bioleaching

Researchers found that bioleaching treatment significantly reduced microplastic abundance in wastewater treatment plant sludge while altering the physicochemical properties of remaining microplastics in ways that changed their cadmium adsorption capacity, with implications for heavy metal mobility during sludge management.

2025 Environmental Pollution
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

Adsorption characteristics of cadmium onto microplastics from aqueous solutions

Laboratory adsorption experiments characterized how cadmium is taken up by microplastics of different polymer types from aqueous solutions, finding adsorption capacity varied significantly with polymer chemistry, particle size, and solution conditions. The results help predict how microplastics in contaminated waterways accumulate and transport cadmium, a highly toxic heavy metal.

2019 Chemosphere 331 citations
Article Tier 2

Sorption properties of cadmium on microplastics: The common practice experiment and A two-dimensional correlation spectroscopic study

Laboratory experiments examined how cadmium adsorbs onto microplastics of different polymer types and aging states, finding that surface chemistry and weathering significantly affect how much heavy metal the plastics can carry. This matters because microplastics contaminated with heavy metals represent a dual pollution risk when ingested by aquatic organisms.

2019 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 253 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling Complexation and Contaminant Vector Potentialin Aged Polyamide-Heavy Metal Interactions

Researchers found that aged polyamide (PA) microplastics exhibited enhanced adsorption capacity for cadmium and copper compared to pristine PA, with increased surface roughness from aging promoting stronger metal binding via electrostatic interactions, and environmental factors such as pH influencing subsequent metal desorption.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Aging properties of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics and their adsorption behavior of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) in aquatic environments

Researchers compared how polyethylene and polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics age in the environment and how that aging affects their ability to absorb heavy metals like cadmium and chromium from water. They found that aging changed the surface chemistry of both plastic types, increasing their capacity to pick up these toxic metals. The findings matter because aged microplastics in the environment may concentrate and transport more pollutants than fresh plastic particles.

2024 Chemosphere 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior of aged polybutylece terephthalate microplastics coexisting with Cd(II)-tetracycline

Researchers studied how aged polybutylene terephthalate microplastics interact with cadmium and the antibiotic tetracycline in water, finding that weathered microplastics adsorb these pollutants more readily than pristine ones. The study suggests that aging changes the surface properties of microplastics, increasing their capacity to carry heavy metals and antibiotics and potentially amplifying their environmental toxicity.

2022 Chemosphere 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancement in adsorption potential of microplastics in sewage sludge for metal pollutants after the wastewater treatment process

Microplastics in sewage sludge from wastewater treatment were found to have significantly higher adsorption capacity for cadmium, lead, and cobalt compared to virgin MPs, with sludge-based MPs reaching up to 2.523 mg/g Cd adsorption capacity—an order of magnitude higher. The study reveals that the wastewater treatment process chemically transforms microplastics into more potent heavy metal carriers.

2019 Water Research 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of UV radiation and oxidation on polyethylene micro- and nanoplastics: impacts on cadmium sorption, bioaccumulation, and toxicity in fish intestinal cells

This study examined how UV aging and oxidation change the way polyethylene micro and nanoplastics interact with cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, in fish gut cells. While the plastics actually reduced cadmium absorption and toxicity in the cells, UV aging changed the particles' surface chemistry and caused them to clump together differently. The results suggest that the interaction between microplastics and heavy metals in the environment is complex and depends on how weathered the plastic is.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling Complexation and Contaminant Vector Potential in Aged Polyamide-Heavy Metal Interactions

Researchers found that heat-aged polyamide microplastics exhibit enhanced adsorption capacity for cadmium and copper compared to virgin material, with copper showing higher adsorption efficiency due to its smaller hydrated ionic radius and strong coordination with oxygen- and nitrogen-containing surface groups on the aged polymer.

2025 ACS Omega
Article Tier 2

Facilitated transport of Cd(II) by plasma-modified microplastics: Influence of surface functional groups and interaction mechanisms

Discharge plasma treatment of water was found to modify microplastic surface chemistry by adding functional groups that significantly enhanced their adsorption capacity for cadmium, suggesting that plasma-treated microplastics remaining in water could become more effective metal carriers.

2025 Environmental Pollution 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Polypropylene microplastics affect the distribution and bioavailability of cadmium by changing soil components during soil aging

A 180-day soil aging experiment with polypropylene microplastics at 2-10% concentration showed that microplastics altered the distribution of cadmium between soil particle-associated organic matter, organo-mineral complexes, and mineral fractions. Higher microplastic concentrations shifted cadmium toward more stable organo-mineral associations, reducing its bioavailability over time.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 73 citations
Article Tier 2

New insights into the decrease in Cd2+ bioavailability in sediments by microplastics: Role of geochemical properties

Researchers investigated how polyethylene terephthalate microplastics alter the geochemical properties of sediments in ways that reduce the bioavailability of cadmium. PET microplastics shifted cadmium from the readily exchangeable fraction to the organically bound fraction, and the associated changes in microbial activity and organic carbon explained much of the reduction in cadmium bioavailability.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of virgin microplastics on the transport of Cd (II) in Xiangjiang River sediment

Six types of microplastics were found to change how cadmium (a toxic heavy metal) binds to and moves through river sediments. The presence of microplastics altered cadmium adsorption behavior, suggesting that plastics in river sediments can affect the mobility and bioavailability of co-occurring heavy metal pollutants.

2021 Chemosphere 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Decreased particle size enhances the aging behavior of microplastics during sewage sludge composting: Physicochemical properties and cadmium loading

Researchers investigated how particle size affects the aging behavior of PET microplastics during sewage sludge composting and their subsequent ability to accumulate cadmium. They found that smaller microplastics aged faster, with the smallest particles showing the greatest increases in surface area, oxidation, and cadmium loading. The study demonstrates that particle size plays a critical role in both the degradation rate of microplastics during composting and their capacity to adsorb heavy metal pollutants.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption mechanism of cadmium on microplastics and their desorption behavior in sediment and gut environments: The roles of water pH, lead ions, natural organic matter and phenanthrene

Researchers compared how cadmium adsorbs onto five different microplastic types and then desorbs in simulated sediment and gut environments, finding that pH, competing ions, natural organic matter, and co-pollutants like phenanthrene all significantly alter how much cadmium is released.

2020 Water Research 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Reframing microplastics as a ligand for metals reveals that water quality characteristics govern the association of cadmium to polyethylene

Researchers reframed microplastics as a chemical ligand for metals and studied how water quality characteristics govern cadmium binding to polyethylene particles. They found that factors like pH, dissolved organic carbon, and water hardness significantly influenced how much cadmium adhered to the plastic surface. The study suggests that the environmental risk of microplastics as metal carriers depends heavily on local water chemistry conditions.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes

This study examined how aged polyethylene microplastics and cadmium interact in stormwater filtration systems — a water management infrastructure that rarely gets attention in microplastics research. The combined presence of both contaminants disrupted the microbial communities responsible for removing nitrogen from stormwater, affecting key nitrogen-cycling genes and treatment efficiency. The findings highlight that microplastic pollution can undermine the effectiveness of water treatment infrastructure in ways that go beyond the plastics themselves.

2025 Molecules 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aged in various environmental media exhibited strong sorption to heavy metals in seawater

Researchers aged six types of microplastics — including polyamide and PET — in different environments and then measured their adsorption of heavy metals in seawater, finding that aging consistently increased metal sorption capacity and that environmental medium during aging strongly influenced the degree of surface modification.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 178 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as adsorbent for Pb2+ and Cd2+: A comparative study of polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene, and low-density polyethylene

Researchers compared how four common types of microplastics adsorb lead and cadmium heavy metals in aquatic environments. The study found that polypropylene had the highest adsorption capacity for both metals, with oxygen-containing functional groups playing a key role in the adsorption process, suggesting that different microplastic types pose varying levels of environmental risk as heavy metal carriers.

2024 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of the adsorption behavior of Pb(II) onto natural-aged microplastics as affected by salt ions

Researchers found that naturally aged microplastics adsorb significantly more lead than virgin microplastics, and that calcium chloride in solution strongly inhibits lead adsorption, indicating that environmental weathering and water chemistry alter contaminant transport.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 182 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of cephalexin on cadmium adsorption onto microplastic particles in water: Human health risk evaluation

Researchers studied how the antibiotic cephalexin influences the adsorption of the toxic metal cadmium onto polyethylene microplastics in water. They found that smaller microplastic particles absorbed more cadmium, and that the combined presence of cadmium and microplastics poses health risks, particularly for children exposed through contaminated groundwater. The study provides evidence that microplastics can act as carriers for heavy metals, potentially increasing human exposure to toxic substances.

2024 Heliyon 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of sludge treatment methods on behaviors of microplastics adsorbed cadmium and its driving factors

Researchers examined how four sludge treatment methods -- anaerobic digestion, thermal drying, thermal hydrolysis, and aerobic composting -- alter the surface chemistry of microplastics and their capacity to adsorb cadmium, finding that thermal hydrolysis caused the greatest increase in oxygen-containing functional groups and yielded the highest cadmium adsorption at 767 micrograms per gram, with certain bacterial genera linked to enhanced metal adsorption capacity.

2022 Journal of Environmental Management 15 citations