Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Mineral-Armored Structure Enhanced the Stability of Polyethylene Microplastics Rather Than Polylactic Acid Microplastics: A Long-Term Natural Aging Study

Researchers conducted a long-term natural aging study comparing polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics across different environmental settings, finding that mineral armoring on polyethylene surfaces enhanced structural stability and slowed aging, whereas polylactic acid microplastics degraded more readily.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

The effect of UV exposure on conventional and degradable microplastics adsorption for Pb (II) in sediment

Researchers studied how UV aging affects the ability of conventional polyethylene and degradable polylactic acid microplastics to adsorb lead ions from aquatic sediment. They found that UV aging increased the surface area and oxygen content of both plastic types, enhancing their capacity to adsorb heavy metals. The study suggests that weathered microplastics in the environment may be more effective carriers of heavy metal contamination than pristine particles.

2021 Chemosphere 84 citations
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/desorption behavior of degradable polylactic acid microplastics on bisphenol A under different aging conditions

Researchers studied how different types of UV-simulated aging affect the ability of polylactic acid microplastics to adsorb and release bisphenol A. The study found that aging conditions changed the surface properties of the biodegradable plastic, altering its interaction with this common environmental contaminant. The findings suggest that even biodegradable microplastics can act as carriers of harmful chemicals depending on their degradation state.

2024 New Journal of Chemistry 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging behavior of biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics accelerated by UV/H2O2 processes

Researchers used UV and hydrogen peroxide to simulate environmental aging of biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics, finding that PLA microplastics undergo significant surface and structural changes during weathering that alter their environmental behavior and persistence.

2023 Chemosphere 27 citations
Article Tier 2

The Hydrolytic Behavior of Poly(Lactic Acid)/Polystyrene‐ Grafted‐Hectorite Nanocomposite Films and Its Regulatory Mechanism on Microplastics

Researchers tested how polylactic acid (PLA) films and PLA/hectorite nanocomposite films degrade in aqueous solutions of different pH levels. The nanocomposite films degraded more slowly and released fewer microplastic fragments than pure PLA, suggesting that clay mineral incorporation could reduce secondary microplastic generation from biodegradable plastics.

2025 Journal of Applied Polymer Science
Article Tier 2

Ranking the accelerated weathering of plastic polymers

Researchers ranked the accelerated weathering rates of five common plastic polymers, finding that polylactic acid and polystyrene degraded fastest while polyethylene terephthalate was most resistant, providing key data on environmental persistence timelines.

2023 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparison of lead adsorption on the aged conventional microplastics, biodegradable microplastics and environmentally-relevant tire wear particles

Researchers compared how different types of aged microplastics, including tire wear particles and biodegradable polylactic acid, adsorb the heavy metal lead from water. The study found that aging significantly increased adsorption capacity across all types, with tire wear particles showing the highest lead uptake, and that environmental factors like humic acid concentration had complex effects on the adsorption process.

2023 Chemical Engineering Journal 123 citations
Article Tier 2

Evolution of Microplastic Properties and Tetracycline Adsorption During Aging in Laboratory and Natural Environments

Researchers aged polyethylene, PET, and polystyrene microplastics under both laboratory UV and natural outdoor conditions and tracked how aging changed their physicochemical properties and tetracycline antibiotic adsorption capacity. Aging consistently increased surface oxidation and adsorption of tetracycline, with outdoor-aged particles showing different property profiles than lab-aged ones, highlighting the importance of using environmentally realistic aging conditions.

2025 Atmosphere
Article Tier 2

Aging characteristics of polylatic acid microplastics and their adsorption on hydrophilic organic pollutants: mechanistic investigations and theoretical calculations

Researchers characterized how polylactic acid microplastics undergo UV and thermal aging in aquatic environments, finding that aging altered surface chemistry, increased hydrophilicity, and enhanced adsorption of heavy metal pollutants—raising concerns about aged biodegradable plastics as carriers of co-contaminants.

2025 Environmental Pollution 4 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Degradation of Polyethylene Particles on Their Cytotoxicity

Researchers found that degradation of polyethylene particles altered their cytotoxicity, with weathered and fragmented PE showing different toxic effects on cells compared to pristine particles, suggesting environmental aging changes microplastic health risks.

2023 Microplastics 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Changes in metal adsorption ability of microplastics upon loss of calcium carbonate filler masterbatch through natural aging

Researchers found that natural outdoor aging of polypropylene and polyethylene woven bags caused loss of calcium carbonate filler, altering surface chemistry and significantly changing the microplastics' ability to adsorb metals from surrounding environments.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Critical Impact of Colored Pigments on the Long-Term Photoaging of Polyethylene Microplastics in Coastal Seawater Environments

Researchers examined how colored pigments affect the long-term photoaging of polyethylene microplastics in coastal seawater under UV irradiation, finding that pigment type significantly alters the rate and character of surface degradation and associated contaminant release.

2025 ACS ES&T Water
Article Tier 2

Accelerated aging behavior of degradable and non-degradable microplastics via advanced oxidation and their adsorption characteristics towards tetracycline

Researchers compared how biodegradable polylactic acid and conventional polystyrene microplastics age when exposed to advanced oxidation processes, and how aging changes their ability to adsorb the antibiotic tetracycline. They found that polylactic acid degraded more quickly and developed more surface changes during aging, leading to increased antibiotic adsorption. The findings suggest that as biodegradable plastics break down in the environment, they may become more effective at concentrating and transporting chemical contaminants.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Critical Impactof Colored Pigments on the Long-TermPhotoaging of Polyethylene Microplastics in Coastal Seawater Environments

This study examined the long-term photoaging of polyethylene microplastics in coastal seawater, finding that pigment color significantly influences UV-driven surface oxidation rates and the release of additive chemicals, with darker pigments generally accelerating weathering processes.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Insights into the Characteristics, Adsorption, and Desorption Behaviors of Polylactic Acid Aged with or without Salinities

Researchers studied how salinity affects the aging process and pollutant adsorption behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics — a biodegradable plastic increasingly used as a conventional plastic substitute. Seawater aged PLA differently than freshwater, and aged particles adsorbed more contaminants than fresh ones. The study shows that even biodegradable plastics can become environmental pollutants through aging and contaminant accumulation.

2022 Journal of Environmental Engineering 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of photoaging on biofilm development and microbial community in polypropylene and polylactic acid microplastics in freshwater

Researchers systematically examined how varying degrees of photoaging affect the physicochemical properties, biofilm formation, and bacterial community composition of polypropylene and polylactic acid microplastics in freshwater environments.

2025 Emerging Contaminants and Environmental Health
Article Tier 2

Environmental Implications of Physicochemical Differences Between Environmental Nanoplastics and Their Commercial Forms

Researchers conceptually analyzed physicochemical differences between environmentally aged nanoplastics and their commercial engineered forms, examining how natural aging alters surface properties, environmental stability, and behavior in aquatic media for five types of environmentally relevant nanoplastic models.

2024
Article Tier 2

Aging characteristics of degradable and non-biodegradable microplastics and their adsorption mechanism for sulfonamides

Researchers investigated how aging processes affect the ability of degradable and non-biodegradable microplastics to adsorb sulfonamide antibiotics in aquatic environments. The study found that aging increased the hydrophilicity and polarity of microplastics, boosting the adsorption capacity of polylactic acid by up to 3.18 times, suggesting that weathered microplastics may pose greater ecological risks as carriers of co-existing contaminants.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 53 citations
Article Tier 2

From Pristine to Laboratory-weathered Micro- and Nanoplastics: Interaction with Environmental Contaminants and Biological Effects

This review contrasts pristine and laboratory-weathered micro- and nanoplastics in terms of surface chemistry, adsorption of co-contaminants, and biological effects, arguing that weathered particles better represent real-world exposures and often exhibit different or greater toxicity.

2025 Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale
Article Tier 2

A review on enriched microplastics in environment: From the perspective of their aging impact and associate risk

This review explores what happens to microplastics as they age in the environment over long periods. Researchers found that natural weathering changes the physical and chemical properties of microplastics in ways that may increase their ability to harbor harmful microorganisms and interact with other pollutants, suggesting that aging may actually make microplastic pollution more hazardous over time rather than less.

2024 Earth Critical Zone 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Weathering on Microplastic Dispersibility and Pollutant Uptake Capacity

This study examined how environmental weathering changes the surface properties of microplastics and their ability to absorb co-pollutants, finding that weathered MPs bind more contaminants than pristine particles due to surface oxidation and cracking. The results emphasize that the environmental fate and toxicity of microplastics change dynamically as they age in the environment.

2022 ACS Environmental Au 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Monitoring polymer degradation under different conditions in the marine environment

Researchers simulated four marine environmental conditions over one year and found that biobased plastics like polylactic acid degrade up to five times faster in seafloor sediment than in the water column, while conventional plastics showed little degradation difference across conditions.

2019 Environmental Pollution 133 citations