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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to The fate, impacts and potential risks of photoaging process of the microplastics in the aqueous environment
ClearInsights 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.
Progress 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.
Non-Negligible Effects of UV Irradiation on Transformation and Environmental Risks of Microplastics in the Water Environment
This review examines how UV irradiation drives photoaging of microplastics in aquatic environments, altering their surface chemistry, mechanical properties, and adsorption capacity for co-pollutants, and thereby amplifying their ecotoxicological risks beyond those of virgin plastic particles.
Characteristics and behaviors of microplastics undergoing photoaging and Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) initiated aging
This review examines how microplastics change as they age in the environment through sunlight exposure and chemical processes. Aging alters the surface properties of microplastics, making them better at absorbing toxic chemicals and heavy metals from the surrounding environment. Since nearly all microplastics found in nature have undergone some degree of aging, understanding these changes is essential for accurately assessing how dangerous real-world microplastic pollution is to human health.
Mechanism and characterization of microplastic aging process: A review
This review explains how microplastics age and break down in the environment through sunlight, heat, and chemical reactions, and why this aging process matters. As microplastics weather, their surfaces change in ways that make them better at absorbing toxic pollutants and more harmful to living organisms. Understanding these aging processes is important because the microplastics people encounter in food and water have typically been weathered, meaning they may be more dangerous than the fresh plastics used in most lab studies.
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.
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.
Study on the impact of photoaging on the generation of very small microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) and the wettability of plastic surface
Experiments using UV light to artificially age six common plastic types showed that sunlight (photoaging) accelerates the breakdown of plastics into very small microplastics and nanoplastics and makes plastic surfaces rougher and more chemically reactive. Understanding how different polymer structures respond to light aging is important for predicting which plastics will fragment fastest in the environment and generate the most hazardous small particles.
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.
Photo-oxidation of Micro- and Nanoplastics: Physical, Chemical, and Biological Effects in Environments
This review examines how sunlight breaks down micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, changing their surface properties and making them interact differently with pollutants and living organisms. Sun-aged plastic particles can become more toxic to aquatic life and affect soil microbe communities, but many questions remain about these processes under real-world conditions.
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 of plastics in aquatic environments: Pathways, environmental behavior, ecological impacts, analyses and quantifications
This review examines how plastics age and degrade in aquatic environments through photo-oxidation, mechanical abrasion, and biodegradation. Researchers discuss the physicochemical changes that occur in aging plastics and the release of potentially harmful oxidation products during degradation. The study suggests that understanding these complex aging dynamics is essential for assessing the environmental and ecological risks posed by microplastics.
A comprehensive review of microplastic aging: Laboratory simulations, physicochemical properties, adsorption mechanisms, and environmental impacts
This review examines how microplastics change as they age in the environment through exposure to sunlight, water, and chemicals, becoming rougher and more chemically reactive over time. Aged microplastics absorb more pollutants than fresh ones and release harmful additives and free radicals, meaning the microplastics people encounter in the real world may be more dangerous than the pristine particles typically used in lab studies.
The wheel of time: The environmental dance of aged micro- and nanoplastics and their biological resonance
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics change as they age in the environment through exposure to sunlight, water, and biological activity. Aged plastics behave differently than fresh ones: they accumulate faster in ecosystems, are more easily taken up by organisms, and can release trapped chemicals as they break down. The findings suggest that the real-world health and environmental risks of microplastics may be greater than lab studies using new, unweathered plastics indicate.
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.
Surface characteristics and adsorption properties of polypropylene microplastics by ultraviolet irradiation and natural aging
This study examined how aging and UV light change the surface properties of polypropylene microplastics and their ability to absorb other pollutants. UV-aged microplastics absorbed significantly more of a common dye pollutant, while naturally aged particles absorbed less due to biological film buildup. Understanding how microplastics change over time in the environment matters because aged particles may carry different levels of harmful chemicals than fresh ones.
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.
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.
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.
Releasing characteristics of toxic chemicals from polystyrene microplastics in the aqueous environment during photoaging process
This study revealed that as polystyrene microplastics age under UV light, they release a growing number of toxic chemicals including organic compounds and heavy metals into surrounding water. The rate of chemical release increased dramatically with aging time, meaning that weathered microplastics in the environment are more chemically hazardous than fresh ones, with implications for water quality and human exposure.
Accelerated photoaging of microplastic - polyethylene terephthalate: physical, chemical, morphological properties and pesticide adsorption
Researchers subjected polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics to accelerated photoaging under simulated sunlight, characterizing changes in surface chemistry, crystallinity, and mechanical properties over time. Photoaging increased surface oxidation, reduced molecular weight, and enhanced the release of plastic additives, suggesting aged PET microplastics present greater chemical hazard than pristine particles.
Photodegradation Controls of Potential Toxicity of Secondary Sunscreen-Derived Microplastics and Associated Leachates
Researchers studied how sunlight breaks down microplastics from sunscreen products and whether this makes them more or less toxic. They found that sunlight aging caused chemical changes on the plastic surfaces and released harmful compounds into the water, increasing toxicity to aquatic organisms. This is relevant because sunscreen microplastics are commonly washed into oceans and lakes, where sun exposure could make them more dangerous over time.
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.
Laboratory simulated aging methods, mechanisms and characteristic changes of microplastics: A review
This review examines the different laboratory methods scientists use to artificially age microplastics to study how they change over time in the environment. UV light, heat, chemical oxidation, and biological processes all alter the surface, size, and chemical properties of microplastics in different ways. Understanding how aging changes microplastics is important because weathered particles in the real world may be more toxic and carry more pollutants than the fresh plastics typically used in lab studies.