Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are widely present in aqueous environments and aged by natural components of complex water environments, such as salinity (SI) and dissolved organic matter (DOM). However, the effects of multicondition aging on the physicochemical properties and environmental behavior of MPs have not been completely investigated. In this study, the degradable MP polybutylene succinate (PBS) was used to investigate the environmental behavior of sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) and was compared with polypropylene (PP). The results showed that the single-factor conditions of DOM and SI, particularly DOM, promoted the aging process of MPs more significantly, especially for PBS. The degrees of MP aging under multiple conditions were lower than those under single-factor conditions. Compared with PP, PBS had greater specific surface area, crystallinity, and hydrophilicity and thus a stronger SMZ adsorption capacity. The adsorption behavior of MPs fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models, indicating multilayer adsorption. Compared with PP, PBS showed relatively a higher adsorption capacity, for example, for MPs aged under DOM conditions, the adsorption of SMZ by PBS was up to 5.74 mg/g, whereas that for PP was only 3.41 mg/g. The desorption experiments showed that the desorption amount of SMZ on MPs in the simulated intestinal fluid was greater than that in Milli-Q water. In addition, both the original PBS and the aged PBS had stronger desorption capacities than that of PP. The desorption quantity of PBS was 1.23–1.84 times greater than PP, whereas the desorption rates were not significantly different. This experiment provides a theoretical basis for assessing the ecological risks of degradable MPs in complex water conditions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.
References
Abdurahman A, Cui K, Wu J, Li S, Gao R, Dai J, Liang W, Zeng F (2020) Adsorption of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on polystyrene microplastics in aquatic environments: kinetic, isotherm and site energy distribution analysis. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 198:110658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110658
Arvaniti OS, Antonopoulou G, Gatidou G, Frontistis Z, Mantzavinos D, Stasinakis AS (2022) Sorption of two common antihypertensive drugs onto polystyrene microplastics in water matrices. Sci Total Environ 837:155786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155786
Bakir A, Rowland SJ, Thompson RC (2014) Enhanced desorption of persistent organic pollutants from microplastics under simulated physiological conditions. Environ Pollut 185:16–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.10.007
Bao Z-Z, Chen Z-F, Zhong Y, Wang G, Qi Z, Cai Z (2021) Adsorption of phenanthrene and its monohydroxy derivatives on polyvinyl chloride microplastics in aqueous solution: model fitting and mechanism analysis. Sci Total Environ 764:142889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142889
Bhatt P, Pathak VM, Bagheri AR, Bilal M (2021) Microplastic contaminants in the aqueous environment, fate, toxicity consequences, and remediation strategies. Environ Res 200:111762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111762
Cao R, Liu X, Duan J, Gao B, He X, Nanthi B, Li Y (2022) Opposite impact of DOM on ROS generation and photoaging of aromatic and aliphatic nano- and micro-plastic particles. Environ Pollut 315:120304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120304
Capolupo M, Sørensen L, Jayasena KDR, Booth AM, Fabbri E (2020) Chemical composition and ecotoxicity of plastic and car tire rubber leachates to aquatic organisms. Water Res 169:115270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115270
Chan JX, Hassan A, Wong JF, Majeed K (2022) Plastics in outdoor applications. In: Hashmi MSJ (ed) Encyclopedia of materials: plastics and polymers. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 237–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820352-1.00064-X
Cui Q, Yang X, Li J, Miao Y, Zhang X (2022a) Microplastics generation behavior of polypropylene films with different crystalline structures under UV irradiation. Polym Degrad Stab 199:109916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2022.109916
Cui R, Jong M-C, You L, Mao F, Yao D, Gin KY-H, He Y (2022b) Size-dependent adsorption of waterborne benzophenone-3 on microplastics and its desorption under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Chemosphere 286:131735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131735
Davis KE, Beaty F, Sánchez C (2022) A flexible risk assessment framework for marine plastic pollution that synthesizes waste management and ecological impact data. Mar Policy 137:104833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104833
De Liguoro M, Fioretto B, Poltronieri C, Gallina G (2009) The toxicity of sulfamethazine to Daphnia magna and its additivity to other veterinary sulfonamides and trimethoprim. Chemosphere 75(11):1519–1524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2009.02.002
Ding L, Mao R, Ma S, Guo X, Zhu L (2020) High temperature depended on the ageing mechanism of microplastics under different environmental conditions and its effect on the distribution of organic pollutants. Water Res 174:115634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115634
Ding L, Yu X, Guo X, Zhang Y, Ouyang Z, Liu P, Zhang C, Wang T, Jia H, Zhu L (2022) The photodegradation processes and mechanisms of polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate microplastic in aquatic environments: important role of clay minerals. Water Res 208:117879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117879
Fan X, Zou Y, Geng N, Liu J, Hou J, Li D, Yang C, Li Y (2021) Investigation on the adsorption and desorption behaviors of antibiotics by degradable MPs with or without UV ageing process. J Hazard Mater 401:123363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123363
Gao L, Fu D, Zhao J, Wu W, Wang Z, Su Y, Peng L (2021) Microplastics aged in various environmental media exhibited strong sorption to heavy metals in seawater. Mar Pollut Bull 169:112480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112480
Gao P, Ju C, Tang Z, Qin Y (2022) Enhanced adsorption of tetracycline on polypropylene and polyethylene microplastics after anaerobically microbial-mediated aging process. J Hazard Mater Adv 6:100075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100075
Gola D, Kumar Tyagi P, Arya A, Chauhan N, Agarwal M, Singh SK, Gola S (2021) The impact of microplastics on marine environment: a review. Environ Nanotechnol Monit Manag 16:100552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2021.100552
Gupta VK, Rastogi A, Nayak A (2010) Biosorption of nickel onto treated alga (Oedogonium hatei): application of isotherm and kinetic models. J Colloid Interface Sci 342(2):533–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2009.10.074
Hartmann NB, Rist S, Bodin J, Jensen LH, Schmidt SN, Mayer P, Meibom A, Baun A (2017) Microplastics as vectors for environmental contaminants: exploring sorption, desorption, and transfer to biota. Integr Environ Assess Manag 13(3):488–493. https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1904
Ho W-K, Leung KS-Y (2019) Sorption and desorption of organic UV filters onto microplastics in single and multi-solute systems. Environ Pollut 254:113066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113066
Huang C, Liao Y, Zou Z, Chen Y, Jin M, Zhu J, HussainAbdalkarim SY, Zhou Y, Yu H-Y (2022) Novel strategy to interpret the degradation behaviors and mechanisms of bio- and non-degradable plastics. J Clean Prod 355:131757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131757
Ito M, Hano T, Kono K, Ohkubo N (2022) Desorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from polyethylene microplastics in two morphologically different digestive tracts of marine teleosts: gastric red seabream (Pagrus major) and agastric mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus). Environ Pollut 308:119589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119589
Jiang Y, Qin Z, Fei J, Ding D, Sun H, Wang J, Yin X (2022) Surfactant-induced adsorption of Pb(II) on the cracked structure of microplastics. J Colloid Interface Sci 621:91–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2022.04.068
Li S, Ma R, Zhu X, Liu C, Yang Y (2021) Sorption of tetrabromobisphenol A onto microplastics: behavior, mechanisms, and the effects of sorbent and environmental factors. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 210:111842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111842
Li Y, Zhang Y, Su F, Wang Y, Peng L, Liu D (2022) Adsorption behaviour of microplastics on the heavy metal Cr(VI) before and after ageing. Chemosphere 302:134865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134865
Liu P, Wu X, Liu H, Wang H, Lu K, Gao S (2020) Desorption of pharmaceuticals from pristine and aged polystyrene microplastics under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. J Hazard Mater 392:122346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122346
Liu P, Shi Y, Wu X, Wang H, Huang H, Guo X, Gao S (2021) Review of the artificially-accelerated aging technology and ecological risk of microplastics. Sci Total Environ 768:144969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144969
Liu L, Xu M, Ye Y, Zhang B (2022a) On the degradation of (micro)plastics: degradation methods, influencing factors, environmental impacts. Sci Total Environ 806:151312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151312
Liu S-J, Huang Z-Q, Yang C, Yao Q, Dang Z (2022b) Effect of polystyrene microplastics on the degradation of sulfamethazine: the role of persistent free radicals. Sci Total Environ 833:155024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155024
Liu S, Huang J, Zhang W, Shi L, Yi K, Zhang C, Pang H, Li J, Li S (2022c) Investigation of the adsorption behavior of Pb(II) onto natural-aged microplastics as affected by salt ions. J Hazard Mater 431:128643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128643
Liu P, Wu X, Shi H, Wang H, Huang H, Shi Y, Gao S (2022d) Contribution of aged polystyrene microplastics to the bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals in marine organisms using experimental and model analysis. Chemosphere 287:132412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132412
Luo H, Li Y, Zhao Y, Xiang Y, He D, Pan X (2020) Effects of accelerated aging on characteristics, leaching, and toxicity of commercial lead chromate pigmented microplastics. Environ Pollut 257:113475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113475
Luo H, Liu C, He D, Sun J, Zhang A, Li J, Pan X (2022) Interactions between polypropylene microplastics (PP-MPs) and humic acid influenced by aging of MPs. Water Res 222:118921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118921
Mao R, Lang M, Yu X, Wu R, Yang X, Guo X (2020) Aging mechanism of microplastics with UV irradiation and its effects on the adsorption of heavy metals. J Hazard Mater 393:122515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122515
McDougall L, Thomson L, Brand S, Wagstaff A, Lawton LA, Petrie B (2022) Adsorption of a diverse range of pharmaceuticals to polyethylene microplastics in wastewater and their desorption in environmental matrices. Sci Total Environ 808:152071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152071
Nizzetto L, Futter M, Langaas S (2016) Are agricultural soils dumps for microplastics of urban origin? Environ Sci Technol 50(20):10777–10779. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b04140
Perumal K, Muthuramalingam S (2022) Global sources, abundance, size, and distribution of microplastics in marine sediments - a critical review. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 264:107702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107702
Prata JC, Reis V, Paço A, Martins P, Cruz A, da Costa JP, Duarte AC, Rocha-Santos T (2020) Effects of spatial and seasonal factors on the characteristics and carbonyl index of (micro)plastics in a sandy beach in Aveiro, Portugal. Sci Total Environ 709:135892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135892
Qiu X, Ma S, Zhang J, Fang L, Guo X, Zhu L (2022) Dissolved organic matter promotes the aging process of polystyrene microplastics under dark and ultraviolet light conditions: the crucial role of reactive oxygen species. Environ Sci Technol 56(14):10149–10160. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c03309
Roy N, Alex SA, Chandrasekaran N, Mukherjee A, Kannabiran K (2021) A comprehensive update on antibiotics as an emerging water pollutant and their removal using nano-structured photocatalysts. J Environ Chem Eng 9(2):104796. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.104796
Sato S, Saika A, Shinozaki Y, Watanabe T, Suzuki K, Sameshima-Yamashita Y, Fukuoka T, Habe H, Morita T, Kitamoto H (2017) Degradation profiles of biodegradable plastic films by biodegradable plastic-degrading enzymes from the yeast Pseudozyma antarctica and the fungus Paraphoma sp. B47–9. Polym Degrad Stab 141:26–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2017.05.007
Schmidt F, Koch BP, Goldhammer T, Elvert M, Witt M, Lin Y-S, Wendt J, Zabel M, Heuer VB, Hinrichs K-U (2017) Unraveling signatures of biogeochemical processes and the depositional setting in the molecular composition of pore water DOM across different marine environments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 207:57–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.03.005
Shi K, Zhang H, Xu H, Liu Z, Kan G, Yu K, Jiang J (2022) Adsorption behaviors of triclosan by non-biodegradable and biodegradable microplastics: Kinetics and mechanism. Sci Total Environ 842:156832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156832
Song X, Wu X, Song X, Shi C, Zhang Z (2021) Sorption and desorption of petroleum hydrocarbons on biodegradable and nondegradable microplastics. Chemosphere 273:128553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128553
Song Y, Zhao J, Zheng L, Zhu W, Xue X, Yu Y, Deng Y, Wang H (2022) Adsorption behaviors and mechanisms of humic acid on virgin and aging microplastics. J Mol Liq 363:119819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119819
Strehse R, Bohne H, Amha Y, Leinweber P (2018) The influence of salt on dissolved organic matter from peat soils. Org Geochem 125:270–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.10.001
Sun P, Liu X, Zhang M, Li Z, Cao C, Shi H, Yang Y, Zhao Y (2021) Sorption and leaching behaviors between aged MPs and BPA in water: the role of BPA binding modes within plastic matrix. Water Res 195:116956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.116956
Sun M, Yang Y, Huang M, Fu S, Hao Y, Hu S, Lai D, Zhao L (2022) Adsorption behaviors and mechanisms of antibiotic norfloxacin on degradable and nondegradable microplastics. Sci Total Environ 807:151042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151042
Tian W, Song P, Zhang H, Duan X, Wei Y, Wang H, Wang S (2023) Microplastic materials in the environment: problem and strategical solutions. Prog Mater Sci 132:101035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2022.101035
Tong H, Zhong X, Duan Z, Yi X, Cheng F, Xu W, Yang X (2022) Micro- and nanoplastics released from biodegradable and conventional plastics during degradation: formation, aging factors, and toxicity. Sci Total Environ 833:155275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155275
Wang K, Han T, Chen X, Rushimisha IE, Liu Y, Yang S, Miao X, Li X, Weng L, Li Y (2022) Insights into behavior and mechanism of tetracycline adsorption on virgin and soil-exposed microplastics. J Hazard Mater 440:129770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129770
Wei X-F, Capezza AJ, Cui Y, Li L, Hakonen A, Liu B, Hedenqvist MS (2022) Millions of microplastics released from a biodegradable polymer during biodegradation/enzymatic hydrolysis. Water Res 211:118068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118068
Wu X, Liu P, Wang H, Huang H, Shi Y, Yang C, Gao S (2021) Photo aging of polypropylene microplastics in estuary water and coastal seawater: important role of chlorine ion. Water Res 202:117396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117396
Yan Y, Zhu F, Zhu C, Chen Z, Liu S, Wang C, Gu C (2021) Dibutyl phthalate release from polyvinyl chloride microplastics: influence of plastic properties and environmental factors. Water Res 204:117597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117597
Yao S, Cao H, Arp HPH, Li J, Bian Y, Xie Z, Cherubini F, Jiang X, Song Y (2021) The role of crystallinity and particle morphology on the sorption of dibutyl phthalate on polyethylene microplastics: implications for the behavior of phthalate plastic additives. Environ Pollut 283:117393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117393
You H, Huang B, Cao C, Liu X, Sun X, Xiao L, Qiu J, Luo Y, Qian Q, Chen Q (2021) Adsorption–desorption behavior of methylene blue onto aged polyethylene microplastics in aqueous environments. Mar Pollut Bull 167:112287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112287
Yu F, Yang C, Zhu Z, Bai X, Ma J (2019) Adsorption behavior of organic pollutants and metals on micro/nanoplastics in the aquatic environment. Sci Total Environ 694:133643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133643
Zhang YT, Chen H, He S, Wang F, Liu Y, Chen M, Yao G, Huang Y, Chen R, Xie L, Mu J (2021) Subchronic toxicity of dietary sulfamethazine and nanoplastics in marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma): insights from the gut microbiota and intestinal oxidative status. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 226:112820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112820
Zhou J, Chen H, Guo Y, Chen Q, Ren H, Tao Y (2022) Changes in metal adsorption ability of microplastics upon loss of calcium carbonate filler masterbatch through natural aging. Sci Total Environ 832:155142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155142
Zhu J, Wang C (2020) Biodegradable plastics: green hope or greenwashing? Mar Pollut Bull 161:111774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111774
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Shiyanjia Lab (www.shiyanjia.com) for the HPLC analysis.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 52000153], the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China [grant number 22KJA610005], and the Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology Young Scientific and Technological Talents Project [grant number TJ-2021–06], the Water Conservancy Technology Project of Jiangsu Province [grant number 2021077], and the Xuzhou Key Research and Development Plan Project (social development) [grant number KC20163]. Meanwhile, they had no involvement in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Xiulei Fan: conceptualization, resources, writing—review & editing, supervision, funding acquisition. Weiyi Li: data curation, conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, writing—review & editing. Easar Alam: conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, visualization, writing—review & editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition. Binwen Cao: writing—review & editing. Shenwen Qian: writing—review & editing. Shang Shi: writing—review & editing. Yangyang Yang: writing—review & editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Angeles Blanco
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Fan, X., Li, W., Alam, E. et al. Investigation of the adsorption–desorption behavior of antibiotics by polybutylene succinate and polypropylene aged in different water conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 36619–36630 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24693-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24693-z