The sorption of persistent organic pollutants in microplastics from the coastal environment

Lin-Chi Wang; Justin Chun-Te Lin; Cheng-Di Dong; Chiu-Wen Chen; Ta-Kang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126658

The sorption of persistent organic pollutants in microplastics from the coastal environment

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Oct 15:420:126658. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126658. Epub 2021 Jul 20.

Authors

Lin-Chi Wang¹, Justin Chun-Te Lin², Cheng-Di Dong³, Chiu-Wen Chen³, Ta-Kang Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC; Center for Environmental Risk Management, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC.
² Department of Environmental Engineering and Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
³ Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC.
⁴ Institute of Ocean Technology and Marine Affairs, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: tkliu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.

PMID: 34329087
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126658

Abstract

Microplastic (MP) pellets were sampled from six sandy beaches around Taiwan in order to investigate the concentrations and compositions of POPs, including: PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs, PBDEs, PCBs, PBBs, and their congeners. The concentrations of PCDD/Fs on the surface (C_s) of MP pellets from the six sampling sites were from 1.9 to 14.6 pg∙g^-1, while the overall concentrations within MPs (C_t) were from 95.0 to 1110.6 pg∙g^-1. As PCDD/Fs were adsorbed into the inner part of MPs, a ratio of the total concentrations to surficial concentration of MPs (C_t/C_s) was as high as 355.2 times. The C_t/C_s of other POPs were also significant, such as PBDEs being found up to 8068 times, which could be attributed to artificial addition during manufacturing processes as flame-retardant substances. Primary compositions of PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs, and PBDEs on the MPs in our POP congener analysis were all found containing species with higher number of chlorine or bromine, which were adsorbed on the MP surface more easily due to their relative higher K_OW.

Keywords: Dioxin; Microplastics; Persistent organic pollutants; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs); Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Dibenzofurans
Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated / analysis
Environmental Monitoring
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis
Microplastics
Persistent Organic Pollutants
Plastics
Polychlorinated Biphenyls* / analysis
Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins* / analysis

Substances

Dibenzofurans
Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
Microplastics
Plastics
Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins
Polychlorinated Biphenyls