Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, PR China.
Key Laboratory of Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, PR China.
Environ Pollut. 2020 Oct;265(Pt B):114864. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114864. Epub 2020 May 29.
Microplastics (MPs) pollution has become a global environmental concern. MPs alone and in combination with pollutants can potentially cause significant harm to organisms and human beings. Weathering of MPs under various environmental stresses increases the uncertainty of their environmental fates. Compared with field surveys, laboratory simulation experiments are appropriate to simplify the research procedures and investigate the mechanisms. In this review, the effects of abrasion, solar radiation, chemical and thermal oxidation, microbial adhesion and colonization, and other environmental factors on the MPs and the relative laboratory simulation methods were summarized and discussed. Photo-oxidation and abrasion are the most appliable methods due to easy operation and adjustable weathering degree. Furthermore, the structural and components changes in weathering process and the applied characterization methods were generalized. In addition, one of important environmental behaviors, adsorption of the weathered MPs towards two typical pollutants was analyzed. Finally, three priorities for research were proposed. This paper conducts systematic summarized of the MPs weathering process and provides a reference for future studies to accurately determine the environmental risks of weathering MPs.
微塑料（MPs）污染已成为全球性的环境问题。MPs 单独存在或与污染物结合在一起，可能会对生物和人类造成重大危害。MPs 在各种环境压力下的老化增加了其环境归宿的不确定性。与野外调查相比，实验室模拟实验更适合简化研究程序并研究其机制。在这篇综述中，总结和讨论了磨损、太阳辐射、化学和热氧化、微生物附着和定殖以及其他环境因素对 MPs 的影响，以及相对应的实验室模拟方法。由于操作简单且可调节老化程度，光氧化和磨损是最适用的方法。此外，概括了老化过程中的结构和成分变化以及应用的表征方法。另外，还分析了老化 MPs 对两种典型污染物的吸附这一重要环境行为。最后，提出了三个研究重点。本文对 MPs 老化过程进行了系统总结，为未来研究准确确定老化 MPs 的环境风险提供了参考。
