Department of Biological & Environmental Engineering, Semyung University, Jecheon, South Korea.
Department of Smart City Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, South Korea.
Sci Prog. 2023 Apr-Jun;106(2):368504231173835. doi: 10.1177/00368504231173835.
This study assessed the interactive changes to the endocrine disruptor 17 alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2) triggered by photoaging onto fibrous microplastics frequently found in the environment. The physicochemical property change of the polyethylene (PE) microfiber according to irradiation (i.e. 14 d UV-C (254 nm)) was studied through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, and contact angle analysis. Additionally, the EE2 adsorption kinetics experiment was performed for the PE microfiber before and after UV irradiation to assess the change in adsorption characteristics. After UV irradiation, the PE microfiber surface roughness increased, the oxygen-containing functional group (e.g. carbonyl group) increased, and the contact angle (virgin PE: 80.02°, aged PE: 65.13°) decreased. A decrease in the surface hydrophobicity led to a decrease in the adsorption rate of EE2 (virgin PE: = 0.0105 h, aged PE: not calculated). The hydrophobic interaction significantly affects the adsorption behavior of hydrophobic organic pollutants such as EE2 onto MPs, and continuous photo-aging of MPs may cause a new pattern of ecological risk. Therefore, there is a greater necessity for additional research relevant to this issue.
本研究评估了内分泌干扰物 17α-乙炔基雌二醇（EE2）在环境中常见的纤维状微塑料上光老化引发的交互变化。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱、扫描电子显微镜和接触角分析研究了聚乙烯（PE）微纤维根据辐照（即 14 天 UV-C（254nm））引起的物理化学性质变化。此外，还对辐照前后的 PE 微纤维进行了 EE2 吸附动力学实验，以评估吸附特性的变化。UV 照射后，PE 微纤维表面粗糙度增加，含氧官能团（如羰基）增加，接触角（原始 PE：80.02°，老化 PE：65.13°）降低。表面疏水性的降低导致 EE2 的吸附速率降低（原始 PE： = 0.0105 h，老化 PE：未计算）。疏水力对 EE2 等疏水性有机污染物吸附到 MPs 上的吸附行为有显著影响，MPs 的持续光老化可能会导致新的生态风险模式。因此，需要对这一问题进行更多的相关研究。
