Microplastic aging alters the adsorption-desorption behaviors of sulfamethoxazole in marine animals: A study in simulated biological liquids

Jiaxuan Li; Yunxue Li; Bushra Maryam; Xiaochen Chen; Yanping Zong; Jianbo Tu; Pingping Zhang; Xianhua Liu

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115473

Microplastic aging alters the adsorption-desorption behaviors of sulfamethoxazole in marine animals: A study in simulated biological liquids

Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Oct:195:115473. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115473. Epub 2023 Aug 31.

Authors

Jiaxuan Li¹, Yunxue Li¹, Bushra Maryam¹, Xiaochen Chen², Yanping Zong³, Jianbo Tu³, Pingping Zhang⁴, Xianhua Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, PR China.
² College of Environment & Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, PR China.
³ Tianjin Marine Environment Monitoring Center Station of State Oceanic Administration, Tianjin 300457, PR China.
⁴ College of Food Science and Bioengineering, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300384, PR China. Electronic address: zpp@tjau.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, PR China. Electronic address: lxh@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 37659385
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115473

Abstract

Antibiotics and microplastics (MPs) coexisting as unique environmental contaminants may cause unintended environmental issues. In this study, the adsorption-desorption behaviors of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on both original and UV-aged MPs were examined. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and polyethylene (PE), which represent degradable and refractory MPs, respectively, were chosen as two distinct types of MPs. Furthermore, simulated fish intestinal fluids (SFIF) and simulated mammalian stomach fluids (SMGF) were employed to evaluate the desorption behaviors of SMX from aged MPs. Our findings demonstrate that UV-aging altered the polarity, hydrophilicity, and structure of the MPs. Aged MPs showed a higher adsorption capacity than the original MPs and they have a higher desorption capacity than original MPs in simulated body fluids. PE has a higher SMX desorption capacity in SFIF and the opposite happened in SMGF. Our results highlight the importance of considering the different adsorption-desorption behaviors of antibiotics on MPs when evaluating their environmental impact.

Keywords: Adsorption-desorption; Microplastics; Sulfamethoxazole; UV-aging.