Environmental Degradation of Microplastics: How to Measure Fragmentation Rates to Secondary Micro- and Nanoplastic Fragments and Dissociation into Dissolved Organics

Understanding the environmental fate of microplastics is essential for their risk assessment. It is essential to differentiate size classes and degradation states. Still, insights into fragmentation and degradation mechanisms of primary and secondary microplastics into micro-and nanoplastic fragments and other degradation products are limited. Here, we present an adapted NanoRelease protocol for a UV dose-dependent assessment and size-selective quantification of the release of micro-and nanoplastic fragments down to 10 nm and demonstrate its applicability for polyamide and thermoplastic polyurethanes. The tested cryo-milled polymers do not originate from actual consumer products but are handled in industry and are therefore representative of polydisperse microplastics occurring in the environment. The protocol is suitable for various types of microplastic polymers, and the measured rates can serve to parameterize mechanistic fragmentation models. We also found that primary microplastics matched the same ranking of weathering stability as their corresponding macroplastics and that dissolved organics constitute a major rate of microplastic mass loss. The results imply that previously formed micro-and nanoplastic fragments can further degrade into water-soluble organics with measurable rates that enable modeling approaches for all environmental compartments accessible to UV light.

Automated summary

Understanding the environmental fate of microplastics is crucial for risk assessment. A new method was developed to assess and quantify the release of micro- and nanoplastic fragments in different size ranges. The results revealed that dissolved organics are a major source of microplastic mass loss and that previously formed micro- and nanoplastic fragments can further degrade into water-soluble organics.