Soil Metabolome Impacts the Formation of the Eco-corona and Adsorption Processes on Microplastic Surfaces

作者：Shi Yao, Xiaona Li, Tao Wang, Xin Jiang, Yang Song, Hans Peter H. Arp · 发表于：Environmental Science & Technology · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1021/acs.est.3c01877 · 被引用次数：98 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Recycling and Waste Management Techniques、biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties

The eco-corona on microplastics refers to the initial layer of biomolecular compounds adsorbed onto the surface after environmental exposure. The formation and composition of the eco-corona in soils have attracted relatively little attention; however, the eco-corona has important implications for the fate and impacts of microplastics and co-occurring chemical contaminants. Here, it was demonstrated that the formation of the eco-corona on polyethylene microplastics exposed to water-extractable soil metabolites (WESMs) occurs quite rapidly via two pathways: direct adsorption of metabolites on microplastics and bridging interactions mediated by macromolecules. The main eco-corona components were common across all soils and microplastics tested and were identified as lipids and lipid-like molecules, phenylpropanoids and polyketides, nucleosides, nucleotides, and their analogues. WESMs were found to reduce the adsorption of co-occurring organic contaminants to microplastics by two pathways: reduced adsorption to the eco-corona surface and co-solubilization in the surrounding water. These impacts from the eco-corona and the soil metabolome should be considered within fate and risk assessments of microplastics and co-occurring contaminants.