Oxidation and fragmentation of plastics in a changing environment; from UV-radiation to biological degradation

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dc.contributor.authorAndrady, Anthony L.en
dc.contributor.authorBarnes, Paul W.en
dc.contributor.authorBornman, Janet F.en
dc.contributor.authorGouin, T.en
dc.contributor.authorMadronich, Sashaen
dc.contributor.authorWhite, C. C.en
dc.contributor.authorZepp, Richard G.en
dc.contributor.authorJansen, Marcel A. K.en
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderNorth Carolina State Universityen
dc.contributor.funderLoyola Universityen
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-29T15:52:05Z
dc.date.available2024-08-29T15:52:05Z
dc.date.issued2022en
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding the fate of plastics in the environment is of critical importance for the quantitative assessment of the biological impacts of plastic waste. Specially, there is a need to analyze in more detail the reputed longevity of plastics in the context of plastic degradation through oxidation and fragmentation reactions. Photo-oxidation of plastic debris by solar UV radiation (UVR) makes material prone to subsequent fragmentation. The fragments generated following oxidation and subsequent exposure to mechanical stresses include secondary micro- or nanoparticles, an emerging class of pollutants. The paper discusses the UV-driven photo-oxidation process, identifying relevant knowledge gaps and uncertainties. Serious gaps in knowledge exist concerning the wavelength sensitivity and the dose-response of the photo-fragmentation process. Given the heterogeneity of natural UV irradiance varying from no exposure in sediments to full UV exposure of floating, beach litter or air-borne plastics, it is argued that the rates of UV-driven degradation/fragmentation will also vary dramatically between different locations and environmental niches. Biological phenomena such as biofouling will further modulate the exposure of plastics to UV radiation, while potentially also contributing to degradation and/or fragmentation of plastics independent of solar UVR. Reductions in solar UVR in many regions, consequent to the implementation of the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments for protecting stratospheric ozone, will have consequences for global UV-driven plastic degradation in a heterogeneous manner across different geographic and environmental zones. The interacting effects of global warming, stratospheric ozone and UV radiation are projected to increase UV irradiance at the surface in localized areas, mainly because of decreased cloud cover. Given the complexity and uncertainty of future environmental conditions, this currently precludes reliable quantitative predictions of plastic persistence on a global scale.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid158022en
dc.identifier.citationAndrady, A.L., Barnes, P.W., Bornman, J.F., Gouin, T., Madronich, S., White, C.C., Zepp, R.G. and Jansen, M.A.K. (2022) ‘Oxidation and fragmentation of plastics in a changing environment; from UV-radiation to biological degradation’, Science of The Total Environment, 851,158022 (9pp). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158022.en
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158022en
dc.identifier.eissn1879-1026en
dc.identifier.endpage9en
dc.identifier.issn0048-9697en
dc.identifier.journaltitleScience of The Total Environmenten
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/16237
dc.identifier.volume851en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevier B.V.en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Investigator Programme/16/IA/4418/IE/Exploiting narrow-band UV-LEDs for Sustainable, Innovative, Technology-Enabled Cropping (UV-SINTEC)/en
dc.relation.projectLoyola University (J.H. Mullahy Endowment in Environmental Biology)en
dc.rights© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectPlasticen
dc.subjectUV radiationen
dc.subjectPhoto-oxidationen
dc.subjectFragmentationen
dc.subjectEnvironmental persistenceen
dc.titleOxidation and fragmentation of plastics in a changing environment; from UV-radiation to biological degradationen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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