http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-016-6121-7

Chenxi Wu, Kai Zhang, Xiaolong Huang, Jiantong Liu
Sorption of pharmaceuticals and personal care products to polyethylene
debris
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
First online: 26 January 2016
DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-6121-7

Abstract
Presence of plastic debris in marine and freshwater ecosystems is
increasingly reported. Previous research suggested plastic debris had a
strong affiliation for many pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals.
In this study, the sorption behavior of pharmaceuticals and personal
care products (PPCPs), including carbamazepine (CBZ),
4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC), triclosan (TCS), and 17α-ethinyl
estradiol (EE2), to polyethylene (PE) debris (250 to 280 μm) was
investigated. The estimated linear sorption coefficients (K d) are
191.4, 311.5, 5140, and 53,225 L/kg for CBZ, EE2, TCS, and 4MBC, and are
related to their hydrophobicities. Increase of salinity from 0.05 to 3.5
% did not affect the sorption of 4MBC, CBZ, and EE2 but enhanced the
sorption of TCS, likely due to the salting-out effect. Increase of
dissolved organic matter (DOM) content using Aldrich humic acid (HA) as
a proxy reduced the sorption of 4MBC, EE2, and TCS, all of which show a
relatively strong affiliation to HA. Results from this work suggest that
microplastics may play an important role in the fate and transport of
PPCPs, especially for those hydrophobic ones.

Keywords
Microplastics PPCPs Sorption Hydrophobic interaction Salinity Dissolved
organic matter