Molecular Signatures of Dissolved Organic Matter Generated from the Photodissolution of Microplastics in Sunlit Seawater.

ABSTRACT: Plastics are accumulating on Earth, including at sea. The photodegradation of microplastics floating in seawater produces dissolved organic matter (DOM), indicating that sunlight can photodissolve microplastics at the sea surface. To characterize the chemistry of DOM produced as microplastics photodissolve, three microplastics that occur in surface waters, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and expanded polystyrene (EPS), were incubated floating on seawater in both the light and the dark. We present the molecular signatures of the DOM produced during these incubations, as determined via ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry. Zero to 12 products were identified in the dark, whereas 319-705 photoproducts were identified in the light. Photoproduced DOM included oxygen atoms, indicating t

SUBMITTER: Stubbins A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10702502 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature