ReviewThe Science of the total environment2022
Oxidation and fragmentation of plastics in a changing environment; from UV-radiation to biological degradation.
Review in The Science of the total environment, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 347 citations in OpenAlex.
- Engineered and Weathered Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Microplastics and Nanoplastics Induce Form and Size-Dependent Oxidative Stress, Oxidative DNA Damage, and Cytotoxicity in MCF-7 Cells.Environmental toxicology · 2026Article
- Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Human Exposome: Environmental Pathways, Kidney Toxicity, and Implications for Public Health Risk Assessment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Carbonyl Index Variability and Trends in Marine Meso-Microplastics: Implications of Instrumental Effects and Spectral Preprocessing.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Bacterial community colonization with minimal alteration of plastics in suboxic sediments from a marine methane seep.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Gaps between Laboratory Experiments and Real-World Exposure: Toxicological Assessment of Microplastics Is Based on Inadequate Evidence.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Article
- Occurrence of Microplastics and Cytotoxic Effects of Organic Extracts from Isolated Mesoplastics in Compost.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Multiphase photochemical reactions as sinks of nanoplastic photodissolution products in aqueous environments: a model study for benzene.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Review
- Radiation-Resistant Microbes: Pioneers for Life Beyond Earth.Current microbiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Microplastic contamination in tadpoles (Anura) in the Brazilian Amazon.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A simple and reliable method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of nano- and microplastics in organs for controlled preclinical studies.Particle and fibre toxicology · 2026Article
- Raman spectra for plastics identification (RaSPI) and Raman maps for plastics identification (RaMPI) datasets.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Plastic Valorization into Added-Value Products via Microwave and Conventional Pyrolysis: A Review.ACS environmental Au · 2026Review
- A review on microplastics: sources, environmental fate, degradation pathways, and analytical identification methods.RSC advances · 2026Review
- Recent advances in techniques for microplastic detection, microbial biodegradation and its genomic insights: a review.Biodegradation · 2026Review
- From Enrichment to Fate: Transport, Transformation, and Fate of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Marine Environments.Toxics · 2026Review
- Micro-nanoplastics and Parkinson's disease: evidence and perspectives.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
- Differential morphological and physicochemical responses of polyvinyl chloride and Polyamide-12 micro- and nanoplastics to Fenton oxidation.The Science of the total environment · 2026Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 8 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Understanding 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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.