Sorption of alkylphenols and estrogens on microplastics in marine conditions

Abstract In marine ecosystems, living organisms are continuously exposed to a cocktail of anthropogenic contaminants, such as microplastics (MPs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). Being able adsorb organic compounds, MPs would act an additional contamination vector for aquatic organisms. To support this hypothesis, the sorption six EDCs on MPs, including 4- t -butylphenol, -octylphenol, n -nonylphenol, 17β-estradiol its synthetic analog 17α-ethinylestradiol, has been investigated. These belong two contaminant families, alkylphenols estrogens, included in EU priority watch lists Water Framework Directive. Sorption kinetics were studied onto polyethylene polypropylene under seawater conditions. at concentration 0.400 mg mL −1 added mix EDCs, each individual 100 ng . The concentrations contaminants chosen be close environmental ones comparable with those found literature. results demonstrated that hydrophobicity MP type factors influencing capacity. distribution coefficient ( K d ) compound was determined compared others A high affinity between -NP PE, reaching up 2,200