A potential threat from biodegradable microplastics: mechanism of cadmium adsorption and desorption in the simulated gastrointestinal environment

It has been demonstrated that microplastics (MPs) can accumulate heavy metals from the environment and transfer them into organisms via the food chain. However, adsorption and desorption capacities for biodegradable MPs relative to those for conventional MPs remain poorly understood. In this study, cadmium (Cd(II)) adsorption and desorption characteristics of polylactic acid (PLA), a typical biodegradable MP, were investigated. Two conventional MPs, i.e., polypropylene (PP) and polyamide (PA) were used for comparison. The maximum Cd(II) adsorption capacities of the MPs studied in the adsorption experiments decreased in the order PA (0.96 ± 0.07 mg/g) > PLA (0.64 ± 0.04 mg/g) > PP (0.22 ± 0.03 mg/g). The Pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isothermal model described the Cd(II) adsorption behaviors of PLA MPs well. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and two-dimensional Fourier transform infrared correlation spectroscopy analysis indicated that oxygen functional groups were the major and preferential binding sites of PLA MPs, which contributed to their high Cd(II) adsorption capacities. Simulated gastric and intestinal fluids both significantly enhanced the desorption capacities of the examined MPs. Notably, degradation of the PLA MPs during in vitro human digestion made the Cd(II) on the PLA MPs more bioaccessible (19% in the gastric phase and 62% in the intestinal phase) than Cd(II) on the PP and PA MPs. These results indicate the remarkable capacities of biodegradable MPs to accumulate Cd(II) and transfer it to the digestive system and show that biodegradable MPs might pose more severe threats to human health than conventional nonbiodegradable MPs.