Dokument-ID Dokumenttyp Autoren/innen Persönliche Herausgeber/innen Haupttitel Abstract Auflage Verlagsort Verlag Herausgeber (Institution) Erscheinungsjahr Titel des übergeordneten Werkes Jahrgang/Band ISBN Veranstaltung Veranstaltungsort Beginndatum der Veranstaltung Enddatum der Veranstaltung Ausgabe/Heft Erste Seite Letzte Seite URN DOI Lizenz Datum der Freischaltung OPUS4-44990 Zeitschriftenartikel Mueller, Axel; Becker, Roland; Dorgerloh, Ute; Simon, Franz-Georg; Braun, Ulrike The effect of polymer aging on the uptake of fuel aromatics and ethers by microplastics Microplastics are increasingly entering marine, limnic and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, where they sorb hydrophobic organic contaminants. Here, the sorption behavior of the fuel-related water contaminants benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX) and four tertiary butyl ethers to virgin and via UV radiation aged polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) pellets was investigated. Changes in material properties due to aging were recorded using appropriate polymer characterization methods, such as differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and microscopy. Pellets were exposed to water containing BTEX and the ethers at 130-190 mg/L for up to two weeks. Aqueous sorbate concentrations were determined by headspace gas chromatography. Sorption to the polymers was correlated with the sorbate's Kow and was significant for BTEX and marginal for the ethers. Due to substantially lower glass transition temperatures, PP showed higher sorption than PS. Aging had no effect on the sorption behavior of PP. PS sorbed less BTEX after aging due to an oxidized surface layer. Amsterdam Elsevier 2018 Environmental Pollution 240 639 646 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.127 2018-05-24