Microplastics Generate Radicals at Water Interfaces

Microplastics can generate hydroxyl radicals where their surfaces meet water, according to a Nature study, revealing chemical activity that may help explain how plastic particles interact with their surroundings. Researchers detected radical generation across six common plastics, with activity increasing alongside surface hydrophobicity—the tendency of a surface to repel water. ^[1]

In laboratory experiments, the team also reported effects involving biomolecule adsorption, protein aggregation and cellular damage. The findings describe reactions under experimental conditions; they do not establish that microplastics cause health effects in people exposed to them in everyday settings. ^[1]

The authors say the interface between water and microplastic surfaces may be a previously overlooked source of reactive chemistry. How strongly this process occurs in real-world environmental or biological conditions remains uncertain. ^[1]