Adsorption of progesterone onto microplastics and its desorption in fish following digestion with simulated gastric and intestinal fluids

The sorption of hydrophobic organic compounds onto microplastics is relatively well reported in the literature, while their desorption remains poorly investigated, especially in biological fluids. The present study investigated the sorption and desorption of progesterone on polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) microplastics. A sorption efficiency of 357.1 mg g-1 was found for PE and PS, and 322.6mg g-1 for PP. Sorption experiments indicated that adsorption would certainly happen via surface sorption and a potentially pore-filling mechanism. The desorption was carried out in Simulated Gastric Fluid (SGF) and Simulated Intestinal Fluid (SIF). It has been found that the desorption was higher in SIF as compared to SGF, due to micelle formation in SIF promoting the pollutant solubilization. This study indicates that the ingestion of microplastics could be considered as an additional route of exposure to pollutants and therefore emphasizes pollutant bioavailability for aquatic organisms.