Micro- and nanoplastics are emerging pollutants that have attracted significant attention due to their potential to concentrate and transport coexisting organic pollutants in aquatic environments. Fluorinated liquid-crystal monomers (FLCMs) have also emerged as contaminants of concern, given their frequent occurrence, potential toxic effects, and propensity to co-occur with plastics in the environment. However, the influence of plastics on the environmental fate of FLCMs remains unclear yet. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the accumulation of a key FLCM, 4-cyano-3-fluorophenyl 4-ethylbenzoate (CEB-F), on three common plastics, and examined the effects of nanoplastics on the phototransformation of CEB-F and its acute toxicity to Daphnia magna (D. magna). Our findings revealed that the adsorption capacity of CEB-F on different plastic materials followed the order: polystyrene (PS) < mixed cellulose ester (MCE) < polyamide (PA). The adsorption processes of CEB-F on the three plastics aligned more closely with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting that the adsorption is primarily governed by physical diffusion. Theoretical calculations indicated that the adsorption of CEB-F on PS plastics is mainly driven by hydrophobic interactions. Additionally, PS nanoplastics (PSNPs) significantly enhanced the UV degradation of CEB-F, although the types of degradation intermediates did not change substantially, suggesting a limited impact on the degradation process and mechanism. Acute toxicity tests showed that PSNPs increased the toxicity of CEB-F to D. magna at lower concentrations, while the toxicity was reduced at higher concentrations. The obtained findings are of great significance to unraveling the plastic-mediated environmental fate and aquatic toxicity of FLCMs in natural waters.

中文翻译：

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微和纳米塑料介导的氟化液晶单体在水生环境中的光转化和生物可及性


微塑料和纳米塑料是新兴污染物，由于它们有可能在水生环境中浓缩和运输共存的有机污染物，因此引起了极大的关注。氟化液晶单体 （FLCM） 也已成为令人担忧的污染物，因为它们的频繁出现、潜在的毒性作用以及与环境中的塑料共存的倾向。然而，塑料对 FLCM 环境命运的影响仍不清楚。为了解决这一知识差距，我们研究了关键 FLCM，4-氰基-3-氟苯基 4-乙基苯甲酸酯 （CEB-F） 在三种常见塑料上的积累，并研究了纳米塑料对 CEB-F 光转化的影响及其对溞蚤 （D. magna） 的急性毒性。我们的研究结果表明，CEB-F 在不同塑料材料上的吸附能力依次为：聚苯乙烯 （PS） < 混合纤维素酯 （MCE） < 聚酰胺 （PA）。CEB-F 在三种塑料上的吸附过程与准一级动力学模型和 Langmuir 等温线模型更紧密地吻合，表明吸附主要受物理扩散控制。理论计算表明，CEB-F 在 PS 塑料上的吸附主要由疏水相互作用驱动。此外，PS 纳米塑料 （PSNPs） 显著增强了 CEB-F 的紫外线降解，但降解中间体的类型没有发生实质性变化，表明对降解过程和机制的影响有限。急性毒性试验表明，PSNPs 在较低浓度下增加了 CEB-F 对 D. magna 的毒性，而在较高浓度下毒性降低。 所获得的发现对于揭示塑料介导的环境归宿和自然水域中 FLCMs 的水生毒性具有重要意义。