Environmental context. In the soil environment, microplastics (HDPE) act as carriers to adsorb contaminants, interacting with dissolved organic matter (DOM) and antibiotics such as oxytetracycline (OTC). The results show that DOM plays a bridging role in the HDPE–OTC adsorption system, and its hydrophobic groups are complexed with OTC, resulting in the quenching of DOM ultraviolet spectrum. (Image credit: Qitian Xiao.)