Understanding and addressing the environmental risk of microplastics

Over the past decades, the plastic production has been dramatically increased. Indeed, a category of small plastic particles mainly with the shapes of fragments, fibers, or spheres, called microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm) and nanoplastics (particles smaller than 1 μm) have attracted particular attention. Because of its wide distribution in the environment and potential adverse effects to animal and human, microplastic pollution has been reported as a serious environment problem receiving increased attention in recent years. As one of the commonly detected emerging contaminants in the environment, recent evidence indicates that the concentration of microplastics show an increasing trend, for the reason that up to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic litter is released into aquatic environment from land-based sources each year. Furthermore, microplastic exposure levels of model organisms in laboratory studies are usually several orders of magnitude higher than those found in environment, and the microplastics exposure conditions are also different with those observed in the environment. Additionally, the detection of microplastics in feces indicates that they can be excreted out of the bodies of animal and human. Hence, great uncertainties might exist in microplastics exposure and health risk assessment based on current studies, which might be exaggerated. Policies reduce microplastic emission sources and hence minimize their environmental risks are determined. To promote the above policies, we must first overcome the technical obstacles of detecting microplastics in various samples.     

水环境中的微塑料及其生态效应

塑料在日常生活中无处不在,随意丢弃的塑料会在各种作用下最终进入江河、湖泊、近海、深海、以及大洋甚至极地地区。在外界条件(如高温、风化、紫外线)影响下,大型塑料结构的完整性易遭到破坏而被逐渐分解成微小的塑料碎片,当其粒径小于5 mm时即可被称为微塑料。塑料中的某些添加剂,如壬基苯酚、多溴联苯醚、邻苯二甲酸盐、双酚A等会在塑料降解为微塑料的过程中释放到水环境中,从而威胁到水生生态系统的安全。微塑料粒径小,易被浮游动物误食或沿着食物链传递,在生物体内累积转移,对机体产生不可逆转的毒害作用。此外,微塑料还能作为某些污染物富集的载体,产生较强的复合毒性。因此水环境正面临着微塑料污染的威胁,如何治理已成为全球性的环境问题。本文对水环境中微塑料的来源与分布、微塑料的迁移和转化以及微塑料对水环境的影响进行了综述,并对水环境中的微塑料污染问题提出了一些解决方案,期望能为微塑料及其在水环境中的生态效应研究提供理论基础和数据支持。     

V-shaped substrate for surface and volume enhanced Raman spectroscopic analysis of microplastics

● V-shaped substrate was obtained for SERS analysis of microplastics (diameter ≈ 1 μm). ● Enhancement factor of V-shaped substrate can reach 20 in microplastics detection. ● V-shaped nanopore array can bring additional volume enhancement. ● V-shaped substrate was more economic in application compared to Klarite substrate. Research on the microplastics (MPs) is developing towards smaller size, but corresponding methods for the rapid and accurate detection of microplastics, especially nanoplastics still present challenge. In this work, a novel surface and volume enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrate was developed for the rapid detection of microplastic particles below 5 μm. The gold nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited onto the surface and into the V-shaped nanopores of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) through magnetron sputtering or ion sputtering, and then AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate was obtained and studied for microplastic detection. SERS performance of AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate was evaluated through the detection of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate microspheres. Results indicated that individual polystyrene sphere with a diameter of 1 μm can be well detected on AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate, and the maximum enhancement factor (EF) can reach 20. In addition, microplastics in ambient atmospheric samples were collected and tested to verify the effectiveness of the AuNPs@V-shaped AAO SERS substrate in the real environment. This study provides a rapid, economic and simple method for detecting and identifying microplastics with small size.     

Mechanism and characterization of microplastic aging process: A review

● Methods for estimating the aging of environmental micro-plastics were highlighted. ● Aging pathways & characterization methods of microplastics were related and reviewed. ● Possible approaches to reduce the contamination of microplastics were proposed. ● The prospect and deficiency of degradable plastics were analyzed. With the increasing production of petroleum-based plastics, the problem of environmental pollution caused by plastics has aroused widespread concern. Microplastics, which are formed by the fragmentation of macro plastics, are bio-accumulate easily due to their small size and slow degradation under natural conditions. The aging of plastics is an inevitable process for their degradation and enhancement of adsorption performance toward pollutants due to a series of changes in their physiochemical properties, which significantly increase the toxicity and harm of plastics. Therefore, studies should focus on the aging process of microplastics through reasonable characterization methods to promote the aging process and prevent white pollution. This review summarizes the latest progress in natural aging process and characterization methods to determine the natural aging mechanism of microplastics. In addition, recent advances in the artificial aging of microplastic pollutants are reviewed. The degradation status and by-products of biodegradable plastics in the natural environment and whether they can truly solve the plastic pollution problem have been discussed. Findings from the literature pointed out that the aging process of microplastics lacks professional and exclusive characterization methods, which include qualitative and quantitative analyses. To lessen the toxicity of microplastics in the environment, future research directions have been suggested based on existing problems in the current research. This review could provide a systematic reference for in-depth exploration of the aging mechanism and behavior of microplastics in natural and artificial systems.     

Conversion of waste plastics into value-added carbon materials

Plastic pollution is a major environmental issue worldwide, calling for advanced methods to recycle waste plastics in the context of the circular economy. Here we review methods and strategies to convert waste plastics into value-added carbon materials, with focus on sources, properties, pretreatment of waste plastics, and on preparation of carbon materials. Pretreatment techniques include mechanical crushing, plastic stabilization and electrospinning. Carbon materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon nanosheets, carbon spheres and porous carbon are prepared by oxygen-limited carbonization, catalytic carbonization, the template-based method, and pressure carbonization. We emphasize the conversion of polyethene terephthalate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, halogenated plastics, polyurethane and mixed plastics.

     

环境样品中汞形态分析技术的进展

汞的毒性、环境行为、生物有效性不仅跟其浓度有关,还决定于其化学形态,因此汞的形态分析在环境科学中具有重要意义。样品前处理几乎是汞形态分析研究中不可或缺的步骤,而色谱和光谱/质谱联用技术是目前普遍采用的分离检测方法。文章对近十年来这些方面的研究进展进行了综述,主要包括样品的前处理方法如酸/碱溶剂萃取、微波辅助萃取、固相萃取、固相微萃取、单滴微萃取、分散液液微萃取等,以及色谱（液相色谱、气相色谱）和毛细管电泳与光谱/质谱（紫外可见光谱、原子吸收光谱、原子荧光光谱、等离子体质谱等）的联用技术在汞化合物形态分析中的应用情况。最后提出今后应重点研究建立高效、简便的前处理方法,发展高分离度、高灵敏度、高速度的分离检测联用技术,以便更好地对汞的形态进行分析监测。     

Plastics in the Marine Environment: Problems and Solutions

Plastics debris is known to be present in all of the world's oceans, and on most amenity beaches, although comparatively little data are available to provide reliable information on the extent of damage from this pollution, and on its spatial and temporal variations.

Marine pollution by plastics has been shown to be damaging to marine mammals, birds and reptiles. This is due to entanglement in packaging bands, synthetic ropes and lines, or drift nets; or by the ingestion of small items of plastics debris. More research is needed to quantify the extent of the problems.

Wider use of degradable plastics will not solve the problems of plastics pollution. Their lifetimes are relatively long and unpredictable, and they are not generally acceptable for recycling.

Marine plastics pollution may be alleviated by the judicious application of both economic incentives and legislation, designed to decrease their use, to increase the rate of recycling, and to restrict uncontrolled discards.     

Plastics in the Marine Environment: Problems and Solutions

Plastics debris is known to be present in all of the world's oceans, and on most amenity beaches, although comparatively little data are available to provide reliable information on the extent of damage from this pollution, and on its spatial and temporal variations.

Marine pollution by plastics has been shown to be damaging to marine mammals, birds and reptiles. This is due to entanglement in packaging bands, synthetic ropes and lines, or drift nets; or by the ingestion of small items of plastics debris. More research is needed to quantify the extent of the problems.

Wider use of degradable plastics will not solve the problems of plastics pollution. Their lifetimes are relatively long and unpredictable, and they are not generally acceptable for recycling.

Marine plastics pollution may be alleviated by the judicious application of both economic incentives and legislation, designed to decrease their use, to increase the rate of recycling, and to restrict uncontrolled discards.     

Aggregation of positively charged polystyrene nanoplastics in soil–root systems

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The occurrence of nanoplastics in agricultural land is a potential threat to human health and food security, yet the fate of nanoplastics is soil–root...     

Airborne particulate material in Metropolitan Zone of Toluca Valley (Mexico) by SEM and ICP-SFMS

Rainy season is known to ease the transport of particulate matter whether they are microorganisms or inorganic compounds. Regardless of their origin, these particles have a great environmental importance through their influence on physical processes such as ice nucleation and cloud droplet formation. Pathogenic airborne microorganisms may also have public health consequences. In this paper, we analyse particles from rainwater which were collected in Teflon pipes and then filtered in 0.45-μm pore diameter cellulose filters from six environmental monitoring stations in the Metropolitan Zone of Toluca Valley, State of Mexico, Mexico, during June and September of 2009 rainy season. The particulate material was treated with nitric and hydrochloric acid in a microwave reactor to homogenise samples and to determine the polluting elements through inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry analyses. At the same time, blank filters were analysed by scanning electron microscopy followed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to observe their morphology and to identify their chemical composition. The enrichment factor of the main metals was evaluated.     

基于生物光谱技术的污染物毒性效应研究进展

生物光谱技术能够有效反映生物、组织以及细胞等样本中生物化学的综合信息,能够精确检测和评价生物分子成分或构象的微观变化,具有快速、客观、无损、重现性好等优点。本文系统综述了生物光谱技术在环境污染物毒性效应研究方面的进展,其中常用的2种技术是红外光谱和拉曼光谱技术。红外光谱技术目前已被广泛用于单一污染物(重金属、有机污染物、纳米材料等)以及复合污染对细胞、植物、动物以及微生物的蛋白质、氨基酸、脂质、DNA/RNA、多糖以及碳水化合物等方面的影响研究之中;拉曼光谱技术包括常规拉曼技术和表面增强拉曼光谱技术,二者均可以用于污染物的毒性效应研究之中,表面增强拉曼光谱技术具有信噪比高、检测限低、灵敏度高等特点,并提供丰富的细胞生物化学指纹图谱信息。数据处理是生物光谱技术应用的重要一环,光谱数据分析大致分为光谱数据预处理、提取光谱信息特征、以及信息分类和光谱特征峰解析3个部分。本研究结果将为进一步系统地开展生物光谱技术在污染物毒性效应方面的研究提供支持。     

废弃塑料包装物的管理及资源、环境评价

由于塑料包装材料具有明显的资源优势,而获得广泛应用。但塑料材料的原料——石油,目前面临枯竭窘境。同时,塑料包装废弃物的处理存在巨大的环境压力。焚烧包括塑料包装废弃物在内的生活垃圾,用于发电,是日本曾经采取的方法。近年来,因存在难以逾越的生态环境问题,而逐渐废止。工业生态学的材料流的循环利用模式,是解决资源耗尽、废物充斥的理想方法。源头分离是城市固体废弃物资源化的前提条件。按塑料品种分类回收,以材料形式重复利用,保留了塑料的材料价值,还需要解决,再加工过程造成材料力学性能下降的问题。将单一品种塑料转化成单体,不同塑料品种的单体转化率有很大差距,缩合聚合物较高,而PP、PE等则不然。混合塑料的热裂解可获得化工原料和燃料,又达到减少垃圾总量和石油资源循环利用的效果,具有开发潜力。填埋方式占用土地又人为阻碍了有机垃圾回归生物圈。控制性堆肥对避免大量使用化肥、农药造成的生态环境灾难,再建农业生产的可持续性模式,发挥重要作用。生物降解塑料袋对堆肥的实施,具有特殊价值。PET和E-CO在食品包装某些应用领域有优势,而PVC食品包装物的使用和废弃后再利用都存在问题。     

Stress response to nanoplastics with different charges in Brassica napus L. during seed germination and seedling growth stages

● Higher concentrations of PS, PS-NH₂ and PS-SO₃H inhibited seed germination. ● PS, PS-NH₂ and PS-SO₃H influenced seedling growth in a dose-dependent manner. ● PS, PS-NH₂ and PS-SO₃H reduced essential nutrients uptake and plant quality. ● PS, PS-NH₂ and PS-SO₃H increased antioxidant enzyme activities and MDA content. ● Nanoplastic toxicity was related to surface charges. Nanoplastic pollution has become a significant problem in farmland systems worldwide. However, research on the effects of nanoplastics (NPs) with different charges on field crops is still limited. In our study, NPs with different charges, including unmodified polystyrene nanoplastics (PS), positively charged polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NH₂), and negatively charged polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-SO₃H), were investigated for their impacts on seed germination and seedling growth of rape. The results showed that seed water uptake (after 12 h), seed germination, seed vigour, and relative root elongation were all significantly reduced under exposure to NPs (200 mg/L). Similarly, remarkable decreases in plant biomass (root weight, shoot weight), growth (root length, plant height), photosynthesis ability (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids), essential nutrient uptake (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu), and plant quality (soluble protein, soluble sugar, crude fibre content) of rape seedlings were also observed after exposure to NPs. Among the three kinds of NPs, PS-NH₂ showed stronger effects. Moreover, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities of rape seedlings were changed, and the content of malondialdehyde was significantly increased under exposure to NPs. Furthermore, positively charged PS-NH₂ showed stronger effects on the phenotype, physiology, biochemistry, nutrient uptake, and plant quality of rape. Notably, a comprehensive toxicity evaluation revealed that PS-NH₂ had the strongest toxicity to rape. The present study provides important implications for the interaction and risk assessment of NPs and crops in soil-plant systems.     

Nanoplastic occurrence,transformation and toxicity: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Nanoplastics are emerging contaminants of concern for living organisms and ecosystems, yet nanoplastics are difficult to extract and analyse. Once released into...     

包装材料及食品中纳米材料的检测与表征技术

随着纳米技术的发展,纳米材料在包装行业及食品工业中得到了广泛的应用。然而,纳米材料的安全应用高度依赖于对其生物及环境效应的了解。有研究表明,纳米材料对人类健康及生态环境存在着潜在危害,这使得纳米材料的安全性成为毒理学领域的热点研究课题。同时纳米材料的安全性问题也成为纳米复合包装材料及纳米食品研究和开发的新瓶颈。在对纳米材料没有充分认识的情况下,为了消费者和生态环境的安全,必须控制包装材料及食品中纳米颗粒的种类、来源、含量及可能的释放,这就需要可靠的方法对纳米颗粒的性质和结构进行检测及表征。首先,综述了目前纳米材料在复合包装材料及食品加工中的应用,然后总结了包装材料及食品中纳米材料的检测技术及表征方法,例如显微技术、色谱分离技术、光谱与质谱技术等。由于纳米材料的理化性质参数众多,应用多种分析手段来检测和表征纳米材料成为必然。最后对目前检测技术及表征方法的不足和今后发展方向进行了探讨。     

重金属在环境中的化学形态分析研究进展

重金属在环境中的形态与迁移转化决定了其污染风险和生物有效性.本文从影响重金属形态的主要环境条件和结合物特性出发,分析了重金属在环境中与有机物、无机矿物质等的交互作用机理,对目前重金属形态分析的主要研究方法(化学提取、电化学、分子尺度仪器检测技术、模型计算等)展开综述与讨论.     

色谱及联用技术在药物污染检测中的应用

医药品是一类新型环境污染物,由于其具有长期输入、环境中降解/去除缓慢、生物效应显著等特性被界定为"准持久性"污染物,受到社会各界的广泛关注.为更好了解该类污染物在环境中的迁移转化规律和生物效应,分析检测是必不可少的环节,本文就近年来我国运用色谱及联用技术检测药物污染的方法进行综述.     

溴系阻燃剂的毒理学研究进展

溴系阻燃剂(brominated flame retardants,BFRs)广泛应用于塑料、电子、建筑、纺织等材料和产品中,在多种环境介质中都可以检测到BFRs的存在。目前市场上的溴系阻燃剂主要有3种:四溴双酚A(tetrabromobisphenol A,TBBPA)、多溴联苯醚(polybrominated diphenyl ethers,PBDEs)和六溴环十二烷(hexa bromocyclododecanes,HBCDs)。近年来,进入环境中的BFRs在数量和种类上迅速增加,由此引发的环境效应日益受到国际社会广泛关注,有关BFRs的毒理学研究也成为相关领域的焦点内容。在总结近年来国内外相关研究的基础上,就BFRs在内分泌干扰效应、肝脏毒性、生殖毒性和神经毒性等方面的研究现状及需要进一步研究的内容进行了综述。     

Current molecular biologic techniques for characterizing environmental microbial community

Microbes are vital to the earth because of their enormous numbers and instinct function maintaining the natural balance. Since the microbiology was applied in environmental science and engineering more than a century ago, researchers desire for more and more information concerning the microbial spatio-temporal variations in almost every fields from contaminated soil to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). For the past 30 years, molecular biologic techniques explored for environmental microbial community (EMC) have spanned a broad range of approaches to facilitate the researches with the assistance of computer science: faster, more accurate and more sensitive. In this feature article, we outlined several current and emerging molecular biologic techniques applied in detection of EMC, and presented and assessed in detail the application of three promising tools.