Details zur Publikation |
| Kategorie | Textpublikation |
| Referenztyp | Preprints |
| DOI | 10.2139/ssrn.4985584 |
| Titel (primär) | Unraveling degradation mechanism of surgical masks leading to microplastics and nanoplastics release upon sunlight exposure |
| Autor | Peng, G.; Schmidt, M.; Faikhaw, O.; Herzberg, M.
; Materić, D.; Reemtsma, T. |
| Quelle | SSRN |
| Erscheinungsjahr | 2024 |
| Department | SOMA; MIBITECH; EAC |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Topic | T9 Healthy Planet |
| Abstract | Since the COVID-19 pandemic, billions of surgical masks have been consumed each month worldwide, and many were disposed into the environment, there mask degradation may release micro(nano)plastics (MNPLs). Here, we simulated the sunlight exposure of polypropylene surgical masks in air, freshwater and seawater (equivalent to 71 days outdoors). Size-fractionated MNPL release was quantified using various spectroscopic imaging methods. Analytical workflows were developed for the detection of the full size range of macroplastics, microplastics, small microplastics and nanoplastics from one identical sample. Masks and microplastics exhibited a linear increase in crystallinity calculated from infrared and Raman spectra. Formation of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups was only observed for microplastics >10 μm. When the carbonyl index reached a threshold of 0.44 after 8 days of degradation, a considerable release of microplastics was observed due to chemi-crystallization. The total release of microplastics and small microplastics after 8 days was ~31,000 and 8,000 particles per mask calculated from FTIR and Raman imaging data, respectively. Nanoplastics with a minimum size down to 66 nm were identified by correlative microscopy. Upon sunlight exposure, surgical masks become a significant source of MNPLs with altered physicochemical properties, leading to increased environmental exposure and health risks. |
| dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=29773 |
| Peng, G., Schmidt, M., Faikhaw, O., Herzberg, M., Materić, D., Reemtsma, T. (2024): Unraveling degradation mechanism of surgical masks leading to microplastics and nanoplastics release upon sunlight exposure SSRN 10.2139/ssrn.4985584 |
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