Toxicity testing of nonwovens used for production of respiratory protective equipment.

OBJECTIVES: During the covid-19 pandemic, protective equipment such as respirators and masks were widely used to protect respiratory tract. This disposable protective equipment is usually made from plastic fibre-based nonwoven fabrics. If used masks and respirators are improperly discarded, they pollute the environment by becoming a source of micro and nanoplastics. The aim of the study was to find out how stable the materials of protective equipment are and how released nano and microplastics can affect aquatic and soil organisms. MATERIALS: The input materials used to produce respirators and masks were tested for their thermal stability and resistance to the release of plastic particles into the environment. To determine the thermal stability of the materials, a simultaneous thermal analysis - thermogravimetry (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were performed. RESULTS: Materials of masks and respirators are stable at temperatures common to temperate climate zone. However, the possible effects of chemical reactions of the materials with the environment were not considered during the measurement. The materials were also subjected to ecotoxicity tests according to European standards. CONCLUSION: While the leachate obtained by shaking the materials in water did not show acute toxicity to the selected aquatic organisms, the material itself had a significant effect on selected soil organisms (springtails).

Fine and Ultrafine Aerosol in Ostrava Ambient Air.

Air quality in the Moravian-Silesian Region and especially in the Ostrava agglomeration represents a very important factor influencing the environment and health of the local population. The area has been burdend for more than two centuries with rapid development of the mining industry and related metallurgical and chemical production. As a result, hundreds of tons of pollutants have progressively been released into the atmosphere. Some of them have been gradually eliminated from the environment; others, such as some heavy metals, remain locally present and burden the local landscape. Ultrafine particles (UFPs; diameter less than 100 nm) are ubiquitous in urban air and an acknowledged risk to human health. Therefore, recurrent situations when statutory limits for airborne dust and selected chemical pollutants are exceeded require more detailed research focused on the sources, paths of propagation, chemical composition and morphology of ultrafine aerosol (UFA). In order to comply with these objectives measurements were carried out directly in production halls and the vicinity of industrial technologies with expected high UFA emission. In line with global trends, focus is increasingly placed on solid aerosols with particle sizes below 1 µm and, where appropriate, on nanoparticles. This is mainly due to a much greater penetration of these particles into an organism and a subsequent initiation of some serious diseases.