An Analysis of Changes in the Harmfulness of the Bottle Packaging Process Depending on the Type of Heat-Shrinkable Film.

This article shows an analysis of selected stages of a machine's life cycle environmental impact in the specific case of machines that package bottles in thermo-shrinkable film. As part of this analysis, laboratory tests were carried out to compare the performance properties of polyethylene films (with and without recycled material). Then, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out within the specified system boundaries using the SimaPro program. Using the ReCiPe 2016 method, differences in the impact of the mass bottle packaging process on the categories human health, ecosystems and resources were determined depending on the shrink film used in the process. These tests showed that the tested batch of film with the addition of recyclates has similar functional properties to traditional ones and can therefore be used in the mass packaging process. The environmental analysis showed that changing the type of film to film with the addition of recyclates results in an almost 70% reduction in the potential negative impact of the process in terms of damage to health and ecosystems, and by 85% in terms of resources.

Are recyclable plastics eco-friendly? Recycled PVC microplastics show higher toxicity than pristine PVC on Vallisneria natans, regardless of Cadmium.

As environmental awareness increases, the use of recyclable plastics has risen. However, it is currently unclear whether recycled microplastics (MPs) pose a lesser or greater environmental risk than pristine MPs. Cadmium (Cd), known for its toxicity to most organisms, can bind with MPs and accumulate in sediments. Few studies have explored the environmental risks posed by the coexistence of recycled MPs and pristine MPs with Cd to rooted macrophytes. We investigated the effects of recycled PVC MPs (R-PVC-MPs) and pristine PVC MPs (PVC-MPs) on Vallisneria natans in the presence and absence of Cd. Results showed that at moderate and high Cd levels, R-PVC-MPs reduced plant Cd enrichment. Despite this, the fresh weight of V. natans exposed to R-PVC-MPs was significantly lower than those exposed to PVC-MPs. Furthermore, R-PVC-MPs had more negative impacts on the physiological traits of V. natans than PVC-MPs, as chlorophyll was significantly reduced across all Cd levels. At high Cd levels, both R-PVC-MPs and PVC-MPs caused significantly high oxidative stress, with no significant differences observed. The PCoA plot showed that different MPs cause noticeable variations within the same Cd concentration. The trait network diagrams illustrated strong interactions among traits, with R-PVC-MPs showing the highest complexity. Lower average degree and decreased edge density indicate that traits of plants with R-PVC-MPs addition are more independent of each other. Our findings suggest that recycled PVC MPs pose a greater environmental risk than pristine PVC MPs, offering reference for assessing the risks of recycled plastics in freshwater ecosystems.

Advancing the Characterization of Recycled Polyolefin Blends with a Combined Experimental and Numerical Approach to Thermomechanical Behavior.

The blending of polyolefins (POs), such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), is a growing area of research, particularly for recycling mixed polyolefin (MPO) waste through flotation sorting techniques. However, understanding the thermomechanical behavior of these recycled blends is challenging due to limitations in the existing characterization methods. This paper introduces a combined experimental and numerical method to accurately assess the complex mechanical behavior of high-density PE, PP, and their blends. We conducted detailed thermomechanical analyses using a high-speed stereo digital image correlation (DIC) system paired with an infrared camera to capture temperature variations alongside mechanical stress and strain. This approach allowed us to correct for distortions caused by necking and to derive accurate stress-strain relationships. We also applied a cutting-edge unified semi-crystalline polymer (USCP) model to simplify the analysis, focusing on the effects of strain rate and temperature, including self-heating and thermal softening phenomena. Our results, which closely match experimental observations of stress-strain behavior and temperature changes, offer new insights into the thermomechanical properties of PO blends, which are essential for advancing their practical applications in various fields.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Geogrids Manufactured from Recycled Plastics for Slope Stabilization-A Case Study.

This study aimed to investigate the sustainable use of recycled plastics, specifically polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE), in the manufacture of geogrids for geotechnical and civil engineering applications. Plastics were collected from a recycling center, specifically targeting containers used for food, cleaning products, and other domestic packaging items. These plastics were sorted according to the Möbius triangle classification system, with HDPE (#2) and PP (#5) being the primary categories of interest. The research methodologically evaluates the mechanical properties of PP/HDPE (0/100, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 and 100/0% w/w) composites through tensile and flexural tests, exploring various compositions and configurations of geogrids. The results highlight the superiority of pure recycled HDPE processed into 1.3 mm thick laminated yarns and hot air welded for 20 to 30 s, exhibiting a deformation exceeding 60% in comparison to the PP/HDPE composites. Through SolidWorks® Simulation, it was shown that the adoption of a trigonal geogrid geometry optimizes force distribution and tensile strength, significantly improving slope stabilization efficiency. Based on the results obtained, a laboratory-scale prototype geogrid was developed using an extrusion process. The results underscore the importance of careful composite design and yarn configuration selection to achieve the desired mechanical properties and performance in geogrid applications. It emphasizes the potential of recycled plastics as a viable and environmentally friendly solution for stabilizing slopes, contributing to the reduction in plastic waste and promoting sustainable construction practices.

Reduction of polystyrene/polyurethane plastic wastes from the environment into binders for water-resistant emulsion paints.

Waste management is fundamental to resource and environmental sustainability. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polyurethane (PU) waste plastics were recycled and applied as binder in emulsion paint formulation. The recycled polystyrene (rPS) and polyurethane (rPU) were blended into composite resins, where toluene was used as the solvent. The blends of rPS and rPU were optimized, while some physicochemical properties of the composite blends (rPS/PU) were evaluated. The results showed that the incorporation of rPU into rPS increased the viscosity (1818 mPa-3924 mPa), rate of gelation (dry-to-touch time: 15 min-0.25 min), moisture content (2.7%-8.1%), moisture uptake (3.2%-5.0%), solid content (48%-53.4%) and density (0.82 g/cm3 to 1.050.82 g/cm3) of the rPS/PU composite resins. Characterization was carried out using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results summarily showed that there are interactions among the rPS and rPU molecules in the composite, where complimentary structural and morphological characteristics were also achieved. The composite resin also exhibited superior bond strength (0.5-4.24 Mpa) on wood, cast mortar, ceramic, and steel surfaces due to its stronger intra- and inter-surface interactions compared to the neat rPS resin. The composite resin was used as a binder in the formulation of emulsion paint. The paint exhibited stronger resistance to water, among other superior properties, when compared to the paints formulated using neat rPS and conventional polyvinyl acetate (PVA) resins. The reduction of plastic waste in this study holds potential for the production of highly water-resistant emulsion paint for outdoor and indoor applications.

Strategy proposal using QSAR models to approach mutagenicity assessment of non intentionally added substances in recycled plastic resins.

CONTEXT: Transition to the use of recycled plastics raises an issue concerning safety assessment of Non Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS). To assess the mutagenic potential of the recycled polyethylene impurities and to evaluate the need to perform in vitro assays on recycled resins, this study lies in identifying existing NIAS associated with recycled Low/High Density Polyethylene and assessing the mutagenicity data-gaps by employing in silico tools. METHODS: Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) models predicting Ames mutagenicity were selected from literature, then NIAS were run to 1/evaluate performances of each model, 2/apply a QSAR strategy on the NIAS molecular space and address data-gaps. RESULTS: Among the 165 NIAS identified, experimental Ames results were not found for 50 substances while the substances with experimental data were predominantly negatives. No individual model was able to predict all NIAS due to applicability domain limitations. Taking into account 1/calculated performances, 2/availability of applicability domain, 3/description of the Training Set, an Integrated Strategy was founded including Sarpy, Consensus and Protox to extend the applicability domain. CONCLUSION & PERSPECTIVES: Existing data and predictions generated by this strategy suggest a low mutagenic potential of NIAS. Further investigation is needed to explore other genotoxicity mechanisms.

Occurrence and prioritization of non-volatile substances in recycled PET flakes produced in China.

Recycled PET (rPET) is gaining popularity for use in the production of new food contact materials (FCMs) under the context of circular economy. However, the limited information on contaminants in rPET from China and concerns about their potential risk are major obstacles to their use in FCM in China. Fifty-five non-volatile compounds were tentatively identified in 126 batches of hot-washed rPET flakes aimed for food packaging applications in China. Although the 55 substances are not necessarily migratable and may not end up in the contacting media, their presence indicates a need for proper management and control across the value chain. For this reason, the 55 substances prioritized on the basis of level of concerns and in-silico genotoxicity profiler. Among them, dimethoxyethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were classified as level V substances, and Michler's ketone and 4-nitrophenol were both categorized as level V substances and had the genotoxic structure alert, while 2,4,5-trimethylaniline was specified with genotoxic structure alert. The above substances have high priority and may pose a potential risk to human health, therefore special attention should be paid to their migration from rPET. Aside from providing valuable information on non-volatile contaminants present in hot-washed rPET flakes coming from China, this article proposed a prioritization workflow that can be of great help to identify priority substances deserving special attention across the value chain.

A dataset of organic pollutants identified and quantified in recycled polyethylene pellets.

Plastics are produced with a staggering array of chemical compounds, with many being known to possess hazardous properties, and others lacking comprehensive hazard data. Furthermore, non-intentionally added substances can contaminate plastics at various stages of their lifecycle, resulting in recycled materials containing an unknown number of chemical compounds at unknown concentrations. While some national and regional regulations exist for permissible concentrations of hazardous chemicals in specific plastic products, less than 1 % of plastics chemicals are subject to international regulation [1]. There are currently no policies mandating transparent reporting of chemicals throughout the plastics value chain or comprehensive monitoring of chemicals in recycled materials. The dataset presented here provides the chemical analysis of 28 samples of recycled High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pellets obtained from various regions of the Global South, along with a reference sample of virgin HDPE. The analysis comprises both Target and Non-Targeted Screening approaches, employing Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and Gas Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (GC-HRMS). In total, 491 organic compounds were detected and quantified, with an additional 170 compounds tentatively annotated. These compounds span various classes, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, plastic additives. The results highlight the prevalence of certain chemicals, such as N-ethyl-o-Toluesulfonamide, commonly used in HDPE processing, found in high concentrations. The paper provides a dataset advancing knowledge of the complex chemical composition associated with recycled plastics.

Assessment of Melt Compounding with Zeolites as an Effective Deodorization Strategy for Mixed Plastic Wastes and Comparison with Degassing.

The emission of off-odors from mechanically recycled plastics severely limits their re-introduction into the market for the production of new objects, for the same use or even for less demanding applications, thus hindering the implementation of an effective circular economy for plastics. The addition of adsorbing agents during the extrusion of polymers represents one of the most promising strategy to reduce the odorous emissions of plastics, due to its characteristics of cost-effectiveness, flexibility and low energy consumption. The novelty of this work lies in the assessment of zeolites as VOC adsorbents during the extrusion of recycled plastics. They appear more suitable than other types of adsorbents, due to their ability to capture and "hold" the adsorbed substances at the high temperatures of the extrusion process. Moreover, the effectiveness of this deodorization strategy was compared with the traditional degassing technique. Two types of mixed polyolefin wastes, coming from completely different collection and recycling processes, were tested: Fil-S (Film-Small), deriving from post-consumer flexible films of small size, and PW (pulper waste), which is the residual plastic waste obtained from the paper recycling process. The melt compounding of the recycled materials with two micrometric zeolites (zeolite 13X and Z310) resulted as more effective in the off-odors removal with respect to degassing. In particular, the highest reduction (-45%) of the Average Odor Intensity (AOI) was measured for both PW/Z310 and Fil-S/13X systems at 4 wt% of the zeolites' amount, compared with the corresponding untreated recyclates. Finally, by combining degassing and melt compounding with zeolites, the best result was obtained for the composite Fil-S/13X, whose Average Odor Intensity resulted as quite close (+22%) to the one of the virgin LDPE.

One-dimensional and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic approaches for the characterization of post-consumer recycled plastic materials.

In September 2022, the European Commission published its new regulation on recycled plastic materials for food contact. It allows newly developed, non-authorized technologies and approaches, or so-called novel technologies, to be deployed in the field to generate the data needed for establishing regulatory and/or fit for purpose processes. The data shall be generated by using suitable methods, but the regulation does not give a more detailed description on those. In this study, commercially purchased buckets made of post-consumer recycled polypropylene were screened, using a number of different analytical approaches. Sample preparation methods, analysis techniques, and the data and information generated were compared. The results clearly demonstrate the need for a detailed characterization of such materials and the advantages and disadvantages of the analysis using conventional gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and mass spectrometery as well as two-dimensional comprehensive gas chromatography with time of flight mass spectrometry.

Analysis of possible carcinogenic compounds in recycled plastic modified asphalt.

The incorporation of recycled plastics in asphalt mixtures is getting a growing interest, however, exposing recycled plastics to the high working temperatures of asphalt has posed health and safety concerns. Few studies have paid attention to assessing health and environmental risks concerning recycled plastic-modified asphalt. This study investigates the release of 6 carcinogenic compounds from asphalt modified with recycled plastics, 4 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 2 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The concentration of each compound was quantified by GC-MS. Human health risk assessments were conducted using probabilistic methods to assess the risk for an average Australian construction worker to get non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health issues when exposed to conventional and plastic-modified asphalt fumes. Results showed that non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks related to VOC carcinogens (benzene, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene and styrene) are negligible while PAHs (benzo[a]pyrene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene) constitute a possible non-carcinogenic risk and low carcinogenic risk for workers exposed to asphalt fumes. Overall the incorporation of recycled plastic in asphalt reduced the risk for workers to get non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health issues compared to conventional asphalt mixes. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATION: With increasing trends of using recycled plastics as road materials, concerns about the exposure of workers to carcinogenic gaseous emissions have been raised. This study demonstrates a non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk assessment on exposure to recycled plastic modified asphalt fumes. The findings suggest that recycled plastics decrease non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks compared to conventional asphalt.

Diverted from Landfill: Reuse of Single-Use Plastic Packaging Waste.

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) based packaging films mostly end up in landfill after single-use as they are not commonly recycled due to their flexible nature, low strength and low cost. Additionally, the necessity to separate and sort different plastic waste streams is the most costly step in plastics recycling, and is a major barrier to increasing recycling rates. This cost can be reduced through using waste mixed plastics (wMP) as a raw material. This research investigates the properties of PE-based wMP coming from film packaging wastes that constitutes different grades of PE with traces of polypropylene (PP). Their properties are compared with segregated individual recycled polyolefins and virgin LDPE. The plastic plaques are produced directly from the wMP shreds as well as after extruding the wMP shreds into a more uniform material. The effect of different material forms and processing conditions on the mechanical properties are investigated. The results of the investigation show that measured properties of the wMP fall well within the range of properties of various grades of virgin polyethylene, indicating the maximum possible variations between different batches. Addition of an intermediate processing step of extrusion before compression moulding is found to have no effect on the tensile properties but results in a noticeably different failure behaviour. The wMP does not show any thermal degradation during processing that was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. The results give a scientific insight into the adoption of wMP in real world products that can divert them from landfill creating a more circular economy.

Recycled plastic modified bitumen: Evaluation of VOCs and PAHs from laboratory generated fumes.

A key aspect when investigating the use of recycled plastics in bitumen relates considerably to the issues relating to occupational, health and safety for humans and the environment from a fuming and emissions perspective. This research investigates laboratory-generated fumes in the forms of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) generated from producing polymer modified bitumen using five different types of recycled plastics. A comparative analysis of recycled plastic modified bitumen fumes was conducted based on a series of optimized parameters, including working temperatures (160 °C, 180 °C and 200 °C) and polymer contents (1%, 2%, 4% and 6% by weight of bitumen) against neat bitumen and polymer-modified bitumen. Forty-eight volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results from the comparative analysis revealed that the incorporation of recycled plastics could reduce overall emissions from both VOCs and PAHs perspectives. The reduction in emissions can be attributed to the enhancement in thermal stability of the bitumen blend when recycled plastics are added. The reduction rate is heavily dependent on the type and source of recycled plastics used in the blending process. Furthermore, a specific compound concentration analysis of the top-four weighted compounds emitted reveals that the total concentration of emissions can be deceiving as specific compounds can spike when adding recycled plastics in bitumen despite a reduction trend for the overall concentration.

Asphalt Binder Modification with Plastomeric Compounds Containing Recycled Plastics and Graphene.

Polymer-modified bitumens are usually employed for enhancing the mixture performance against typical pavement distresses. This paper presents an experimental investigation of bitumens added with two plastomeric compounds, containing recycled plastics and graphene, typically used for asphalt concrete dry modification. The goal was to study the effects of the compounds on the rheological response of the binder phase, as well the adhesion properties, in comparison with a reference plain bitumen. The blends (combination of bitumen and compounds) were evaluated through dynamic viscosity tests, frequency sweep tests, and multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) tests. Moreover, the bitumen bond strength (BBS) test was performed to investigate the behavior of the systems consisting of blends and aggregate substrates (virgin and pre-coated). The rheological tests indicated that both blends performed better than the plain bitumen, especially at high temperature, showing an enhanced rutting resistance. In terms of bond strength, comparable results were found between the blends and reference bitumen. Moreover, no performance differences were detected between the two types of blends.

Stepwise Investment in Circular Plastics Under the Presence of Policy Uncertainty.

The use of recycled plastics is critical in the transition to a circular economy. However, for certain types of plastics, the recycling process is economically unviable. Government-driven incentives, such as a policy imposing a minimum fraction of recycled plastics to be used in production processes of plastic goods, offer an exit from this impasse. In this paper, we study how a firm's investment behavior is affected by policy uncertainty governing the introduction of such a regulatory measure. Specifically, we adopt a real option approach to study the two-step investment of a firm in its transition to the use of recycled plastics. A clear trade-off can be distinguished. On the one hand, investing early causes unnecessary profit losses before the policy implementation. On the other hand, a lack of investment leads to market exclusion after the policy implementation. For our case study on the use of recycled polyethylene, we find that firms plan their first investment step, so that the timing of the second investment step approximates their projection on the policy implementation time. Moreover, we find that the firm's value is maximized when the capacity of the first investment is smaller than the capacity of the second investment.

Non-targeted analysis for organic components of microplastic leachates.

Organic components of microplastic leachates were investigated in an integrated non-targeted analysis study that included statistical analysis on leachates generated under different leaching scenarios. Leaching experiments were undertaken with simulated gastric fluid (SGF), river water, and seawater with common polymer types, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyester fabrics comprising both raw and recycled materials. Totals of 111.0 ± 26.7, 98.5 ± 20.3, and 53.5 ± 4.7 different features were tentatively identified as compounds in SGF, freshwater, and seawater leachates, respectively, of which 5 compounds were confirmed by reference standards. The leaching capacities of the media were compared, and the clusters of structurally related features leached in the same medium were studied. For leachates generated from raw and recycled plastics, volcano plots and Pearson's Chi-squared tests were used to identify characteristic features. More characteristic features (3-20) had an average intensity across all recycled plastics that were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that (1-3) of raw plastics under different conditions. The results indicate that gastric solution is more likely to leach components from microplastics, and there exists the difference of leachate's organic composition between raw and recycled materials, providing new insights into understanding microplastic environmental effects.

The challenges of Covid-19 pandemic on improving plastic waste recycling rates.

The plastic system is burdened with many inefficiencies that have been exposed, and exacerbated, by the outbreak of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) pandemic in December 2019, widely known as COVID-19, and which threaten society's commitment to transition to a sustainable plastics economy. This perspective aims to depict the structural and systemic inefficiencies of the plastics system, and illuminate: (a) the vulnerability of the recycling sector to macroeconomic - particularly to oil price - shocks; (b) the economics of the recycling system; (c) the political dimensions of the plastics sector. It emphasises that is unwise to think about plastics recycling as an insular and linear problem, due to the complexity and interconnectedness of different parts of the plastic system that affect and are affected by the intertwined processes, stakeholders and values. That said, the transition to a sustainable plastics system requires an integrated, knowledge-based systems approach that interrogates the dynamics and causal-effect relationships of the interconnected challenges. This analytical scrutiny can indicate where interventions are needed in the plastics system towards creating transformational change.

Sustainable Polymers from Recycled Waste Plastics and Their Virgin Counterparts as Bitumen Modifiers: A Comprehensive Review.

The failure of bituminous pavements takes place due to heavy traffic loads and weather-related conditions, such as moisture, temperature, and UV radiation. To overcome or minimize such failures, a great effort has been put in recent years to enhance the material properties of bitumen, ultimately improving field performance and increasing the pavement service life. Polymer modification is considered one of the most suitable and by far the most popular approach. Elastomers, chemically functionalised thermoplastics and plastomers * (* Note: notwithstanding the fact that in Polymer Science the word 'plastomer' indicates a polymer with the simultaneous behaviour of an elastomer and plastics (thermoplastics), this paper uses the term 'plastomer' to indicate a thermoplastic polymer as it is more commonly found in Civil and Pavement Engineering.) are the most commonly used polymers for bitumen modification. Plastomers provide several advantages and are commonly acknowledged to improve high-temperature stiffness, although some of them are more prone to phase separation and consequent storage instability. Nowadays, due to the recent push for recycling, many road authorities are looking at the use of recycled plastics in roads. Hence, some of the available plastomers-in pellet, flakes, or powder form-are coming from materials recycling facilities rather than chemical companies. This review article describes the details of using plastomers as bitumen modifiers-with a specific focus on recycled plastics-and how these can potentially be used to enhance bitumen performance and the road durability. Chemical modifiers for improving the compatibility between plastomers and bitumen are also addressed in this review. Plastomers, either individual or in combination of two or three polymers, are found to offer great stiffness at high temperature. Different polymers including HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, MDPE, PP, PS, PET, EMA, and EVA have been successfully employed for bitumen modification. However, each of them has its own merit and demerit as thoroughly discussed in the paper. The recent push in using recycled materials in roads has brought new light to the use of virgin and recycled plastomers for bitumen modification as a low-cost and somehow environmental beneficial solution for roads and pavements.

Children's exposure to hazardous brominated flame retardants in plastic toys.

We report concentrations of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in 23 plastic samples from 20 new and second-hand children's toys sourced from the UK that had been previously shown to be Br-positive by XRF. The results reinforce existing evidence that the recycling of BFR-treated electronic plastics has led to the unintentional BFR contamination of articles not required to be flame-retarded. The principal BFRs detected were PBDEs (and in particular BDE-209), HBCDD and TBBP-A. PBDEs were detected in all samples with a maximum concentration of BDE-209 of 2500 mg/kg, and while TBBP-A was detected in 11 samples with a maximum concentration of 3100 mg/kg. HBCDD was detected in 14 cases and was present in four toys at concentrations (139-840 mg/kg) that would currently prevent their sale on the EU market. While estimated exposures to PBDEs via accidental ingestion of toy plastic fell well below USEPA reference doses, a child weighing 8.67 kg and ingesting 8 mg/day of a toy (the default assumption of the European Commission's Toy Safety Directive for scraped-off toy material) contaminated at our arithmetic mean concentration would be exposed to 0.2 ng/kg bw/day BDE-99. This compares closely to a health-based limit value (HBLV) proposed in The Netherlands of 0.23-0.30 ng/kg bw/day BDE-99. Of greater concern, the same child playing with a toy contaminated at the maximum concentration in this study would be exposed to 1.4 ng/kg bw/day BDE-99, thereby exceeding the HBLV. This paper is the first to consider BFR exposure via incidental ingestion of plastic from both contemporary and historical toys, revealing it to be considerable and for some children their most significant pathway of exposure.

The leaching of additive-derived flame retardants (FRs) from plastics in avian digestive fluids: The significant risk of highly lipophilic FRs.

The exposure to plastic debris and associated pollutants for wildlife is of urgent concern, but little attention has been paid on the transfer of plastic additives from plastic debris to organisms. In the present study, the leaching of incorporated flame retardants (FRs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), alternative brominated FRs (AFRs), and phosphate flame retardants (PFRs), from different sizes of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymer were investigated in avian digestive fluids. The impact of co-ingested sediment on the leaching of additive-derived FRs in digestive fluids was also explored. In the recycled ABS, BDE 209 (715 µg/g) and 1, 2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy) ethane (BTBPE, 1766 µg/g) had the highest concentrations among all target FRs. The leaching proportions of FRs were higher in finer sizes of ABS. The leaching proportions of FRs from recycled ABS increased with elevated logKOW of FRs. In the tests with coexisted ABS and sediment, hexa- to deca-BDEs, BTBPE, and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) migrated from ABS to sediment, which resulted in the less bioaccessible fractions of these FRs in gut fluids. More lipophilic chemicals tended to be adsorbed by sediment from ABS. The results suggest the migration of additive-derived FRs from plastics to other indigestible materials in digestive fluids. The findings in this study provide insights into the transfer of additive-derived FRs from plastics to birds, and indicate the significant contribution of FR-incorporated plastics to bioaccumulation of highly lipophilic FRs.