Evaluation of potentially toxic elements and microplastics in the water treatment facility.

The potentially harmful effects of consuming potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and microplastics (MPs) regularly via drinking water are a significant cause for worry. This study investigated PTEs (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pd, Zn, Co), MPs, turbidity, pH, conductivity, and health risk assessment in the water treatment plant in Kielce, Poland. Zn had the highest concentrations throughout the water treatment facility, whereas Cd, Pb, and Co had lower concentrations (< 0.1 µg/L). The order of the concentrations among the specified PTEs was like Zn˃Cu˃Ni˃Cr˃Cd˃Pb and Co. The minimum turbidity was 0.34, and the maximum was 1.9 NTU. The range of pH in water samples was 6.51-7.47. The conductivity was 1,203-1,445 ms in water samples. These identified MPs were categorized into fiber and fragments. The color of these identified MPs was blue, red, black, green, and transparent. The minimum and maximum size of the MPs was 196 and 4,018 µm, while the average size was 2,751 ± 1,905 µm. The average concentration of MPs per liter of the water treatment plant was 108.88 ± 55.61. The elements listed are C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, and Ti. Fe and Zn were the predominant elements seen using EDX. HQ values of the PTEs were less than one for adults and children. The human health risk associated with all detected PTEs revealed that the HQ values exhibit a satisfactory degree of non-carcinogenic adverse health risk. HI values for adults and children age groups were less than one. In most water treatment samples, the carcinogenic value exceeds the threshold value of 10-6. The PTEs and MP concentrations in drinking water should be periodically monitored to minimize consumers' environmental pollution and health risks.

Mitigating microplastic pollution: A critical review on the effects, remediation, and utilization strategies of microplastics.

Microplastics are found ubiquitous in the natural environment and are an increasing source of worry for global health. Rapid industrialization and inappropriate plastic waste management in our daily lives have resulted in an increase in the amount of microplastics in the ecosystem. Microplastics that are <150 µm in size could be easily ingested by living beings and cause considerable toxicity. Microplastics can aggregate in living organisms and cause acute, chronic, carcinogenic, developmental, and genotoxic damage. As a result, a sustainable approach to reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic waste is required to manage microplastic pollution in the environment. However, there is still a significant lack of effective methods for managing these pollutants. As a result, the purpose of this review is to convey information on microplastic toxicity and management practices that may aid in the reduction of microplastic pollution. This review further insights on how plastic trash could be converted as value-added products, reducing the load of accumulating plastic wastes in the environment, and leading to a beneficial endeavor for humanity.

How can contamination be prevented during laboratory analysis of atmospheric samples for microplastics?

Microplastics (MPs) in the air and indoor environments are of growing concern and have led to increased testing for MPs. This study draws attention to the quality and quantitative measures of MP studies by conducting laboratory experiments (on solutions, filters, and blank samples) that were rarely or were not adopted in the airborne and indoor MP literature. Experiments have been conducted to identify contaminations that may come from experimental procedures while determining MPs in the air samples. MPs in different matrices during experiments were counted and categorized by their shapes. Chemical characterization was performed by Raman Spectroscopy. Results showed that laminar flow is the best option over a fume hood or standard laboratory environment for detecting air MPs to reduce blank levels. Blue-green and Black-Grey were the dominant colors; fiber was the predominant type of MPs seen, and most of them fall under the size range from (1-1000 µm) in different indoor environments and blanks. Common MPs seen were PP, PVA, PTFE, PVC, and HDPE. Thermal treatment of fresh unused filters at 450 °C for 4 h was effective as it reduced the MP count by 50%. Working solutions are mainly contaminated, and their pre-filtration is essential. The average deposition of MPs in blank samples during seven days was around 55 MPs. There is an urgent need for studies on developing quality control and quality assurance of airborne and indoor MPs. Hence, a standard protocol needs to be accepted; by harmonizing procedures, comparable results can be found, uncovering the correct levels of MP contamination, as required for risk assessment.

Indoor microplastics: a comprehensive review and bibliometric analysis.

Indoor microplastic (MP) pollution is becoming a worldwide issue because people spend more time inside. Through dust and air, indoor MP pollution may harm human health. This review summarizes recent advancements in indoor MP research, covering pretreatments, quality control, filter membranes, and identification methods. Additionally, it conducts bibliometric analysis to examine the usage of keywords, publication records, and authors' contributions to the field. Comparatively, dust and deposition samples exhibit higher MP concentrations than indoor air samples. Fiber-shaped MPs are commonly detected indoors. The color and types of MPs display variability, with polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polystyrene identified as the dominant MPs. Indoor environments generally demonstrate higher concentrations of MPs than outdoor environments, and MPs in the lower size range (1-100 µm) are typically more abundant. Among the reviewed articles, 45.24% conducted pretreatment on their samples, while 16.67% did not undergo any pretreatment. The predominant filter utilized in most studies was the Whatman Glass microfiber filter (41.67%), and MPs were predominantly characterized using µ-FTIR (19.23%). In the literature, 17 papers used blank samples, and eight did not. Blank findings were not included in most research (23 articles). A significant increase in published articles has been observed since 2020, with an annual growth rate exceeding 10%. The keyword microplastics had the highest frequency, followed by fibers. This indoor MP study emphasizes the need for collaborative research, policymaking, and stakeholder involvement to reduce indoor MP pollution. As indoor MP research grows, so are opportunities to identify and minimize environmental and health impacts.

Atmospheric micro (nano) plastics: future growing concerns for human health.

Abstract: Plastics are an integral but largely inconspicuous part of daily human routines. The present review paper uses cross-disciplinary scientific literature to examine and assess the possible effects of nanoplastics (NPs) concerning microplastics (MPs) on human health and summarizes crucial areas for future research. Although research on the nature and consequences of MPs has seen a substantial rise, only limited studies have concentrated on the atmospheric nanosized polymeric particles. However, due to the intrinsic technological complications in separating and computing them, their existence has been difficult to determine correctly. There is a consensus that these are not only existing in the environment but can get directly released or as the outcome of weathering of larger fragments, and it is believed to be that combustion can be the tertiary source of polymeric particles. NPs can have harmful consequences on human health, and their exposure may happen via ingestion, inhalation, or absorption by the skin. The atmospheric fallout of micro (nano) plastics may be responsible for contaminating the environment. Apart from this, different drivers affect the concentration of micro (nano) plastics in every environment compartment like wind, water currents, vectors, soil erosion, run-off, etc. Their high specific surface for the sorption of organic pollutions and toxic heavy metals and possible transfer between organisms at different nutrient levels make the study of NPs an urgent priority. These NPs could potentially cause physical damage by the particles themselves and biological stress by NPs alone or by leaching additives. However, there is minimal understanding of the occurrence, distribution, abundance, and fate of NPs in the environment, partially due to the lack of suitable techniques for separating and identifying NPs from complex environmental matrices. Highlights: Micro (nano) plastics generated may reach the soil, water, and atmospheric compartments.Atmospheric currents serve as a way to transport, leading to micro (nano) plastics pollution.Exposure to micro (nano) plastics may happen via ingestion, inhalation, or absorption by the skin.Nanoplastics may be environmentally more harmful than other plastic particles; the focus should be on defining the exact size range.Visual classification of micro (nano) plastics is poor in reliability and may also contribute to microplastics being misidentified.

Investigation of indoor and outdoor air quality in a university campus during COVID-19 lock down period.

The pandemic of COVID-19 currently shadows the world; the whole earth has been on an unprecedented lockdown. Social distancing among people interrupted domestic and international air traffic, suspended industrial productions and economic activities, and had various far-reaching and undetermined implications on air quality. Improvement in air quality has been reported in many cities during the lockdown. On March 22, 2020, the Turkish government enforced strict lockdown measures to reduce coronavirus disease transmission. This lockdown had a significant impact on the movement of people within the country, which resulted in a major drop in worldwide commercial activities. During this period, university campuses were emptied due to the transition to distance education. In this study, various air pollutants sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), total bacteria, and total fungi were measured in different indoor environments at Eskisehir Technical University Campus in Eskisehir, Turkey during COVID-19 lock down period. Also, to calculate the indoor and outdoor ratios (I/O) of the pollutants, simultaneous outdoor measurements were also carried out. The average indoor SO2, NO2, O3, and PM2.5 concentrations in different indoor environments ranged between 2.10 and 54.58, 1.36-30.89, 12.01-39.05, and 21-94 µg/m3, respectively. The total number of bacteria and fungi ranged between 21.83-514.15 and 13.10-83.36 CFU/m3, respectively. Our study intends to give a glimpse to quantify the impact of a pandemic on air quality in different indoor environments in a university campus in Eskisehir, Turkey and calls for follow-up studies. Indoor concentrations were evaluated together with outdoor concentrations. In general, it can be said that the calculated I/O ratios for SO2, NO2, O3, bacteria, and fungi were less than 1 in most indoor environments.