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Weathering pathways and protocols for environmentally relevant microplastics and nanoplastics: What are we missing?
Alimi, Olubukola S; Claveau-Mallet, Dominique; Kurusu, Rafael S; Lapointe, Mathieu; Bayen, Stéphane; Tufenkji, Nathalie.
Afiliação
  • Alimi OS; Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C5, Canada.
  • Claveau-Mallet D; Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C5, Canada; Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, H3C 3A7, Canada.
  • Kurusu RS; Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C5, Canada.
  • Lapointe M; Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C5, Canada.
  • Bayen S; Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, McGill University, Lakeshore, Ste Anne de Bellevue, 21111, Canada.
  • Tufenkji N; Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C5, Canada. Electronic address: nathalie.tufenkji@mcgill.ca.
J Hazard Mater ; 423(Pt A): 126955, 2022 02 05.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34488100
To date, most studies of microplastics have been carried out with pristine particles. However, most plastics in the environment will be aged to some extent; hence, understanding the effects of weathering and accurately mimicking weathering processes are crucial. By using microplastics that lack environmental relevance, we are unable to fully assess the risks associated with microplastic pollution in the environment. Emerging studies advocate for harmonization of experimental methods, however, the subject of reliable weathering protocols for realistic assessment has not been addressed. In this work, we critically analysed the current knowledge regarding protocols used for generating environmentally relevant microplastics and leachates for effects studies. We present the expected and overlooked weathering pathways that plastics will undergo throughout their lifecycle. International standard weathering protocols developed for polymers were critically analysed for their appropriateness for use in microplastics research. We show that most studies using weathered microplastics involve sorption experiments followed by toxicity assays. The most frequently reported weathered plastic types in the literature are polystyrene>polyethylene>polypropylene>polyvinyl chloride, which does not reflect the global plastic production and plastic types detected globally. Only ~10% of published effect studies have used aged microplastics and of these, only 12 use aged nanoplastics. This highlights the need to embrace the use of environmentally relevant microplastics and to pay critical attention to the appropriateness of the weathering methods adopted moving forward. We advocate for quality reporting of weathering protocols and characterisation for harmonization and reproducibility across different research efforts.
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Poluentes Químicos da Água / Microplásticos Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2022 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Poluentes Químicos da Água / Microplásticos Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2022 Tipo de documento: Article