Crack Patterns of Environmental Plastic Fragments

Deng, Hua; Su, Lei; Zheng, Yifan; Du, Fangni; Liu, Quan‐Xing; Zheng, Jie; Zhou, Zhiwei; Shi, Huahong

doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c08100

Cited by 49 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Crystallinity had a strong negative correlation with hue (Figures S2, S3). This further reveals that image-accessible information (e.g., color, morphology) is a rich source of information that correlates with and characterizes microplastic physical and chemical properties . Importantly, indices for R–OH and C–O had a strong positive correlation with one another, consistent with hydroxyl formation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…This further reveals that image-accessible information (e.g., color, morphology) is a rich source of information that correlates with and characterizes microplastic physical and chemical properties. 49 Importantly, indices for R−OH and C−O had a strong positive correlation with one another, consistent with hydroxyl formation. Similarly, the correlation between indices for C�C and short chain branching was consistent with thermal degradation of the polymer (Figures S2, S3).…”

Section: Physical and Chemical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 73%

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Divergent Forms of Pyroplastic: Lessons Learned from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire

et al. 2022

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In late May 2021, the M/V X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire while anchored 18 km off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka and spilled upward of 70 billion pieces of plastic or "nurdles" (∼1680 tons), littering the country's coastline. Exposure to combustion, heat, chemicals, and petroleum products led to an apparent continuum of changes from no obvious effects to pieces consistent with previous reports of melted and burned plastic (pyroplastic) found on beaches. At the middle of this continuum, nurdles were discolored but appeared to retain their prefire morphology, resembling nurdles that had been weathered in the environment. We performed a detailed investigation of the physical and surface properties of discolored nurdles collected on a beach 5 days after the ship caught fire and within 24 h of their arrival onshore. The color was the most striking trait of the plastic: white for nurdles with minimal alteration from the accident, orange for nurdles containing antioxidant degradation products formed by exposure to heat, and gray for partially combusted nurdles. Our color analyses indicate that this fraction of the plastic released from the ship was not a continuum but instead diverged into distinct groups. Fire left the gray nurdles scorched, with entrained particles and pools of melted plastic, and covered in soot, representing partial pyroplastics, a new subtype of pyroplastic. Cross sections showed that the heat-and fire-induced changes were superficial, leaving the surfaces more hydrophilic but the interior relatively untouched. These results provide timely and actionable information to responders to reevaluate cleanup end points, monitor the recurrence of these spilled nurdles, gauge short-and long-term effects of the spilled nurdles to the local ecosystem, and manage the recovery of the spill. These findings underscore partially combusted plastic (pyroplastic) as a type of plastic pollution that has yet to be fully explored despite the frequency at which plastic is burned globally.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Physical and Chemical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 73%

Divergent Forms of Pyroplastic: Lessons Learned from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire

et al. 2022

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“…Small particles of the quartz abrasive were visible on the surface of the microbeads and embedded in, or otherwise attached to the surface of the plastic, for example by tribocharging or van der Waals forces. , Where the microplastic surface was still visible, wear patterns including smoothing, plowing, cutting, and cracking developed. Cracks were primarily “switch” (bifurcating) and curve types . The unabraded sand did not contain any particles of <100 μm diameter, but abrasion of the sand resulted in production of fine particles in three modes at 0.5–1 μm, 5–6 μm, and c .30 μm (Figure ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cracks were primarily “switch” (bifurcating) and curve types. 45 The unabraded sand did not contain any particles of <100 μm diameter, but abrasion of the sand resulted in production of fine particles in three modes at 0.5–1 μm, 5–6 μm, and c .30 μm ( Figure 1 ). SEM analysis of the quartz mineral particles attached to the microplastic beads indicates that they were predominantly in the range 0.2–1 μm which suggests that they were derived from abrasion of the sand.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breakdown and Modification of Microplastic Beads by Aeolian Abrasion

Bullard

Zhou

Davis

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Saltation is an important wind erosion process that can cause the modification and breakdown of particles by aeolian abrasion. It is recognized that microplastic particles can be transported by wind, but the effect of saltation on microplastic properties is unknown. This study examined the impact of simulated saltation alongside quartz grains on the size, shape, and surface properties of spherical microplastic beads. The diameter of the microplastics was reduced by 30–50% over 240–300 h of abrasion with a mass loss of c. 80%. For abrasion periods up to 200 h, the microplastic beads remained spherical with minimal change to overall shape. Over 95% of the fragments of plastic removed from the surface of the microbeads during the abrasion process had a diameter of ≤10 μm. In addition, during the abrasion process, fine particles derived from breakdown of the quartz grains became attached to the surfaces of the microbeads resulting in a reduction in carbon and an increase in silicon detected on the particle surface. The results suggest that microplastics may be mechanically broken down during aeolian saltation and small fragments produced have the potential for long distance transport as well as being within the size range for human respiration.

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“…TD-GC–MS has been found to be effective for the quantification of brominated flame retardants (especially for BDE-209) in curtains and car interiors (Shin and Baek 2012 ); meanwhile, Py-GC–MS has been increasingly used for the detection of PAEs, flame retardants, ultraviolet stabilizers, and bisphenols. (Akoueson et al 2022 ; Deng et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Analytical Methods For Additives On (Microplastic) Fibersmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Chemical Additives on (Micro)Plastic Fibers: Occurrence, Release, and Health Risks

Chen

Zhang

et al. 2022

Reviews Env.Contamination (formerly:Residue Reviews)

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Plastic fibers are ubiquitous in daily life with additives incorporated to improve their performance. Only a few restrictions exist for a paucity of common additives, while most of the additives used in textile industry have not been clearly regulated with threshold limits. The production of synthetic fibers, which can shed fibrous microplastics easily (< 5 mm) through mechanical abrasion and weathering, is increasing annually. These fibrous microplastics have become the main composition of microplastics in the environment. This review focuses on additives on synthetic fibers; we summarized the detection methods of additives, compared concentrations of different additive types (plasticizers, flame retardants, antioxidants, and surfactants) on (micro)plastic fibers, and analyzed their release and exposure pathways to environment and human beings. Our prediction shows that the amounts of predominant additives (phthalates, organophosphate esters, bisphenols, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and nonylphenol ethoxylates) released from clothing microplastic fibers (MFs) are estimated to reach 35, 10, 553, 0.4, and 568 ton/year to water worldwide, respectively; and 119, 35, 1911, 1.4, and 1965 ton/year to air, respectively. Human exposure to MF additives via inhalation is estimated to be up to 4.5–6440 µg/person annually for the above five additives, and via ingestion 0.1–204 µg/person. Notably, the release of additives from face masks is nonnegligible that annual human exposure to phthalates, organophosphate esters, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from masks via inhalation is approximately 491–1820 µg/person. This review helps understand the environmental fate and potential risks of released additives from (micro)plastic fibers, with a view to providing a basis for future research and policy designation of textile additives. Graphical Abstract

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Crack Patterns of Environmental Plastic Fragments

Cited by 49 publications

References 85 publications

Divergent Forms of Pyroplastic: Lessons Learned from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire

Divergent Forms of Pyroplastic: Lessons Learned from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire

Breakdown and Modification of Microplastic Beads by Aeolian Abrasion

An Overview of Chemical Additives on (Micro)Plastic Fibers: Occurrence, Release, and Health Risks

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