Cargando…
UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids
Bio-solids (biological sludge) from wastewater treatment plants are a significant source of the emission of microplastics (MPs) into the environment. Weakening the structure of MPs before they enter the environment may accelerate their degradation and reduce the environmental exposure time. Therefor...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10647429/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37960002 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15214322 |
_version_ | 1785135105130364928 |
---|---|
author | Alavian Petroody, Somayye Sadat Hashemi, Seyed Hossein Škrlep, Luka Mušič, Branka van Gestel, Cornelis A. M. Sever Škapin, Andrijana |
author_facet | Alavian Petroody, Somayye Sadat Hashemi, Seyed Hossein Škrlep, Luka Mušič, Branka van Gestel, Cornelis A. M. Sever Škapin, Andrijana |
author_sort | Alavian Petroody, Somayye Sadat |
collection | PubMed |
description | Bio-solids (biological sludge) from wastewater treatment plants are a significant source of the emission of microplastics (MPs) into the environment. Weakening the structure of MPs before they enter the environment may accelerate their degradation and reduce the environmental exposure time. Therefore, we studied the effect of UV-A and UV-C, applied at 70 °C, on three types of MPs, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), that are commonly found in sewage sludge, using three shapes (fibers, lines, granules). The MPs were exposed to UV radiation in bio-solid suspensions, and to air and water as control. The structural changes in and degradation of the MPs were investigated using Attenuated Total Reflectance–Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (ATR-FTIR) and surface morphology was performed with SEM analysis. UV exposure led to the emergence of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups in all of the PP samples. In PE and PET, these groups were formed only in the bio-solid suspensions. The presence of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups increased with an increasing exposure time. Overall, UV radiation had the greatest impact on the MPs in the bio-solids suspension. Due to the surface-to-volume ratio of the tested samples, which influences the degradation rate, the fibers were more degraded than the other two plastic shapes. UV-A was slightly more effective at degrading the MPs than UV-C. These findings show that ultraviolet radiation in combination with an elevated temperature affects the structure of polymers in wastewater bio-solids, which can accelerate their degradation. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10647429 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106474292023-11-04 UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids Alavian Petroody, Somayye Sadat Hashemi, Seyed Hossein Škrlep, Luka Mušič, Branka van Gestel, Cornelis A. M. Sever Škapin, Andrijana Polymers (Basel) Article Bio-solids (biological sludge) from wastewater treatment plants are a significant source of the emission of microplastics (MPs) into the environment. Weakening the structure of MPs before they enter the environment may accelerate their degradation and reduce the environmental exposure time. Therefore, we studied the effect of UV-A and UV-C, applied at 70 °C, on three types of MPs, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), that are commonly found in sewage sludge, using three shapes (fibers, lines, granules). The MPs were exposed to UV radiation in bio-solid suspensions, and to air and water as control. The structural changes in and degradation of the MPs were investigated using Attenuated Total Reflectance–Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (ATR-FTIR) and surface morphology was performed with SEM analysis. UV exposure led to the emergence of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups in all of the PP samples. In PE and PET, these groups were formed only in the bio-solid suspensions. The presence of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups increased with an increasing exposure time. Overall, UV radiation had the greatest impact on the MPs in the bio-solids suspension. Due to the surface-to-volume ratio of the tested samples, which influences the degradation rate, the fibers were more degraded than the other two plastic shapes. UV-A was slightly more effective at degrading the MPs than UV-C. These findings show that ultraviolet radiation in combination with an elevated temperature affects the structure of polymers in wastewater bio-solids, which can accelerate their degradation. MDPI 2023-11-04 /pmc/articles/PMC10647429/ /pubmed/37960002 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15214322 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Alavian Petroody, Somayye Sadat Hashemi, Seyed Hossein Škrlep, Luka Mušič, Branka van Gestel, Cornelis A. M. Sever Škapin, Andrijana UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids |
title | UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids |
title_full | UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids |
title_fullStr | UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids |
title_full_unstemmed | UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids |
title_short | UV Light Causes Structural Changes in Microplastics Exposed in Bio-Solids |
title_sort | uv light causes structural changes in microplastics exposed in bio-solids |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10647429/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37960002 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15214322 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT alavianpetroodysomayyesadat uvlightcausesstructuralchangesinmicroplasticsexposedinbiosolids AT hashemiseyedhossein uvlightcausesstructuralchangesinmicroplasticsexposedinbiosolids AT skrlepluka uvlightcausesstructuralchangesinmicroplasticsexposedinbiosolids AT musicbranka uvlightcausesstructuralchangesinmicroplasticsexposedinbiosolids AT vangestelcornelisam uvlightcausesstructuralchangesinmicroplasticsexposedinbiosolids AT severskapinandrijana uvlightcausesstructuralchangesinmicroplasticsexposedinbiosolids |