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Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene
Pollution by plastic and microplastic impacts the environment globally. Knowledge on the ageing mechanisms of plastics in natural settings is needed to understand their environmental fate and their reactivity in the ecosystems. Accordingly, the study of ageing processes is gaining focus in the conte...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Springer Berlin Heidelberg
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9895034/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35994148 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22599-4 |
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author | Binda, Gilberto Zanetti, Giorgio Bellasi, Arianna Spanu, Davide Boldrocchi, Ginevra Bettinetti, Roberta Pozzi, Andrea Nizzetto, Luca |
author_facet | Binda, Gilberto Zanetti, Giorgio Bellasi, Arianna Spanu, Davide Boldrocchi, Ginevra Bettinetti, Roberta Pozzi, Andrea Nizzetto, Luca |
author_sort | Binda, Gilberto |
collection | PubMed |
description | Pollution by plastic and microplastic impacts the environment globally. Knowledge on the ageing mechanisms of plastics in natural settings is needed to understand their environmental fate and their reactivity in the ecosystems. Accordingly, the study of ageing processes is gaining focus in the context of the environmental sciences. However, laboratory-based experimental research has typically assessed individual ageing processes, limiting environmental applicability. In this study, we propose a multi-tiered approach to study the environmental ageing of polyethylene plastic fragments focusing on the combined assessment of physical and biological processes in sequence. The ageing protocol included ultraviolet irradiation in air and in a range of water solutions, followed by a biofouling test. Changes in surface characteristics were assessed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle. UV radiation both in air and water caused a significant increase in the density of oxidized groups (i.e., hydroxyl and carbonyl) on the plastic surface, whereby water solution chemistry influenced the process both by modulating surface oxidation and morphology. Biofouling, too, was a strong determinant of surface alterations, regardless of the prior irradiation treatments. All biofouled samples present (i) specific infrared bands of new surface functional groups (e.g., amides and polysaccharides), (ii) a further increase in hydroxyl and carbonyl groups, (iii) the diffuse presence of algal biofilm on the plastic surface, and (iv) a significant decrease in surface hydrophobicity. This suggests that biological-driven alterations are not affected by the level of physicochemical ageing and may represent, in real settings, the main driver of alteration of both weathered and pristine plastics. This work highlights the potentially pivotal role of biofouling as the main process of plastic ageing, providing useful technical insights for future experimental works. These results also confirm that a multi-tiered laboratory approach permits a realistic simulation of plastic environmental ageing in controlled conditions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-22599-4. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9895034 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Springer Berlin Heidelberg |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-98950342023-02-04 Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene Binda, Gilberto Zanetti, Giorgio Bellasi, Arianna Spanu, Davide Boldrocchi, Ginevra Bettinetti, Roberta Pozzi, Andrea Nizzetto, Luca Environ Sci Pollut Res Int Research Article Pollution by plastic and microplastic impacts the environment globally. Knowledge on the ageing mechanisms of plastics in natural settings is needed to understand their environmental fate and their reactivity in the ecosystems. Accordingly, the study of ageing processes is gaining focus in the context of the environmental sciences. However, laboratory-based experimental research has typically assessed individual ageing processes, limiting environmental applicability. In this study, we propose a multi-tiered approach to study the environmental ageing of polyethylene plastic fragments focusing on the combined assessment of physical and biological processes in sequence. The ageing protocol included ultraviolet irradiation in air and in a range of water solutions, followed by a biofouling test. Changes in surface characteristics were assessed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle. UV radiation both in air and water caused a significant increase in the density of oxidized groups (i.e., hydroxyl and carbonyl) on the plastic surface, whereby water solution chemistry influenced the process both by modulating surface oxidation and morphology. Biofouling, too, was a strong determinant of surface alterations, regardless of the prior irradiation treatments. All biofouled samples present (i) specific infrared bands of new surface functional groups (e.g., amides and polysaccharides), (ii) a further increase in hydroxyl and carbonyl groups, (iii) the diffuse presence of algal biofilm on the plastic surface, and (iv) a significant decrease in surface hydrophobicity. This suggests that biological-driven alterations are not affected by the level of physicochemical ageing and may represent, in real settings, the main driver of alteration of both weathered and pristine plastics. This work highlights the potentially pivotal role of biofouling as the main process of plastic ageing, providing useful technical insights for future experimental works. These results also confirm that a multi-tiered laboratory approach permits a realistic simulation of plastic environmental ageing in controlled conditions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-22599-4. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2022-08-22 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC9895034/ /pubmed/35994148 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22599-4 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Research Article Binda, Gilberto Zanetti, Giorgio Bellasi, Arianna Spanu, Davide Boldrocchi, Ginevra Bettinetti, Roberta Pozzi, Andrea Nizzetto, Luca Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
title | Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
title_full | Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
title_fullStr | Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
title_full_unstemmed | Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
title_short | Physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
title_sort | physicochemical and biological ageing processes of (micro)plastics in the environment: a multi-tiered study on polyethylene |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9895034/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35994148 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22599-4 |
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