PMID- 38325096
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240229
IS  - 1873-3336 (Electronic)
IS  - 0304-3894 (Linking)
VI  - 467
DP  - 2024 Apr 5
TI  - Microplastic generation from field-collected plastic gauze: Unveiling the aging 
      processes.
PG  - 133615
LID - S0304-3894(24)00194-8 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133615 [doi]
AB  - Accumulation of plastic debris in the environment is a matter of global concern. 
      As plastic ages, it generates microplastic (MP) particles with high mobility. 
      Understanding how MPs are generated is crucial to controlling this emerging 
      contaminant. In this study, we utilized high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic 
      gauze, collected from urban settings, as a representative example of plastic 
      waste. The plastic gauze was subjected to various aging conditions, including 
      freeze-thaw cycling, mechanical abrasion, and UV irradiation. Following aging, 
      the plastic gauze was rinsed with water, and the number of generated MPs were 
      quantified. It was found that aged plastic gauze generated up to 334 million MP 
      particles per m(2) (> 10 microm) during rinsing, a number two orders of magnitude 
      higher than unaged plastic. Fragmentation occurred in two dimensions for bulk MPs 
      of all morphotypes. However, specific aging approaches (i.e., mechanical abrasion 
      and UV irradiation) generated spheres and fibers via pseudo-3D fragmentation. 
      Additionally, changes in molecular weight, size distribution, and surface 
      oxidation characteristics unveiled a complex pattern (i.e., irregular changes 
      with exposure time). This complexity underscores the intricate nature of plastic 
      debris aging processes in the environment.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
FAU - Gao, Jing
AU  - Gao J
AD  - School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
FAU - Wang, Liuwei
AU  - Wang L
AD  - School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
FAU - Wu, Wei-Min
AU  - Wu WM
AD  - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, William & Cloy Codiga Resource 
      Recovery Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4020, USA.
FAU - Luo, Jian
AU  - Luo J
AD  - School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 
      Atlanta, GA 30332-0355, USA.
FAU - Hou, Deyi
AU  - Hou D
AD  - School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic 
      address: houdeyi@tsinghua.edu.cn.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20240125
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - J Hazard Mater
JT  - Journal of hazardous materials
JID - 9422688
SB  - IM
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Aging
OT  - Fragmentation
OT  - Microplastic
OT  - Oxidation
OT  - Weathering
COIS- Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known 
      competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared 
      to influence the work reported in this paper.
EDAT- 2024/02/08 00:42
MHDA- 2024/02/08 00:43
CRDT- 2024/02/07 18:09
PHST- 2023/09/28 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2024/01/20 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2024/01/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2024/02/08 00:43 [medline]
PHST- 2024/02/08 00:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/02/07 18:09 [entrez]
AID - S0304-3894(24)00194-8 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133615 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Hazard Mater. 2024 Apr 5;467:133615. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133615. Epub 
      2024 Jan 25.