The demand of wet wipes and masks has been rising worldwide since the outbreak of global COVID-19; however, with more reports about improper handling of wipes and masks, their potential threats to ...the environment are gradually emerging. Wipes and masks are made of a large number of plastic fibers, which are easily broken and fragmented into microplastic fibers under the influence of environmental factors. Weathered wipes or masks can release billions of microplastic fibers, which is a great challenge to the local ecological security. Wipes and masks as new microplastic pollution sources and their potential role in the ecosystem have not been fully recognized and considered. Microplastic fiber pollution is a huge environmental issue, and how to prevent a large number of discarded wipes and masks from entering the environment and how to deal with them are an important issue for all countries and regions in the world. In the post era of global COVID-19, disposable wipes and masks, as new sources of environmental microplastic fiber pollution, should be given concern. It is urgent to recognize this potential environmental threat and prevent it from becoming the next microplastic problem.
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The rapid development of plastic industrials has created a variety of plastic products, causing revolutionary progress in chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine. Large-scale production and ...applications of plastics increase their possibility of entering the environment. Previous environmental impact studies typically focused on the toxicity, behavior and fate; limited attention was paid on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. With the increase of plastic waste, the threat of plastic pollution to the earth’s climate has been gradually taken seriously. Evidence showed that greenhouse gas emissions occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, including extraction and transportation of plastic raw materials, plastic manufacturing, waste treatment and entering the environment. The oil and gas industries used to make plastics are the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions (from the extraction of raw materials to the manufacture of plastics). Emissions of greenhouse gases during manufacture are mainly controlled by the production facilities themselves, usually depending on the efficiency, configuration and service life of equipment. Additionally, there are some unintended impacts, including transport requirements, pipeline leakage, land use, as well as impeding forests as natural carbons sinks. Recycling of plastic waste energy seems to be a good way to deal with waste plastics, but this process will release a lot of greenhouse gases. With this energy conversion occurring, the incineration of plastic packing waste will become one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, plastics released into the environment also slowly release greenhouse gases, and the presence of (micro)plastics in the ocean will seriously interfere with the carbon fixation capacity of the ocean. In its current form, greenhouse gas emissions from cradle to grave of plastics will reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030 and 2.8 gigatons per year by 2050. This will seriously consume the global remaining carbon budgets, thereby threatening the ability of the global community to keep global temperatures rising by below 1.5 °C even 2 °C by 2100. In order to achieve this goal, the total global greenhouse gas emissions must be kept within the remaining carbon budget of 420–570 gigatons. The accumulative greenhouse gas emissions from cradle to grave of plastics may exceed 56 gigatons by 2050 (approximately accounting for 10%–13% of the total remaining carbon budget). As the plastic industry plans to expand production on a large scale, the problem will worsen further. The World Economic Forum forecasted that by 2030, the production and use of plastics will grow at an annual rate of 3.8%, and this growth rate will fall to 3.5% per year from 2030 to 2050. However, there are significant challenges and uncertainties in this estimation, and challenge and uncertainty factors come from all aspects. Recently, several organizations and researchers have started to discern the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and plastic industrials, but relevant research on these impacts is still in its infancy. Consequently, the contribution of plastic pollution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change should be given immediate attention and it needs to further explore the impact of plastic pollution on greenhouse gas emission and climate change. The implementation of measures to solve or alleviate the (micro)plastic crisis was critical necessary and proposed: (1) production control of global plastics; (2) improving the treatment and disposal of plastic waste; and (3) assessment of the impact of global environmental (micro)plastics on climate.
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•A crisis that plastic life cycle affects GHG emission and climate change is raised.•GHG emissions from cradle to grave of plastics will reach 1.34 Gt per year by 2030.•Accumulative GHG emission from cradle to grave of plastics may exceed 56 Gt by 2050.•GHG emissions from plastic life cycle seriously threaten remaining carbon budget.•Perspectives and challenges on plastic industry and policy are put forward.
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•Impact of surfactant on adsorption performance of Pb2+ on MPs was studied.•Surfactant caused a higher hydrophilicity of MPs and improved the adsorption ability of MPs for Pb2+.•SDBS ...significantly enhanced adsorption of Pb2+ on MPs compared with other two surfactants.•The presence of Cu2+ affected the adsorption behavior of PP for Pb2+.•Surfactant could promote the migration and stabilization of Pb2+ in the environment.
The impact of surfactant addition on the adsorption performance of lead ion (Pb2+) as a typical heavy metal ion on three microplastics was investigated. The types of microplastics (polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)) and surfactants (triton X-100 (TX-100), 1-hexadecylpyridinium bromide (HDPB), and sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS)), adsorption time, concentration of Pb2+, and coexisting ions was systematically investigated, and the characteristics of adsorption of Pb2+ by microplastics were analyzed. The experimental results showed that the adsorption capacity of Pb2+ on three micropalstics was different. The adsorption capacity of Pb2+ on the three microplastics without surfactants was: 4.21 (PMMA) > 2.01 (PE) > 1.57 mg g−1 (PP). The addition of surfactants resulted in a higher hydrophilicity of microplastics, and obviously improved the adsorption ability of microplastics for lead ions. SDBS can significantly enhance the adsorption of Pb2+ on three microplastics compared with other two surfactants (TX100 and HDPB). The highest adsorption capacity of Pb2+ on the three microplastics with addition of SDBS solution was: 7.87 (PMMA) > 7.20 (PE) > 7.02 mg g−1 (PP). With the increase of adsorption time and Pb2+ concentration, the adsorption efficiency of microplastics for Pb2+ first increased and then decreased. The pH of solution had a great influence on the adsorption of Pb2+ by microplastics. The results of coexisting ion experiments demonstrated that when lead ion and copper ion coexist, the two ions have competitive adsorption phenomenon on PP. This research explored the adsorption characteristics of lead ions by microplastics with addition of surfactants, which can provide theoretical basis for further study of heavy metal enrichment and environmental behavior of microplastics in the environment.
The wide use of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) has led to increasing concern about its human health risks over the past decade. In vivo and in vitro studies are important and effective means to ...ascertain the toxic effects of PFOS on humans and its toxic mechanisms. This article systematically reviews the human health risks of PFOS based on the currently known facts found by in vivo and in vitro studies from 2008 to 2018. Exposure to PFOS has caused hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, immunotoxicity, thyroid disruption, cardiovascular toxicity, pulmonary toxicity, and renal toxicity in laboratory animals and many in vitro human systems. These results and related epidemiological studies confirmed the human health risks of PFOS, especially for exposure via food and drinking water. Oxidative stress and physiological process disruption based on fatty acid similarity were widely studied mechanisms of PFOS toxicity. Future research for assessing the human health risks of PFOS is recommended in the chronic toxicity and molecular mechanisms, the application of various omics, and the integration of toxicological and epidemiological data.
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•Assessing human health risks of PFOS by in vivo and in vitro studies are reviewed.•Exposure to PFOS can cause significant human health risks.•The chronic toxicity and molecular mechanisms need further study.•Integration of the toxicological and epidemiological data is recommended.
We investigated the abundance of microplastics in freshwater, treated water, and household tap water from the drinking water supply chain in Changsha, China. The abundance was 2173–3998 (mean = ...2753), 338–400 (mean = 351.9), and 267–404 (mean = 343.5) particles L
−1
in freshwater, treated water, and tap water, respectively. Fibrous and fragments made up the majority (> 70%) in all water samples, and most polymers were composed of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Microplastics in tap water were related to materials of transportation pipelines in drinking-water supply chain. Although plastics are corrosion-resistant, the slight fragmentation and abrasion may occur during drinking water treatment transportation. This study provided a proof for the occurrence of microplastics in drinking water, which may offer a reference for microplastic removal during drinking water treatment, and the formulation of standards for microplastic content in drinking water.
Micro(nano)plastics, as emerging contaminants, have attracted worldwide attention. Nowadays, the environmental distribution, sources, and analysis methods and technologies of micro(nano)plastics have ...been well studied and recognized. Nevertheless, the role of micro(nano)plastic particles as vectors for attaching organisms is not fully understood. In this paper, the role of micro(nano)plastics as vectors, and their potential effects on the ecology are introduced. Micro(nano)plastics could 1) accelerate the diffusion of organisms in the environment, which may result in biological invasion; 2) increase the gene exchange between attached biofilm communities, causing the transfer of pathogenic and antibiotic resistance genes; 3) enhance the rate of energy, material and information flow in the environment. Accordingly, the role of microplastics as vectors for organisms should be further evaluated in the future research.
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•Questions of micro(nano)plastics as organism vectors have been raised.•Ecological effects of micro(nano)plastics as organism vectors are discussed.•Role of micro(nano)plastics as organism vectors need to be studied in future.
At present, the occurrence and pollution of microplastics have caused widespread concern, but there are still few studies on inland lake and its affiliated rivers. In this study, we monitored the ...existence and characteristics of microplastics in Dongting Lake and its affiliated rivers. Our sampling site covers almost the entire lake district. A total of 15 surface water samples and 15 sediment samples were collected. The abundance of microplastics achieved 0.62–4.31 items/m2 in plankton net samples, with 21–52 items/100 g dw in sediments. The microplastics were dominated by fiber, 0.9–0.333 mm of surface water and ˂0.1 mm of sediments in size. The color of transparent occupied the majority in all microplastics samples. There was no significant difference in the average concentration of microplastics between the four river mouths and the whole lake and the rivers may have important potential contribution to the microplastics pollution in the lake.
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•Fiber accounted for the largest percentage in both sediment and surface water samples of Dongting Lake.•The rivers surrounding the lakes are important sources of microplastic pollution in lakes.•The human activities around the lake have an important influence on the abundance distribution of microplastics.
Nanoplastics have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their widespread existence in the environment and the potential adverse effects on living organisms. In this paper, the toxic ...effects of nanoplastics on organisms were systematically reviewed. The translocation and absorption of nanoplastics, as well as the release of additives and contaminants adsorbed on nanoplastics in the organism body were discussed, and the potential adverse effects of nanoplastics on human health were evaluated. Nanoplastics can be ingested by organisms, be accumulated in their body and be transferred along the food chains. Nanoplastics showed effects on the growth, development and reproduction of organisms, and disturbing the normal metabolism. The toxic effects on living organisms mainly depended on the surface chemical properties and the particle size of nanoplastics. Positively charged nanoplastics showed more significant effects on the normal physiological activity of cells than negatively charged nanoplastics, and smaller particle sized nanoplastics could more easily penetrate the cell membranes, hence, accumulated in tissues and cells. Additionally, the release of additives and contaminants adsorbed on nanoplastics in organism body poses more significant threats to organisms than nanoplastics themselves. However, there are still knowledge gaps in the determination and quantification of nanoplastics, as well as their contaminant release mechanisms, degradation rates and process from large plastics to nanoplastics, and the transportation of nanoplastics along food chains. These challenges would hinder the risk assessment of nanoplastics in the environment. It is necessary to further develop the risk assessment of nanoplastics and deeply investigate its toxicological effects.
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•Recent advances in toxicological research of nanoplastics have been reviewed.•Potential toxic effects of nanoplastics on ecosystems and human health are discussed.•Using environmental concentrations of nanoplastics to test is necessary.
A large amount of plastic waste has been discharged into the environment worldwide, which causes the current white pollution problem. The accumulated waste plastics in the environment can be ...furtherly degraded into small pieces such microplastics and nanoplastics through weathering, which will do more harm to the environment and humans than large plastics. Therefore, plastic production and disposal are needed to be considered. Biodegradable plastics (BPs) have become the focus of recent research due to their potential biodegradability and harmlessness, which would be the most effective approach to manage the issue of plastic waste environmental accumulation. However, in the long run, it is uncertain whether BPs can be a promising solution to waste disposal and global plastic pollution. Consequently, both sides of the dispute are discussed in this paper. At present, most conventional plastics can not be replaced by theses BPs. Biodegradation of BPs needs certain environmental conditions, which are not always reliable in the environment. Additionally, changes in human behavioral awareness will also affect the development and application of BPs. BPs should not be considered as a technical solution, thus excusing our environmental responsibility, because littering does not change with the promotion of an effective technology. As such, the conclusion is that BPs may be a part of the solution. The effectiveness in providing environmentally solutions for plastic waste management depends on the combination of affordable waste classification technologies and investment in organic waste treatment facilities. Therefore, there is still a long way to go to solve the global plastic pollution through BPs.
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•The urgency of conventional plastic pollution has been raised.•BPs are on the agenda as a promising solution to solve plastic pollution.•Challenges in environmental treatment of BPs are thoroughly discussed.•Perspectives of using BPs to solve plastic pollution are put forward.
There have been many studies on the microplastic pollution, influence and control mechanisms of different plastic products. The potential harm of microplastic pollution to the environment has been ...confirmed. With the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 in the world, disposable surgical masks as effective and cheap protective medical equipment have been widely used by the public. Disposable masks have been a new social norm, but they must have a sense of environmental responsibilities. The random disposal of masks may result in new and greater microplastic pollution, because masks made of polymer materials would release microplastics after entering the environment. Current results showed that masks are a potential and easily overlooked source of environmental microplastics. The release amount of microplastics in the static water by one mask was 360 items, and with the increase of vibration rate, the release amount also increased. The addition of organic solvents (detergent and alcohol) in water would increase the release of microplastics from masks. When the mask became fragments, the ability to release microplastic fibers into the environment was greatly improved due to the increase of exposure area. After two months of natural weathering, the masks become very fragile pieces and microplastics. A fully weathered mask could release several billions of microplastic fibers into the aquatic environment once these fragile fragments enter the water without reservation. The rapid growth of mask production and consumption and improper disposable is worrying. It is urgent to understand the potential environmental risks and significance of masks.
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•Discarded disposal surgical masks can release microplastics into the environment.•Potential release of microplastic obviously increased with the increase of use time.•Aging plays a key role in the release of microplastics by disposal surgical masks.•A fully aged mask can release several billions of microplastic into the environment.•It is urgent to understand potential environmental risks and significance of masks.
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