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Organic Contaminants and Microplastics: Analytical Methodologies

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Analytical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 7787

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Teresa A. P. Rocha-Santos

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Guest Editor

Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: plastics; nanoplastics; microplastics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. João Pinto da Costa

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: development of analytical methodologies fit for purpose; (bio)sensors, plastics; microplastics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microplastics may result from their intentional production or due to the fragmentation of larger plastics. Their rising accumulation and persistence in the aquatic environment may lead to deleterious environmental consequences, which may stem not only from their physical impacts, but also from their role as source or carrier of hazardous chemicals to marine environments and organisms. Nonetheless, research on chemicals associated with microplastics has been scarce and, therefore, many efforts have been made to identify and quantify chemicals in marine microplastics. Still, the analytical strategies and methodologies used have not been discussed in detail. Hence, manuscripts of all aspects related to the chemical analysis of microplastics and plastic debris obtained from samples collected from the field or deployed in the field, within environmentally relevant concentration levels, as well as detailed analytical methodologies for sampling, characterization, analysis and ecotoxicological evaluation of such mixtures, in the form of either research or review papers, are welcome.

Dr. Teresa A. P. Rocha-Santos
Dr. João Pinto da Costa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

microplastics
analytical chemistry
pollution
organic contaminants
environment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 4867 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Route of Valorization of Petrochemical Wastewater: Recovery of 1,3,5-Tris (4-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethyl benzyl)–1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-(1H,3H,5H)-trione (Cyanox 1790) and Its Subsequent Application in a PP Matrix to Improve Its Thermal Stability

by Joaquín Hernández-Fernández, Rodrigo Ortega-Toro and Juan López-Martinez

Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2003; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28052003 - 21 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1640

Abstract

The various chemicals in industrial wastewater can be beneficial for improving its circularity. If extraction methods are used to capture valuable components from the wastewater and then recirculate them throughout the process, the potential of the wastewater can be fully exploited. In this study, wastewater produced after the polypropylene deodorization process was evaluated. These waters remove the remains of the additives used to create the resin. With this recovery, contamination of the water bodies is avoided, and the polymer production process becomes more circular. The phenolic component was recovered by solid-phase extraction and HPLC, with a recovery rate of over 95%. FTIR and DSC were used to evaluate the purity of the extracted compound. After the phenolic compound was applied to the resin and its thermal stability was analyzed via TGA, the compound’s efficacy was finally determined. The results showed that the recovered additive improves the thermal qualities of the material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Contaminants and Microplastics: Analytical Methodologies)

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16 pages, 4405 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Systematic Development of a Simultaneous Determination of Plastic Particle Identity and Adsorbed Organic Compounds by Thermodesorption–Pyrolysis GC/MS (TD-Pyr-GC/MS)

by Julia Reichel, Johanna Graßmann, Thomas Letzel and Jörg E. Drewes

Molecules 2020, 25(21), 4985; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25214985 - 28 Oct 2020

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4234

Abstract

Micro-, submicro- and nanoplastic particles are increasingly regarded as vectors for trace organic chemicals. In order to determine adsorbed trace organic chemicals on polymers, it has usually been necessary to carry out complex extraction steps. With the help of a newly designed thermal desorption pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-Pyr-GC/MS) method, it is possible to identify adsorbed trace organic chemicals on micro-, submicro- and nanoparticles as well as the particle short chain polymers in one analytical setup without any transfers. This ensures a high sample throughput for the qualitative analysis of trace substances and polymer type. Since the measuring time per sample is only 2 h, a high sample throughput is possible. It is one of the few analytical methods which can be used also for the investigation of nanoplastic particles. Initially adsorbed substances are desorbed from the particle by thermal desorption (TD); subsequently, the polymer is fragmented by pyrolysis (PYR). Both particle treatment techniques are directly coupled with the same GC-MS system analyzing desorbed molecules and pyrolysis products, respectively. In this study, we developed a systematic and optimized method for this application. For method development, the trace organic chemicals phenanthrene, α-cypermethrin and triclosan were tested on reference polymers polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyethylene (PE). Well-defined particle fractions were used, including polystyrene (sub)micro- (41 and 40 µm) and nanoparticles (78 nm) as well as 48-µm sized PE and PMMA particles, respectively. The sorption of phenanthrene (PMMA << PS 40 µm < 41 µm < PE < PS 78 nm) and α-cypermethrin (PS 41 µm < PS 40 µm < PE < PMMA < PS 78 nm) to the particles was strongly polymer-dependent. Triclosan adsorbed only on PE and on the nanoparticles of PS (PE < PS78). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Contaminants and Microplastics: Analytical Methodologies)

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Review

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24 pages, 1145 KiB

Open AccessReview

Understanding Interface Exchanges for Assessing Environmental Sorption of Additives from Microplastics: Current Knowledge and Perspectives

by João Pinto da Costa, Astrid Avellan, Aleksandra Tubić, Armando C. Duarte and Teresa Rocha-Santos

Molecules 2024, 29(2), 333; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29020333 - 09 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1012

Abstract

Although the impacts of plastic pollution have long been recognized, the presence, pervasiveness, and ecotoxicological consequences of microplastic—i.e., plastic particles < 5 mm—contamination have only been explored over the last decade. Far less focus has been attributed to the role of these materials and, particularly, microplastics, as vectors for a multitude of chemicals, including those (un)intentionally added to plastic products, but also organic pollutants already present in the environment. Owing to the ubiquitous presence of microplastics in all environmental matrices and to the diverse nature of their chemical and physical characteristics, thoroughly understanding the mechanistic uptake/release of these compounds is inherently complex, but necessary in order to better assess the potential impacts of both microplastics and associated chemicals on the environment. Herein, we delve into the known processes and factors affecting these mechanisms. We center the discussion on microplastics and discuss some of the most prominent ecological implications of the sorption of this multitude of chemicals. Moreover, the key limitations of the currently available literature are described and a prospective outlook for the future research on the topic is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organic Contaminants and Microplastics: Analytical Methodologies)

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