Disposable face masks release micro particles to the aqueous environment after simulating sunlight aging: Microplastics or non-microplastics?
Journal of Hazardous Materials
; 443, 2023.
Article
in English
| Scopus | ID: covidwho-2242953
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on characterizing microplastics and non-microplastics released from surgical masks (SMs), N95 masks (N95), KN95 masks (KN95), and children's masks (CMs) after simulating sunlight aging. Based on micro-Raman spectrum analysis, it was found that the dominant particles released from masks were non-microplastics (66.76–98.85%). Unfortunately, CMs released the most microplastics, which is 8.92 times more than SMs. The predominant size range of microplastics was 30–500 µm, and the main polymer types were PP and PET. Compared with the whole SMs, the microplastic particles released from the cutting-SMs increased conspicuously, which is 12.15 times that of the whole SMs. The main components of non-microplastics include β-carotene, microcrystalline cellulose 102, and eight types of minerals. Furthermore, non-microplastics were mainly fibrous and fragmented in appearance, similar to the morphology of microplastics. After 15 days of UVA-aging, the fibers of the face layers had cracks to varying degrees. It was estimated that these four types of masks can release at least 31.5 trillion microplastics annually in China. Overall, this study demonstrated that the masks could release a large quantity of microplastics and non-microplastics to the environment after sunlight aging, deserving urgent attention in the future study. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
Aging; Cellulose; Cracks; Cutting; Disposables; Minerals; Particles; Release; Child; Humans; Masks; Microplastics; Plastics; Sunlight; Water; Water Pollutants, Chemical; China; Microplastic; Particle size analysis; Polyethylene terephthalates; Spectrum analysis; polyethylene terephthalate; polypropylene; plastic; Aqueous environment; Face masks; Micro particles; Micro-Raman; Non-microplastic; UVA-aging; polymer; aqueous solution; Article; attention; coronavirus disease 2019; degradation; hazard assessment; pandemic; particulate matter; quality control; Raman spectrometry; scanning electron microscopy; ultraviolet A radiation; ultraviolet radiation; human; mask; water pollutant; Non-microplastics
Full text:
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Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
Scopus
Language:
English
Journal:
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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