Adverse environmental effects of disposable face masks due to the excess usage.

The widespread use of disposable face masks as a preventative strategy to address transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a key environmental concern since the pandemic began. This has led to an unprecedented new form of contamination from improperly disposed masks, which liberates significant amounts of heavy metals and toxic chemicals in addition to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Therefore, this study monitored the liberation of heavy metals, VOCs, and microfibers from submerged disposable face masks at different pH (4, 7 and 12), to simulate distinct environmental conditions. Lead (3.238% ppb), cadmium (0.672 ppb) and chromium (0.786 ppb) were found in the analyzed leachates. By pyrolysis, 2,4-dimethylhept-1-ene and 4-methylheptane were identified as the VOCs produced by the samples. The chemically degraded morphology in the FESEM images provided further evidence that toxic heavy metals and volatile organic compounds had been leached from the submerged face masks, with greater degradation observed in samples submerged at pH 7 and higher. The results are seen to communicate the comparable danger of passively degrading disposable face masks and the release of micro- or nanofibers into the marine environment. The toxicity of certain heavy metals and chemicals released from discarded face masks warrants better, more robust manufacturing protocols and increased public awareness for responsible disposal to reduce the adverse impact on ecology and human health.

Capillary electrophoresis for the analysis of antidepressant drugs: A review.

Depression is a common mental disorder that may lead to major mental health problems, and antidepressant drugs have been used as a treatment of choice to mitigate symptoms of major depressive disorders by ameliorating the chemical imbalances of neurotransmitters in brain. Since abusing antidepressant drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressant drugs can cause severe adverse effects, continuous toxicological monitoring of the parent compounds as well as their metabolites using numerous analytical methods appears pertinent. Among them, capillary electrophoresis has been popularly utilized since the method has a lot of advantages viz. using small amounts of sample and solvents, ease of operation, and rapid analysis. This review paper brings a survey of more than 30 papers on capillary electrophoresis of antidepressant drugs published approximately from 1999 until 2018. It focuses on the reported capillary electrophoresis techniques and their applications and challenges for determining antidepressant drugs and their metabolites. It is organized according to the commonly used capillary zone electrophoresis method, followed by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis and micellar electrokinetic chromatography, with details on breakthrough findings. Where available, information is given about the background electrolyte used, detector utilized, and sensitivity obtained.