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Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 16781

Special Issue Editors

BIOSSE, Universite Catholique de L'Ouest, UBL, 49000 Angers, France
Interests: plastics; microplastics; nanoplastics; nanomaterials; coastal and estuarine ecotoxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: plastic pollution; micro(nano)plastics; ecotoxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: microplastic; water quality; water treatment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microplastics and nanoplastics are emerging contaminants, and there is a growing interest among the scientific community with regard to their impacts on the environment and, potentially, on human health. However, the reported results are often difficult to compare due to different methodological approaches and the lack of standardized methods applied to sampling, identifying, and quantifying different sizes and types of micro- and nanoplastics. As a result, information about the spatial and temporal distribution of microplastics in the different environmental compartments (water, sediments, soil, air, and biota) remains limited, mainly due to the lack of standardized methods. Especially concerning nanoplastics, there is a lack of analytical methods for their identification and quantification in environmental, food and other matrices. Considering the present framework, this Special Issue welcomes review papers, research papers, and perspective papers related to the advances made in microplastics and nanoplastics analysis. This includes papers considering the interactions of microplastics and nanoplastics with other contaminants and papers that present improvements in methodologies for detecting microplastics and nanoplastics, either directly or indirectly, in all samples and including those from ecotoxicological assays.

Dr. Teresa A. P. Rocha-Santos
Prof. Dr. Catherine Mouneyrac
Dr. Ana Luísa Patrício da Silva
Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Tubić
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
  • nanoplastics
  • monitoring
  • analytical methods
  • ecotoxicological assays

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 5743 KiB  
Communication
Generation of Simulated “Natural” Nanoplastics from Polypropylene Food Packaging as the Experimental Standard
by Zhongtang Wang, Ying Wang, Xin Lu, Hongyan Zhang and Zhenzhen Jia
Molecules 2023, 28(21), 7254; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28217254 - 25 Oct 2023
Viewed by 806
Abstract
Current toxicology research on nanoplastics (NPs) generally uses commercial spherical NPs. However, the physicochemical characteristics of commercial NPs are significantly different from those of NPs formed under natural conditions, possibly affecting the validity of the results. In analytical chemistry, a reference sample is [...] Read more.
Current toxicology research on nanoplastics (NPs) generally uses commercial spherical NPs. However, the physicochemical characteristics of commercial NPs are significantly different from those of NPs formed under natural conditions, possibly affecting the validity of the results. In analytical chemistry, a reference sample is selected such that its physicochemical properties are as similar as possible to the target. Therefore, a simulated “natural” NP synthesized in the laboratory that closely resembles naturally derived NPs would be used as an authentic standard. Here, we established the assay of scanning electron microscope (SEM)-particle size distribution analyzer (PSDA)-surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to detect NPs and prepared simulated “natural” NPs from polypropylene food packaging material using a method that mimics natural conditions. Nanofiltration was used to isolate three sets of simulated NPs with particle sizes ranging from 50–100 nm, 100–200 nm, and 200–400 nm. These simulated “natural” NPs were more similar to naturally occurring counterparts when compared with commercial NPs. These new standard NPs, which should be scalable for large-scale use, will improve the accuracy, reliability, and translatability of toxicological studies of NPs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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14 pages, 3413 KiB  
Article
Occurrence and Characteristics of Microplastics in Wild and Farmed Shrimps Collected from Cau Hai Lagoon, Central Vietnam
by Tran Thi Ai My, Nguyen Duy Dat and Nguyen Quoc Hung
Molecules 2023, 28(12), 4634; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28124634 - 08 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1431
Abstract
This study investigated the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the gastrointestinal tracts (GT) and tissues of four common shrimps (including two wild-caught shrimps and two farmed shrimps) collected from a high-diversity lagoon in central Vietnam. The numbers of MP items in greasy-back shrimp [...] Read more.
This study investigated the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the gastrointestinal tracts (GT) and tissues of four common shrimps (including two wild-caught shrimps and two farmed shrimps) collected from a high-diversity lagoon in central Vietnam. The numbers of MP items in greasy-back shrimp (Metapenaeus ensis), green tiger shrimp (Penaeus semisulcatus), white-leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), and giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), determined per weight and individual, were 0.7 ± 0.3, 0.6 ± 0.2, 1.1 ± 0.4, and 0.5 ± 0.3 (items/g-ww), and 2.5 ± 0.5, 2.3 ± 0.7, 8.6 ± 3.5, 7.7 ± 3.5 (items/individual), respectively. The concentration of microplastics in the GT samples was significantly higher than that in the tissue samples (p < 0.05). The number of microplastics in the farmed shrimp (white-leg shrimp and black tiger shrimp) was statistically significantly higher than the number of microplastics in the wild-caught shrimp (greasy-back and green tiger shrimps) (p <0.05). Fibers and fragments were the dominant shapes of the MPs, followed by pellets, and these accounted for 42–69%, 22–57%, and 0–27% of the total microplastics, respectively. The chemical compositions determined using FTIR confirmed six polymers, in which rayon was the most abundant polymer, accounting for 61.9% of the MPs found, followed by polyamide (10.5%), PET (6.7%), polyethylene (5.7%), polyacrylic (5.8%), and polystyrene (3.8%). As the first investigation on the MPs in shrimps from Cau Hai Lagoon, central Vietnam, this study provides useful information on the occurrences and characteristics of the microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts and tissues of four shrimp species that live in different living conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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19 pages, 7220 KiB  
Article
Multi-Analytical Approach to Characterize the Degradation of Different Types of Microplastics: Identification and Quantification of Released Organic Compounds
by Giulia Giaganini, Mario Cifelli, Denise Biagini, Silvia Ghimenti, Andrea Corti, Valter Castelvetro, Valentina Domenici and Tommaso Lomonaco
Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1382; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031382 - 01 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2317
Abstract
Microplastics and nanoplastics represent one of the major environmental issues nowadays due to their ubiquitous presence on Earth, and their high potential danger for living systems, ecosystems, and human life. The formation of both microplastics and nanoplastics strongly depends on both the type [...] Read more.
Microplastics and nanoplastics represent one of the major environmental issues nowadays due to their ubiquitous presence on Earth, and their high potential danger for living systems, ecosystems, and human life. The formation of both microplastics and nanoplastics strongly depends on both the type of pristine materials and the degradation processes related to biological and/or abiotic conditions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of two of the most relevant abiotic parameters, namely temperature and light, taken under direct control by using a Solar box, on five types of reference polymers: high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A multi-analytical approach was adopted to investigate in detail the first steps of plastics degradation. Samples of plastic materials at different degradation times were analyzed by means of 1H NMR spectroscopy and thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) technique. Several minor molecular species released during degradation were consistently identified by both techniques thus providing a comprehensive view of the various degradation products of these five types of microplastics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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15 pages, 3074 KiB  
Article
Characterization of the Morphological and Chemical Profile of Different Families of Microplastics in Samples of Breathable Air
by Joaquín Hernández-Fernández, Esneyder Puello-Polo and John R. Castro-Suarez
Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1042; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031042 - 20 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1630
Abstract
Microplastic (MP) contamination has become a problem of great interest to the community at large. The detection of these particles in different ecosystems and foods has been the subject of study. However, the focus of these investigations has been on the identification and [...] Read more.
Microplastic (MP) contamination has become a problem of great interest to the community at large. The detection of these particles in different ecosystems and foods has been the subject of study. However, the focus of these investigations has been on the identification and quantification of PM by DSC and Pyr-GC/MS and not on how they are transported to reach the air we breathe. In this study, the values of morphological parameters for plastic particles in a range between 1 and 2000 µm, present in the breathable air of 20 neighborhoods in the city of Cartagena, Colombia, were obtained to determine the characteristics that make these particles airborne. The values of parameters were obtained, such as roundness, sphericity, curvature, and the convexity of the particle, as well as its compactness and size, which influence its transport through the air and its ability to be ingested and inhaled. The data obtained in this study allows for simulations and the analysis of the behavior of microplastics once in the environment to predict future settlements. The DSC showed us the melting temperatures of PP, PE, PET, and PS, the Pyr-GC/MS showed the fragmentation patterns, and the presence of these MPs in the samples was confirmed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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10 pages, 13275 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Microplastics in Takeaway Food Containers in China Using FPA-FTIR Whole Filter Analysis
by Xuejun Zhou, Jin Wang and Jiefang Ren
Molecules 2022, 27(9), 2646; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27092646 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3307
Abstract
With the rapid development and popularization of the internet and smartphone industry for ordering and delivery, the consumption of takeaway food is increasing globally, especially in China. However, there is little information about microplastics in takeaway food containers, so their potential risks to [...] Read more.
With the rapid development and popularization of the internet and smartphone industry for ordering and delivery, the consumption of takeaway food is increasing globally, especially in China. However, there is little information about microplastics in takeaway food containers, so their potential risks to human health remain unknown. This study explored the possibility of using focal plane array (FPA)-based micro-FT-IR imaging to detect microplastics released from food containers and evaluated their contents using an automated database matching analysis method. We investigated microplastics in seven types of food containers widely used in China. The most common plastic types observed were polyamide (PA), polyurethane (PU) and polystyrene (PS), which were found to comprise 22.8%, 18.2%, and 8.5% (number of particles) of all microplastics, respectively. Microplastics were found in all seven types of food containers, and the content excluding cellulose was 29–552 items/container. Our research shows that microplastics in takeaway food containers might originate from atmospheric sediment or flakes from the inside surface of the container. According to the content of microplastics in takeaway food containers, people who order takeaway food 5–10 times a month might consume 145–5520 microplastic pieces from food containers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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Review

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37 pages, 1652 KiB  
Review
A Complete Guide to Extraction Methods of Microplastics from Complex Environmental Matrices
by Monika Rani, Serena Ducoli, Laura Eleonora Depero, Miljana Prica, Aleksandra Tubić, Zahida Ademovic, Liam Morrison and Stefania Federici
Molecules 2023, 28(15), 5710; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28155710 - 28 Jul 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3865
Abstract
Sustainable development is a big global challenge for the 21st century. In recent years, a class of emerging contaminants known as microplastics (MPs) has been identified as a significant pollutant with the potential to harm ecosystems. These small plastic particles have been found [...] Read more.
Sustainable development is a big global challenge for the 21st century. In recent years, a class of emerging contaminants known as microplastics (MPs) has been identified as a significant pollutant with the potential to harm ecosystems. These small plastic particles have been found in every compartment of the planet, with aquatic habitats serving as the ultimate sink. The challenge to extract MPs from different environmental matrices is a tangible and imperative issue. One of the primary specialties of research in environmental chemistry is the development of simple, rapid, low-cost, sensitive, and selective analytical methods for the extraction and identification of MPs in the environment. The present review describes the developments in MP extraction methods from complex environmental matrices. All existing methodologies (new, old, and proof-of-concept) are discussed and evaluated for their potential usefulness to extract MPs from various biotic and abiotic matrices for the sake of progress and innovation. This study concludes by addressing the current challenges and outlining future research objectives aimed at combating MP pollution. Additionally, a set of recommendations is provided to assist researchers in selecting appropriate analytical techniques for obtaining accurate results. To facilitate this process, a proposed roadmap for MP extraction is presented, considering the specific environmental compartments under investigation. By following this roadmap, researchers can enhance their understanding of MP pollution and contribute to effective mitigation strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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Other

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14 pages, 2702 KiB  
Protocol
Optimization of an Analytical Protocol for the Extraction of Microplastics from Seafood Samples with Different Levels of Fat
by Diogo M. Silva, C. Marisa R. Almeida, Francisco Guardiola, Sabrina M. Rodrigues and Sandra Ramos
Molecules 2022, 27(16), 5172; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27165172 - 13 Aug 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1782
Abstract
Marine organisms are affected by the ubiquitous occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the environment. Several protocols have been described to extract and quantify MPs in seafood, although their complex matrices, with high level of fat, can compromise the efficiency of MPs extraction. To [...] Read more.
Marine organisms are affected by the ubiquitous occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the environment. Several protocols have been described to extract and quantify MPs in seafood, although their complex matrices, with high level of fat, can compromise the efficiency of MPs extraction. To solve this issue, the present study aimed to develop a detailed methodology suitable to process seafood samples with different levels of fat, namely fish and molluscs, from fresh and canned sources, including the immersive liquids from the cans. Sample digestion was tested using different solutions (10% KOH, 30% H2O2), temperatures (40 °C, 65 °C) and incubation times (24, 48, 72 h). For fat removal, three detergents (two laboratory surfactants and a commercial dish detergent) and 96% ethanol were tested, as well as the manual separation of fat. The methodology optimized in this study combined a digestion with 30% H2O2 at 65 °C, during 24 to 48 h, with a manual separation of the fat remaining after the digestion. All steps from the present methodology were tested in six types of polymers (PE-LD, PET, PE, AC, PS, and lycra), to investigate if these procedures altered the integrity of MPs. Results showed that the optimized methodology will allow for the efficient processing of complex seafood samples with different fat levels, without compromising MPs integrity (recoveries rate higher than 89% for all the polymers tested). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Microplastics and Nanoplastics Analysis)
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