The presence of micro and nanoplastics in the food chain constitutes an emergent multifactorial food safety and physiological stress problem, which must be approached with a strategic perspective since it affects public health when consuming products that have this pollutant, such as fish and crustaceans, fruits, and vegetables. In this review, the authors present the results by scientists from different disciplines who are dedicated to discovering their chemical constitution and origin, the contents of these microparticles in edible plants, the contamination of water-irrigated soils, the mechanisms that concentrate microplastics in these soils, methods to determine them, contamination of freshwater sources of cities, and the negative effect of nano and microplastics on various food products and their detrimental impact on the environment. Recent findings of plant uptake mechanisms complement this, but more research is needed.

This work reports on the electrochemical kinetic analysis of carbon steel powders produced during the milling of carbon steel chips for 2, 3, and 5 h under an air atmosphere in a high-energy ball miller. This work aims to fill the gap in the literature regarding the transformation processes that affect carbon steel powder production. This information can be crucial for specific powder metallurgy systems. The results obtained using the Rietveld refinement method showed a decrease in the crystallite size, an increase in the microstrain, and no changes in the lattice parameter with the milling process. The electrochemical results revealed a strong influence of anodic electroactivity with milling time in NaCl solution, in contrast with NaOH, where the influence of the milling process was not significant. These results clearly show the significant role of chloride ions in preventing the formation of a passive film in milling with NaCl solution and in contrast to the formation of a passive film that notoriously inhibits both the anodic and cathodic reactions in milling with NaOH solution. The novelty of this work lies in the experimental demonstration of milling’s influence on the surface properties of carbon steel powders that directly affect their electrochemical response.

The presence of ultrafine clay particles that are difficult to remove by conventional filtration creates many operational problems in mining processing systems. In this work, the removal of clay suspensions has been investigated using an electroflotation (EF) process with titanium electrodes. The results show that EF is a viable and novel alternative for removing ultrafine particles of kaolinite-type clay present in sedimentation tank overflows with low salt concentrations (<0.1 mol/L) in copper mining facilities based on the saline water splitting concept. Maximum suspended solid removal values of 91.4 and 83.2% in NaCl and KCl solutions, respectively, were obtained under the experimental conditions of the constant applied potential of 20 V/SHE, salinity concentration of 0.1 mol/L, and electroflotation time of 10 and 20 min in NaCl and KCl solutions, respectively. Furthermore, the visual evidence of particle aggregation by flocculation during the experiments indicates a synergy between EF and electrocoagulation (EC) that enhances the removal of ultrafine particles of kaolinite.

Analytical models are of vital importance to study the dynamics of complex systems, including the heap leaching process. In this work, a methodology to study the dynamics of copper recovery in the heap leaching by means of fit of analytical models that capture the leaching dynamics product of variations of leaching agents as a function of the feeding is proposed, establishing a first mode of operation keeping the leaching agent fixed (H2SO4) and a second operation mode, where Cl− is added to accelerate the reaction kinetics of sulfide minerals (secondary sulfides). Mineral recovery was modeled for the different modes of operation, dependent on the independent variables/control parameters time, heap height, leach flow rate, and feed granulometry. The results indicate that the recovery of ore from sulfide minerals is proportional to the addition of Cl−, reaching recovery levels of approximately 60%, very close to 65% recovery in conventional oxide leaching, using only H2SO4 as leaching agent. Additionally, high copper recoveries from sulfide ores are achieved at medium Cl− concentrations, but the increase in recovery at high Cl− concentrations is marginal.

Carbon steel AISI 1020 was exposed to environmental conditions along a transect of the Atacama Desert to gather experimental evidence to identify the local atmospheric mechanism that triggers corrosion through a buildup of water layer formation on the metal surface in addition to corrosion evolution. Coupons initially left in selected sites were periodically collected to determine weight loss and surface attributes by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. In addition, meteorological conditions were measured in addition to a fog water collector in one site. During the study period, the predominant conditions were the absence of rain, clear skies, and large daily oscillations in temperature and relative humidity. The evidence indicates a water film formation on a metal surface either from a vertical water flux as fog water droplets and/or by the dew water harvesting mechanism. The uptakes of oxygen and chlorides during the corrosion process were highest in the coastal site P0 and gradually decreased with the increasing distance from the coast. This is attributed to both humidity and saline marine fog intrusion from the coast. The oxide layer evolved to form a compact layer with main constituents of lepidocrocite, goethite, and lesser amounts of akageneite. The corrosion depth can be modelled by a simple power function d=AtB with B < 1, indicating a deceleration process.