Circular economy and reduction of micro(nano)plastics contamination

Syberg, Kristian; Nielsen, Maria Bille; Oturai, Nikoline Bang; Clausen, Lauge Peter Westergaard; Ramos, Tiffany Marilou; Hansen, Steffen Foss

doi:10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100044

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…where Cn is the concentration (mg kg − 1 ) of individual metals of environmental interest (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Pb) and the metalloid As, and GB is the geochemical background concentration, calculated for the individual metals (V: 38.25 mg kg − 1 , Cr: 25.0 mg kg − 1 , Co: 8.75 mg kg − 1 , Ni: 24.0 mg kg − 1 , Cu: 13.25 mg kg − 1 , Zn: 58.5 mg kg − 1 , Cd: 0.14 mg kg − 1 , Hg: 0.04 mg kg − 1 , Pb: 27.0 mg kg − 1 , As: 8.0 mg kg − 1 ) based on the average values from 341 soil samples (64 floodplain silt substrates, 277 floodplain sand substrates) from Hessian floodplain soils [57]. As a second measure to assess a potential anthropogenic impact on metal concentrations, the "Enrichment factor" (EF) was calculated in order to (1)…”

Section: Statistics and Data Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The global contamination of the environment through plastics has led to worldwide detections of plastic in almost any environmental system, including marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments among others [1]. After an initial half-decade of investigation plastic contamination also in terrestrial systems and their soils, it has become clear that soils of different soil landscapes (soilscapes) contain far more plastics than perhaps previously assumed [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meso- and microplastic distribution and spatial connections to metal contaminations in highly cultivated and urbanised floodplain soilscapes – a case study from the Nidda River (Germany)

et al. 2022

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Floodplain soilscapes act as temporary sinks in the environment and are nowadays affected by multiple contaminant accumulations and exposures, including different trace metals and plastics. Despite increasing knowledge about the occurrence and behaviour of plastics at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial systems, there are still major uncertainties about the spatial distribution of plastics, their sources and deposition, as well as spatial relationships with other contaminants. Our recent case study addresses these questions, using the example of a river system ranging from rural to urban areas. Based on a geospatial sampling approach we obtained data about soil properties, metal contents via ICP-MS analyses, and particle-based (171 μm – 52 mm) plastic contents, analysed using sodium chloride density separation, visual fluorescence identification and ATR-FTIR analysis. We found plastic contents of 0.00–35.82 p kg− 1 and zero to moderate metal enrichments. Levels of both contaminations occur in the lower range of known concentrations in floodplain soils and show a different spatial distribution along the river course and in the floodplain cross-section. Furthermore, we found that plastic enrichment occurs in the uppermost soil layers, while trace metal enrichment is equally distributed over depth, indicating different sources like flood dynamics and agricultural practice during different deposition periods. Finally, direct short to long-term anthropogenic impacts, like floodplain restoration or tillage may affect plastic enrichments, raising questions for future research directions within floodplain soilscapes.

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Section: Statistics and Data Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meso- and microplastic distribution and spatial connections to metal contaminations in highly cultivated and urbanised floodplain soilscapes – a case study from the Nidda River (Germany)

et al. 2022

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“…Modern challenges are related to the limited amount of fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions directly related to the consumption of fossil fuels in various forms [1], as well as the improvement of waste management policies towards the circular economy [2]. For this reason, it is necessary to take quick, decisive and wise steps to use renewable energy (RE) sources, such as biomass, to generate clean energy, as well as improve waste management by using different types of waste, such as RE, and minimizing the waste resulting from their production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Properties of Residue from Gasification of Biomass Wastes

et al. 2022

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Thermochemical conversion of biomass waste is a high potential option for increasing usage of renewable energy sources and transferring wastes into the circular economy. This work focuses on the evaluation of the energetic and adsorption properties of solid residue (char) of the gasification process. Gasification experiments of biomass wastes (wheat straw, hay and pine sawdust) were carried out in a vertical fixed bed reactor, under a CO2 atmosphere and at various temperatures (800, 900 and 1000 °C). The analysis of the energy properties of the obtained chars included elemental and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. TGA results indicated that the chars have properties similar to those of coal; subjected data were used to calculate key combustion parameters. As part of the analysis of adsorption properties, BET, SEM, FTIR and dynamic methanol vapor sorption tests were conducted. The specific surface area has risen from 0.42–1.91 m2/g (biomass) to 419–891 m2/g (char). FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the influence of gasification on the decomposition of characteristic chemical compounds for biomass. Methanol sorption has revealed for the 900 °C chars of pine sawdust the highest sorption capacity and its mass change was 24.15% at P/P0 = 90%. Selected chars might be an appropriate material for volatile organic compounds sorption.

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“…Plastics within the soil environment can be defined as human-made, polymeric, solid and insoluble materials that are released within the environment during their production, each step of their product life-cycles or later deposition (e.g., landfills) (5)(6)(7). Most frequent produced and used plastic materials are thermoplastics including polymers like Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) or Polyethylene tephraphalate (PET, e.g., PET-bottles) (8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore it becomes clear that potentially each soil worldwide, but especially soils under agricultural usage, can contain significant amounts of plastics in different size ranges (4,21,23). Within this context and the assumed ongoing increase of global plastic production with a doubling of recent production rates by 2030 (5), it is likely that large quantities of plastics will be continuously released to soil environments despite extensive policy measures (5,32). A first indication for this future phenomenon, was already investigated through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, leading to an increased input of plastics into the environment through the global increased demand of single-use plastics (SUPs, e.g., packaging plastics, face masks) and littering of those SUPs (33).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastics in soil description and surveys – practical considerations and field guide

Weber

2022

Front. Soil Sci.

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A growing evidence base has shown that plastics are widely distributed in soils and could have negative effects on soil functions. However, within international standards for soil description, plastics are handled so far as one part of human-made artefacts. With the ongoing plastic crisis, such a simple classification may no longer be sufficient to provide a satisfactory description of plastics in soils. Based on the latest research on plastics in soils, these foreign components can no longer be understood as relevant only for soils in urban, industrial, traffic, mining and military areas. This perspective therefore aims to suggest a possible approach towards a future and more comprehensive description of plastics in soil characterization. Based on the existing definitions within the international soil description standards, a description concept and a corresponding field guide are proposed. The proposed approach comprises a recent definition of plastics and guidelines for the description of visible plastic residues in soils during field work. Classification approaches are developed for plastics abundance and distribution as well as plastic characteristics. Furthermore, pitfalls during the description, as well as during the extraction of plastics from soils in the field, and further limitations are discussed. Basic soil description during soil surveys or soil mapping, are a strong tool of soil science to derive environmental data sets. The perspective and the field guide presented in this paper are intended to change this circumstance and enable soil scientists to describe plastic residues in soils simple, comparable and adapted to existing standards in future.

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Circular economy and reduction of micro(nano)plastics contamination

Cited by 17 publications

References 20 publications

Meso- and microplastic distribution and spatial connections to metal contaminations in highly cultivated and urbanised floodplain soilscapes – a case study from the Nidda River (Germany)

Meso- and microplastic distribution and spatial connections to metal contaminations in highly cultivated and urbanised floodplain soilscapes – a case study from the Nidda River (Germany)

Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Properties of Residue from Gasification of Biomass Wastes

Plastics in soil description and surveys – practical considerations and field guide

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