Combining microcavity size selection with Raman microscopy for the characterization of Nanoplastics in complex matrices

Valsesia, Andrea; Quarato, Monica; Ponti, Jessica; Fumagalli, Francesco; Gilliland, Douglas; Colpo, Pascal

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79714-z

Cited by 21 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Even so, the characteristic Raman fingerprint of NPs can be masked by laser-induced fluorescence originating from complex biomatrices surrounding the NPs or due to the effects of ageing. Valsesia et al [72] recently proposed a novel approach to isolating nano-sized MPs from biological tissue and subsequently enable detection on a chip by way of µ-Raman analysis. After simplifying the biological matrix via enzymatic digestion, they identified the suspension of MPs on nano-engineered surfaces composed of cavity arrays designed to selectively entrap individual sub-micron nanoparticles.…”

Section: Generation Of Mps 321 Mps Generated From Biodegradable Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradable plastics in aquatic ecosystems: latest findings, research gaps, and recommendations

Ribba

Lopretti

Oca-Vásquez³

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Plastic accumulation's negative impact on aquatic ecosystems is a known and undeniable problem. Much of the scientific community's efforts are focused on the effects of the most common commodity plastics, but the consequences of the so-called biodegradable plastics in these ecosystems have been little discussed. Although their biodegradable characteristic generates the widespread belief that they are harmless to the environment, it has been proven many years ago that this property cannot be taken lightly. The material´s end-of-life fate is critical to classify it as biodegradable or not. In this context, many plastics classified as biodegradable do not meet the requirements of norms and standards to be considered biodegradable in aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, during the last five years, the scientific community has shown that they can give rise to the formation of bio-microplastics during their degradation, which can have similar effects to those of conventional microplastics or even worse. This review will detail all recent information regarding how biodegradable plastics can influence aquatic ecosystems, causing adverse health effects in living beings or acting as vectors of chemical pollutants. Besides, the key points that must be addressed in greater depth will be identified, including the need to consider a greater variety of biodegradable plastics and develop systematic methods that allow quantifying and identifying the remains of these pollutants in living species. Another aspect to consider is the dynamics of arrival and mobilization of microplastics in the oceans. It should be studied how small animals fed by filterings, such as red crabs and other zooplankton organisms, move the microplastic through the water column and get into food webs. These particles are mistakenly ingested by the number of species at different trophic levels, where bioaccumulation in tissues must be considered a toxicity factor. Finally, a series of recommendations and future perspectives will be listed.

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Section: Generation Of Mps 321 Mps Generated From Biodegradable Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradable plastics in aquatic ecosystems: latest findings, research gaps, and recommendations

Ribba

Lopretti

Oca-Vásquez³

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…To the best of our knowledge, eight studies to date have proposed different methodologies to achieve this goal [ 32 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ] ( Table 3 ). All these studies utilized non-properly ‘environmental’ organisms, since all samples were collected from local markets [ 32 , 47 , 48 ] or directly from farms [ 49 , 50 ].…”

Section: Exposure Assessment: Detection Of Nps In Environmental Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Correia and Loeschner [ 49 ] compared acid degradation (HNO 3 ) with enzymatic digestion (proteinase K) in muscle tissues of fish samples and demonstrated that the former approach led to NP aggregation and subsequent hindrance in the extractive steps, whilst the latter could overcome these analytical issues. Furthermore, a recently proposed enzymatic digestion protocol [ 57 ] has shown satisfactory results for NPs extraction from biological matrices [ 32 , 52 ].…”

Section: Exposure Assessment: Detection Of Nps In Environmental Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoplastics: Status and Knowledge Gaps in the Finalization of Environmental Risk Assessments

Masseroni

Rizzi

Urani

et al. 2022

Toxics

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Nanoplastics (NPs) are particles ranging in size between 1 and 1000 nm, and they are a form of environmental contaminant of great ecotoxicological concern. Although NPs are widespread across ecosystems, they have only recently garnered growing attention from both the scientific community and regulatory bodies. The present study reviews scientific literature related to the exposure and effects of NPs and identifies research gaps that impede the finalization of related environmental risk assessments (ERAs). Approximately 80 articles published between 2012 and 2021 were considered. Very few studies (eight articles) focused on the presence of NPs in biotic matrices, whereas the majority of the studies (62 articles) assessed the lethal and sublethal effects of NPs on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Whilst many studies focused on nude NPs, only a few considered their association with different aggregates. Amongst NPs, the effects of polystyrene are the most extensively reported to date. Moreover, the effects of NPs on aquatic organisms are better characterized than those on terrestrial organisms. NP concentrations detected in water were close to or even higher than the sublethal levels for organisms. An ERA framework specifically tailored to NPs is proposed.

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“…To our knowledge, working with particles immobilised by adhesives to obtain quantitative measurements has not been performed so far. A related approach was developed recently for measuring PS nanoplastic spheres, where etched cavities in Si wafers were serving as a nanofabricated grid [56]. Particles placed in suspension on the cavity array were assembling by capillary forces and thus temporarily arrested for subsequent material and size determination using Raman spectroscopy.…”

Section: Comparison Of Experimental Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring impacts of microplastic treatments via image recognition on immobilised particles below 100 μm

et al. 2021

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The treatment of samples for microplastic (MP) analysis requires purification steps that sufficiently reduce the non-MP content while preserving the targeted particles integrity. Besides their macromolecular structure this also encompasses their in situ numbers and sizes. However, any step of sample manipulation will come at a cost: particle loss, fragmentation, coagulation or degradation may lead to distorted results, predominantly in the smaller fraction of the MP size range. Therefore, the evaluation of MP resistivity against applied methods such as chemical digestions is a vital criterion for obtaining meaningful results on MP content of a sample. We developed a framework to test the applicability of MP purification methods and apply it to four protocols commonly used to prepare environmental samples for MP particle identification. The approach was designed for MP particles being too small to be handled manually (i.e. 10–70 μm). The evaluation consists of a two-tiered assay: a simple particle suspension approach is used to confirm a post-treatment qualitative recognisability of the target polymers by the analysis method of choice (here Raman and FTIR). In a following quantitative part, immobilised particles are used to evaluate the preservation of particle numbers and areas after the treatment on an individual particle level. A Python image analysis package was written that identifies, matches and measures particles on pairs of pre- and post-treatment images, and is available as open source software. Our results show that the chemical digestions using hydrogen peroxide, cooled Fenton’s and a combined alkaline / oxidative treatment using potassium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite are suitable methods for preparing MP samples for a microspectroscopic analyses. Also acidic sodium polytungstate solution used for MP density separations and a pentane based protocol for lipid removal were found applicable for small sized MP. Certain degradative effects were found when acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is exposed to acidic treatments, as well as for MP from acrylate and epoxy based paint resins in strong oxidative regimes. Several paint resins tested here were spectroscopically not identifiable by polymer attributed bands even before treatment, indicating that these materials might slip through analyses of environmental samples and consequently being underreported. We conclude that evaluating chemical treatment procedures on MP < 100 μm is feasible, despite limitations of the current methodology which we discuss. Our results provide more certainty on the tested methods for MP studies specifically targeting small sizes and should be extended for more protocols used in MP laboratory practises.

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Combining microcavity size selection with Raman microscopy for the characterization of Nanoplastics in complex matrices

Cited by 21 publications

References 31 publications

Biodegradable plastics in aquatic ecosystems: latest findings, research gaps, and recommendations

Biodegradable plastics in aquatic ecosystems: latest findings, research gaps, and recommendations

Nanoplastics: Status and Knowledge Gaps in the Finalization of Environmental Risk Assessments

Measuring impacts of microplastic treatments via image recognition on immobilised particles below 100 μm

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