Plasticisers in the terrestrial environment: sources, occurrence and fate

Billings, Alex; Jones, Kevin C.; Pereira, M. Glória; Spurgeon, David J.

doi:10.1071/en21033

Cited by 41 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…Although the addition of plasticizers to PLA is an accepted method to improve its mechanical properties, plasticizers are prone to migration and leaching out of the blend as they are not covalently bound to the polymer backbone . This compromises the integrity of the product and can lead to widespread environmental contamination and potential human exposure. , Consequently, the investigation of plasticizer accumulation in the environment as well as the health effects of plasticizer exposure on both humans , and animals remains an area of active research. To date, there have been numerous plasticizers developed for the production of flexible PLA including but not limited to citrate esters, polyethylene glycol analogues, levulinic acids, tartaric acids, malic acids, and functionalized epoxidized soybean oils .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Flexible Polylactide Food Packaging Plasticized with Nontoxic, Biosourced Glycerol Plasticizers

Halloran

Danielczak

Nicell

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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Polylactide (PLA) is a promising biosourced and biodegradable polymer substitute for traditional petroleum-based products. Despite its recognized potential, its widespread adoption is restricted by its brittleness and low ductility and, thus, to enhance its material properties, plasticizers must be blended with PLA to lower the glass transition temperature (T g) and impart flexibility into the blend. As such, this work focused on the synthesis of a family of biosourced plasticizers for applications in flexible food packaging using glycerol, succinic anhydride, and alcohols of varying chain lengths. The effect of the chemical structure on plasticization performance, migration, blend morphology, and toxicity was evaluated and compared to the commercial plasticizer acetyl tributyl citrate. Plasticizer/PLA blends were prepared using solvent-casting as well as melt-mixing to produce thin films and bulk specimens. At loadings of 20 wt %, improved flexibility (up to 435% elongation) was observed in films with the glycerol plasticizers relative to neat PLA (6% elongation), while T g’s were reduced by up to 45 °C from that of neat PLA (T g ∼ 60 °C). Phase morphologies evaluated with scanning electron microscopy showed good incorporation of the plasticizers into the PLA matrix. Leaching behavior of the plasticized blends was evaluated in different food simulants and showed that plasticizers composed of branched or longer alkyl chains produced two- to sixfold lower migration rates compared to those with short alkyl chains. Finally, plasticizer candidates were shown to be nontoxic and did not impact HepG2 cell viability over a period of 7 days in an in vitro mammalian cell assay.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Flexible Polylactide Food Packaging Plasticized with Nontoxic, Biosourced Glycerol Plasticizers

Halloran

Danielczak

Nicell

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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“…Compounds common to this factor include di-isobutyl phthalate and diethyl phthalateplasticizers which have been measured in dust in homes, child-care facilities and salons in the United States [70]-and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, which is produced by the microbial degradation of plasticizers [71]. Plasticizers are generally used to make products more flexible and the phthalate class of compounds is widely used to this end [72]. This factor also had high loadings of (1R)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo [2.2.1] heptan-2-one (aka D-camphor) and pentadecane; pentadecane and camphor isomers have been associated with plastic products [73].…”

Section: Factor 8: Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pilot Study to Quantify Volatile Organic Compounds and Their Sources Inside and Outside Homes in Urban India in Summer and Winter during Normal Daily Activities

et al. 2022

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Indian cities have some of the poorest air quality globally but volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—many of which adversely affect health—and their indoor sources remain understudied in India. In this pilot study we quantified hundreds of VOCs inside and outside 26 homes in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in May 2019 and in January 2020. We sampled in the morning and afternoon/evening to capture temporal variability. Total indoor VOCs were measured at higher concentrations in winter (327.0 ± 224.2 µgm−3) than summer (150.1 ± 121.0 µgm−3) and exceeded those measured outdoors. Using variable reduction techniques, we identified potential sources of compounds (cooking, plastics [with an emphasis on plasticizers], consumer products, siloxanes [as used in the production of consumer products], vehicles). Contributions differed by season and between homes. In May, when temperatures were high, plastics contributed substantially to indoor pollution (mean of 42% contribution to total VOCs) as compared to in January (mean of 4%). Indoor cooking and consumer products contributed on average 29% and 10% to all VOCs indoors in January and 16% and 4% in May. Siloxane sources contributed <4% to any home during either season. Cooking contributed substantially to outdoor VOCs (on average 18% in January and 11% in May) and vehicle-related sources accounted for up to 84% of VOCs in some samples. Overall, results indicate a strong seasonal dependence of indoor VOC concentrations and sources, underscoring the need to better understand factors driving health-harming pollutants inside homes to facilitate exposure reductions.

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“…Moreover, conventional methods for chemical characterization of total burdens and available fractions of such compounds in soils are more readily accessible and routinely employed, while analytical techniques for emerging contaminants may pose additional challenges and necessitate specific tuning. This could limit the applicability of triad for novel soil threats, such as the emerging issue of microplastics and associated chemicals in the terrestrial environment (Billings et al, 2021). It can also be argued that for chemical substances of emerging concern the scientific interest in their fate and effects is still growing, which leaves chemical and toxicological methods currently open for implementation and standardization.…”

Section: Study Area and Contamination Typementioning

confidence: 99%

State of the Art of Triad-Based Ecological Risk Assessment: Current Limitations and Needed Implementations in the Case of Soil Diffuse Contamination

Grassi

Lamy

Pucheux

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Soils can be sinks of pollutant mixtures, whose effects on terrestrial ecosystems are not of obvious interpretation. Risk assessment is rather codified and many approaches can be used. Nevertheless, there are still uncertainties remaining when dealing with diffuse pollution, including chronic inputs of low, sublethal, concentrations of mixtures of micropollutants. In this paper, we reviewed through a comprehensive literature analysis one of the latest promising methodologies, the triad approach, in order to understand its area of application in terrestrial ecosystems, the ways of applicability and the reported actual usage. In the case of diffuse pollution, where all the criteria of the triad approach can differ in their indication, we show that some improvements have to be made in either the chemical, ecological or ecotoxicological approaches to be able to clearly identify the risk and to address the uncertainties linked to the low, sublethal contents of contaminants.

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Plasticisers in the terrestrial environment: sources, occurrence and fate

Cited by 41 publications

References 151 publications

Highly Flexible Polylactide Food Packaging Plasticized with Nontoxic, Biosourced Glycerol Plasticizers

Highly Flexible Polylactide Food Packaging Plasticized with Nontoxic, Biosourced Glycerol Plasticizers

A Pilot Study to Quantify Volatile Organic Compounds and Their Sources Inside and Outside Homes in Urban India in Summer and Winter during Normal Daily Activities

State of the Art of Triad-Based Ecological Risk Assessment: Current Limitations and Needed Implementations in the Case of Soil Diffuse Contamination

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