Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", Technical University of Cartagena, Dr. Fleming sn, 30202 Cartagena, Spain.
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, E-30100 Murcia, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jan 15;856(Pt 2):159041. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159041. Epub 2022 Sep 26.
Microplastics have appeared as emerging pollutants due to the diverse applications of plastics in today's world. Growing evidence points to the negative impacts that airborne microplastics have on human health, as they can enter the human body through respiration. Our aim was to quantify polystyrene airborne microplastics in smaller fractions, thoracic (PM) and alveolar (PM), as they have scarcely been studied. In this work, we proposed a methodology based on thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry that requires minimal sample preparation and does not limit particle size. We applied this methodology to quantify the airborne polystyrene in PM and PM fractions in mass units of microplastics per m of air in an urban and agricultural region during the summer of 2021. The mean concentrations of polystyrene found in the PM and PM fractions were 2.09 and 1.81 ng m, respectively. Therefore, the majority of airborne polystyrene microplastics are found in the alveolar fraction which, is associated with severe cardiopulmonary and respiratory diseases. According to air mass backward trajectories, it was noted that the main sources of these emerging pollutants could be related to local agricultural practices.
由于塑料在当今世界的广泛应用，微塑料已成为新兴污染物。越来越多的证据表明，空气中的微塑料对人类健康有负面影响，因为它们可以通过呼吸进入人体。我们的目的是量化较小粒径的胸部分（PM）和肺泡部分（PM）的空气传播聚苯乙烯微塑料，因为它们几乎没有被研究过。在这项工作中，我们提出了一种基于热重分析与质谱联用的方法，该方法需要最少的样品制备，并且不限制颗粒大小。我们应用该方法来量化 2021 年夏季在城市和农业地区空气中 PM 和 PM 部分每立方米空气中以微克为单位的空气传播聚苯乙烯的含量。在 PM 和 PM 部分中发现的聚苯乙烯的平均浓度分别为 2.09 和 1.81 ng m。因此，大多数空气传播聚苯乙烯微塑料存在于肺泡部分，这与严重的心肺和呼吸道疾病有关。根据空气质量后向轨迹，这些新兴污染物的主要来源可能与当地农业活动有关。
