Galea Jack, Agius Anastasi Anthea, Briffa Sophie M
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, Msida MSD2080, Malta.
ACS Omega. 2024 Aug 7;9(33):35627-35633. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c03735. eCollection 2024 Aug 20.
Microplastics are an ever-growing concern in the environment. Their degradation may lead to greater absorption of toxic pollutants, which may ultimately pose a threat to human health. In the pursuit of understanding microplastics' fate, behavior, and toxicity, there is a vital need to understand their aging and weathering. For this, multiple weathering setup designs were put forward. However, standardization of a weathering setup presents a significant challenge to the field due to apparatus costs, wide range of experimental parameters, or the lack of detailed reporting. This work seeks to make much-needed data gathering more accessible by constructing a low-cost weathering chamber that simulates Mediterranean shore conditions. The weathering chamber incorporates UV irradiation, mechanical abrasion, and elevated temperatures. After extensive preliminary testing, the chamber was able to achieve the desired outcome along with UV-A irradiance values, which were similar to those in the Mediterranean.
微塑料在环境中日益受到关注。它们的降解可能导致对有毒污染物的更大吸收，这最终可能对人类健康构成威胁。在致力于了解微塑料的归宿、行为和毒性的过程中，迫切需要了解它们的老化和风化情况。为此，人们提出了多种风化装置设计。然而，由于设备成本、实验参数范围广泛或缺乏详细报告，风化装置的标准化给该领域带来了重大挑战。这项工作旨在通过构建一个模拟地中海海岸条件的低成本风化箱，使急需的数据收集工作更加容易进行。该风化箱结合了紫外线照射、机械磨损和高温。经过广泛的初步测试，该风化箱能够达到预期效果，同时紫外线-A辐照度值与地中海地区的相似。
