Ge Xiang, Luo Weisheng, Ge Jiali, He Benyu, Du Bibai, Yi Huan, Zeng Lixi
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, School of Environment and Climate, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China.
College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2025 Jul 29;59(29):15398-15407. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5c05344. Epub 2025 Jul 16.
Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) are new pollutants derived from emissions from liquid crystal displays (LCDs). In recent years, environmental and health concerns on LCMs have mainly focused on nematic and smectic LCMs. However, information regarding cholesteric LCMs in the environment remains lacking. Herein, we made the first comprehensive screening of cholesteric LCMs in e-waste dust. Target analysis uncovered the presence of 28 cholesteric LCMs in dust samples, including 14 fatty acid cholesteryl esters (FACEs), 9 alkyl carbonate cholesteryl esters (ACCEs), and 5 other-type cholesteryl esters. According to the analogous characteristics of FACEs, a suspect screening framework identified an additional 43 long-chain FACEs. Overall, 71 cholesteric LCMs were identified, with 30 detected in >50% of samples. The median and highest values of their sum concentrations were 94.3 and 1880 ng/g, respectively. FACEs emerged as the dominant group, with long-chain FACEs, particularly FACEs (18:0), exhibiting significantly more abundance than short-chain and medium-chain FACEs. In silico predictive modeling revealed that most of these newly identified cholesteric LCMs exhibited medium-to-high estrogenic/androgenic activities. Our findings confirm cholesteric LCMs as another abundant class of LCD-derived new pollutants in the environment and highlight the need to include these new chemicals in the future risk assessment of LCMs.
液晶单体（LCMs）是源自液晶显示器（LCDs）排放的新型污染物。近年来，对LCMs的环境和健康关注主要集中在向列型和近晶型LCMs上。然而，关于环境中胆甾型LCMs的信息仍然缺乏。在此，我们首次对电子垃圾灰尘中的胆甾型LCMs进行了全面筛查。目标分析发现灰尘样品中存在28种胆甾型LCMs，包括14种脂肪酸胆固醇酯（FACEs）、9种碳酸烷基酯胆固醇酯（ACCEs）和5种其他类型的胆固醇酯。根据FACEs的类似特征，一个可疑筛查框架识别出另外43种长链FACEs。总体而言，共识别出71种胆甾型LCMs，其中30种在超过50%的样品中被检测到。它们的总浓度中位数和最高值分别为94.3和1880 ng/g。FACEs成为主要类别，长链FACEs，特别是FACEs（18:0），比短链和中链FACEs表现出明显更高的丰度。计算机模拟预测模型显示，这些新识别出的胆甾型LCMs中的大多数表现出中到高的雌激素/雄激素活性。我们的研究结果证实胆甾型LCMs是环境中另一类丰富的LCD衍生新型污染物，并强调在未来LCMs的风险评估中需要纳入这些新化学物质。
