A reliable method to determine airborne microplastics using quantum cascade laser infrared spectrometry.

The number of studies dealing with airborne microplastics (MPs) is increasing but sampling and sample treatment are not standardized, yet. Here, a fast and reliable method to characterize MPs is presented. It involves the study of two passive sampling devices to collect atmospheric bulk deposition (wet and dry deposition) and three digestion methods (two alkaline-oxidative and an oxidative) to treat the samples.

Inhalation bioaccessibility estimation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from atmospheric particulate matter (PM): Influence of PM composition and health risk assessment.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) inhalation bioaccessibility was assessed in 65 atmospheric particulate matter samples (PM) collected at an Atlantic coastal European urban site. The proposed method consists on a physiologically based extraction (PBET) by using Gamble's solution followed by a vortex assisted liquid-liquid micro-extraction (VALLME) and quantification by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). The use of a micro-extraction technique combined with FLD detection, provides a simple, fast, sensitive, accurate and low-cost methodology to PAHs quantification in bioaccessible fractions.

The loleva oral and written language test: psychometric properties.

LolEva, a computerized test for ages 3 to 8 years old, identifies issues in the development of skills that can lead to reading acquisition difficulties. Its structure captures two distinct areas: Phonological Awareness (PA, seven subtests: rhyme, identification-addition-omission of syllable and phoneme at the beginning and end of a word), and Initial Reading Competence (IRC, six subtests: reading uppercase and lowercase letters, simple words, complex words, and pseudowords, and word segmentation). With results collected in a sample of 341 children with the target ages and attending public or private schools, the alpha coefficient was .