Plastics are increasingly being used in consumer products due to its versatility in many applications. However, these plastics may contain inorganic elements that may be harmful to humans. To determine any potential health risk of plastics, it was important to characterize elemental composition of plastics and assess usage patterns. To investigate plastic usage in a typical Jamaican household and to characterize the inorganic elements in consumer plastics using XRF analyzer. About 200 questionnaires were distributed to households to determine the types and quantity of plastics. A total of 130 plastic samples from 7 categories were collected and measured for inorganic elements using handheld XRF. Household plastics were mainly used for storage and personal hygiene products. On average, 10% of plastics were recycled, while 30% were burned. Inorganic elements present in plastic samples were Cl > Ti > Ba > Fe > Zn > Sb > Cr > Br > Cu > V > Pb > As. Elemental concentrations varied based on the category of plastics. Green plastics had the highest concentrations of each type of elements. This study provided useful information on characterizing the different types of elements present in common household plastics. Results from the survey were used to assess participants' attitude and behaviors towards plastics usage and disposal. It was important to obtain a profile of plastics waste from a typical household. This will allow for more targeted strategies to reduce plastics pollution.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19751-5 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Plant Coping with Cold Stress: Molecular and Physiological Adaptive Mechanisms with Future Perspectives.
Cells
January 2025
Henan Collaborative Innovation Centre of Modern Biological Breeding, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang 453003, China.
Cold stress strongly hinders plant growth and development. However, the molecular and physiological adaptive mechanisms of cold stress tolerance in plants are not well understood. Plants adopt several morpho-physiological changes to withstand cold stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSystematic characterization of faecal sludge from various sources for its use as a solid fuel.
Biomass Convers Biorefin
September 2023
Department of Water Supply, Sanitation and Environmental Engineering, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft, the Netherlands.
Faecal sludge (FS) is not extensively evaluated for its potential as a solid fuel mainly due to the general conception of its "highly variable characteristics" in relation to the wide range of on-site sanitation systems. An extensive and systematic FS characterization was therefore conducted on twenty-four samples collected directly from pit latrines, ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPs) and urine-diverting dehydrating toilets (UDDTs) at two depths to understand the impact on properties relevant for combustion. The higher heating value (HHV) for these samples lies between 13 to 22 MJ/kg DM (dry matter).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe fate and mobility of chromium, arsenic and zinc in municipal sewage sludge during the co-pyrolysis process with organic and inorganic chlorides.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran.
Co-pyrolysis is an efficient approach for municipal sewage sludge (SS) treatment, facilitating the production of biochar and promoting the stabilization and removal of heavy metals, particularly when combined with chlorinated materials. This study explores the impact of pyrolysis temperatures (400 °C and 600 °C) and chlorinated additives (polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as an organic chloride source and ferric chloride (FeCl) as an inorganic chloride source) at 10% and 20% concentrations, on the yield, chemical speciation, leachability, and ecological risks of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), and zinc (Zn) in biochar derived from SS. The results revealed that increasing the pyrolysis temperature from 400 to 600 °C significantly reduced biochar yield due to enhanced volatilization of organic components, as well as the removal of heavy metals in interaction with chlorinated materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeep soil contributions to global nitrogen budgets.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, USA.
Previous estimates of deep soil inorganic nitrogen (N) reservoirs have been mainly limited to desert soils, however, recent evidence suggests that deep soil pools are far more ubiquitous across biomes and therefore may be important for global N budgets. Here, we used observations from 280 deep soil profiles (2-205 m) across a wide array of ecosystem and land cover types to seek insight into the full geospatial variation of deep soil nitrate. Using a random forest machine learning approach we estimate a total deep soil nitrate pool of 15.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessment of environmental impacts of heavy metal pollution in rice in Nanning, China.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Nanning Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, 530021, Guangxi, China.
Nowadays rice has become one of the world's staple foods. Rice in southern China is also a staple food for everyone, however, with the development of China's industrialization model, many industrial areas may be contaminated by heavy metals, leading to contamination of the agricultural areas. With the development of recent years, Nanning has become a heavily industrial development area, and rice is also a favourite staple food.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!