+443308187254Editorial - Journal of Research in Environmental Science and Toxicology ( 2022) Volume 11, Issue 6
Received: 31-Oct-2022, Manuscript No. JREST-22-83530; Editor assigned: 02-Nov-2022, Pre QC No. JREST-22-83530(PQ); Reviewed: 16-Nov-2022, QC No. JREST-22-83530; Revised: 21-Nov-2022, Manuscript No. JREST-22-83530 (R); Published: 28-Nov-2022, DOI: 10.14303/2315-5698.2022.10
(Selevan SG et al., 2000) By covalently linking their monomers, plastics, synthetic polymers, and their derivatives are produced from petrochemical-based raw materials. Due to their outstanding and adaptable properties—lightweight, flexibility, high stability, durability, and cost-effective mass production—plastics have entered our lives (Ma'ayan A et al., 2017). The simplicity in its acquisition empowers its boundless use, prompting its delivery into the climate. It is currently more harmful to the environment than it is beneficial(Darbon Jet al., 2016). Plastics are alarming because they pose a serious threat to the environment and biodiversity as a whole. Plastics are now well-known for their poor biodegradability, and the accumulation of this non-degradable material has become a serious issue (Nerbonne JM et al., 2005). An overwhelming piece of the yearly worldwide plastic creation, which roughly represents 58% of squanders, dirties the climate, as landfill dumps. Only 18% and 24%, respectively, of plastic waste are recycled or burned. Over time, the plastic waste from landfills goes through a series of degradations caused by natural processes like physical and chemical reactions (abiotic) and biological processes like microbial enzyme-mediated reactions (biotic). Through these cycles, the intricate plastic polymers are decreased to miniature and nano-sized particles, which actually will quite often hold their harmfulness or once in a while become considerably more poisonous contrasted with their mass partners(Klabunde RE et al., 2017). Particles with a diameter of less than 5 millimeters fall under the category of microparticles, while nanoplastic particles have diameters of less than 100 nanometers. Degraded plastic waste depicts the various environmental sources of microplastics because of their size and ease of transportation into freshwater and marine environments through atmospheric deposition, surface runoff, sewer overflows, and industrial effluents (Andra SS et al., 2016).
Measurement of the risk posed by microplastics to our natural environment and public health is necessary for effective management. Utilizing highly reproducible methods, this necessitates standardization, optimization, and quantification. Non-destructive collection, handling, separation, sample preparation, and positive microplastics identification require standard procedures (Modabbernia A et al., 2016). ASTM Worldwide has distributed norms for assortment (D8332) and readiness (D8333) of MPS. Focal plane array detection, thermogravimetric analysis– pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS), and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy are some of the leading technologies that are currently available for the purpose of identifying MPs. While spectroscopic methods count the number of plastic particles, mass-based concentrations are better at tracing the properties of smaller plastic particles (Austin C et al., 2013). Mass-based concentrations work much better, especially since spectroscopy still takes a long time and costs a lot of money. It also needs technical knowledge and expensive lab equipment (Kloog I et al., 2019). Although MS-based techniques also require skill, its ease of sample preparation, speed of analysis, and identification provide useful information on polymer types and mass per volume.
We examine how mass spectrometry can be used as an analytical tool to find microplastics in environmental, aquatic, and terrestrial samples in the following summary. The upcoming distances and milestones are discussed. The problems that prevent mass spectrometry from being used to its full potential for environmental microplastic detection and sensing are discussed, as are the application area gaps (Louwerse MM et al., 2012).
When it comes to the accurate characterization of MPs, MS is one of the quick and dependable analytical tools that reveals their polymer composition, additives, and organic toxic substances that are associated with them. It was discovered that gas chromatographic mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis of MPs dominated all MS methods. pyrolysis GC-MS (pyr-GC/MS) with Electron impact (EI+ 268, 70 eV) ionization as the analytical sensor detected the MPs extracted from the stomachs of 1381 marine fish from the Texas Gulf coast.
Using two freshwater invertebrates, such as Daphnia magna and Chironomus riparius larvae, which are used as zebrafish feed, trophical transfer of MPs and the toxicants that are adsorbed were studied in a model PMMA system with sorbent pollutant benzo(k)fluoranthene (BkF). The GC-MS study revealed that the MPs and BkF were detected in lower quantities in after BkF was extracted by gradient centrifugation, it was subjected to GC-MS for quantification. For the purpose of detecting PMMA-associated sorbent BkF, the GC-MS instrumentation conditions were as follows: Ionization by electron impact (EI) SIM at 250 and 252 scanning at 200°C for the source and quadrupole.
Using zebrafish models, the effects of adsorbed polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate MPs on the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos (CPF) and PAH (BkF) were also evaluated. The contaminant sorption and leaching of MPs in cryosections of test animals was investigated using GC-EIMS. According to the study, MPs that did not have pollutants adsorbed onto them did not show signs of toxicity. The morphological and behavioral changes caused by flexible polyvinylchloride (PVC) MPs, both with and without the plasticizer diisononylphthalate (DiNP), were studied in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna model system. Using butyl benzyl phthalate as an internal standard, this study used GC-MS to monitor PVC MPs and their plasticizers.
The author would like to acknowledge his Duzce University, China for their support during this work.
The author has no known conflicts of interested associated with this paper.