Microplastic concentrations, size distribution, and polymer types in the surface waters of a northern European lake

Practitioner points • Samples were taken with a manta trawl (333 μm) and a pump filtration system (300/100/20 μm) • With pump filtration, small 20–300 μm particles were more common than >300 μm particles • The average concentration of manta trawled samples was 0.27 ± 0.18 (mean ± SD) microplastics/m3 • FTIR analysis revealed PE, PP, PET, and PAN to be the most common polymersWe examined microplastic concentrations, size distributions, and polymer types in surface waters of a northern European dimictic lake. Two sampling methods, a pump sieving water onto filters with different pore sizes (20, 100, and 300 µm) and a common manta trawl (333 µm), were utilized to sample surface water from 12 sites at the vicinity of potential sources for microplastic emissions. The number and polymer types of microplastics in the samples were determined with optical microscopy and μFTIR spectroscopy. The average concentrations were 0.27 ± 0.18 (mean ± SD) microplastics/m3 in manta trawled samples and 1.8 ± 2.3 (>300 μm), 12 ± 17 (100–300 μm) and 155 ± 73 (20–100 μm) microplastics/m3 in pump filtered samples. The majority (64%) of the identified microplastics (n = 168) were fibers, and the rest were fragments. Materials were identified as polymers commonly used in consumer products, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Microplastic concentrations were high near the discharge pipe of a wastewater treatment plant, harbors, and snow dumping site

Microplastic concentrations, size distribution, and polymer types in the surface waters of a northern European lake

Practitioner points • Samples were taken with a manta trawl (333 μm) and a pump filtration system (300/100/20 μm) • With pump filtration, small 20–300 μm particles were more common than >300 μm particles • The average concentration of manta trawled samples was 0.27 ± 0.18 (mean ± SD) microplastics/m3 • FTIR analysis revealed PE, PP, PET, and PAN to be the most common polymersWe examined microplastic concentrations, size distributions, and polymer types in surface waters of a northern European dimictic lake. Two sampling methods, a pump sieving water onto filters with different pore sizes (20, 100, and 300 µm) and a common manta trawl (333 µm), were utilized to sample surface water from 12 sites at the vicinity of potential sources for microplastic emissions. The number and polymer types of microplastics in the samples were determined with optical microscopy and μFTIR spectroscopy. The average concentrations were 0.27 ± 0.18 (mean ± SD) microplastics/m3 in manta trawled samples and 1.8 ± 2.3 (>300 μm), 12 ± 17 (100–300 μm) and 155 ± 73 (20–100 μm) microplastics/m3 in pump filtered samples. The majority (64%) of the identified microplastics (n = 168) were fibers, and the rest were fragments. Materials were identified as polymers commonly used in consumer products, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Microplastic concentrations were high near the discharge pipe of a wastewater treatment plant, harbors, and snow dumping site

The pursuit of resin-dentin bond durability : Simultaneous enhancement of collagen structure and polymer network formation in hybrid layers

Objective. Imperfect polymer formation as well as collagen's susceptibility to enzymatic-degradation increase the vulnerability of hybrid layers over time. This study investigated the effect of new dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-containing pretreatments on long-term bond strength, hybrid layer quality, monomer conversion and collagen structure. Methods. H3PO4-etched mid-coronal dentin surfaces from extracted human molars (n = 8) were randomly treated with aqueous and ethanolic DMSO solutions or following the ethanol-wet bonding technique. Dentin bonding was performed with a three-step etch-and-rinse adhesive. Resin-dentin beams (0.8 mm(2)) were stored in artificial saliva at 37 degrees C for 24 h and 2.5 years, submitted to microtensile bond strength testing at 0.5 mm/min and semi-quantitative SEM nanoleakage analysis (n = 8). Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the degree of conversion at different depths in the hybrid layer (n = 6). Changes in the apparent modulus of elasticity of demineralized collagen beams measuring 0.5 x 1.7 x 7 mm (n = 10) and loss of dry mass (n = 10) after 30 days were calculated via three-point bending and precision weighing, respectively. Results. DMSO-containing pretreatments produced higher bond strengths, which did not change significantly over time presenting lower incidence of water-filled zones. Higher uniformity in monomer conversion across the hybrid layer occurred for all pretreatments. DMSO-induced collagen stiffening was reversible in water, but with lower peptide solubilization. Significance. Improved polymer formation and higher stability of the collagen-structure can be attributed to DMSO's unique ability to simultaneously modify both biological and resin components within the hybrid layer. Pretreatments composed of DMSO/ethanol may be a viable-effective alternative to extend the longevity of resin-dentin bonds. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Academy of Dental Materials.Peer reviewe

Microplastics accumulate to thin layers in the stratified Baltic Sea

Highlights • Microplastic (MP) concentrations were high in halo- and thermoclines. • In stratified seawater, the water column can contain more MPs than surface water. • MPs did not sink according to the densities of virgin plastics.In the Baltic Sea, water is stratified due to differences in density and salinity. The stratification prevents water from mixing, which could affect sinking rates of microplastics in the sea. We studied the accumulation of microplastics to halocline and thermocline. We sampled water with a 100 μm plankton net from vertical transects between halo- and thermocline, and a 30 L water sampler from the end of halocline and the beginning of thermocline. Thereafter, microplastics in the whole sample volumes were analyzed with imaging Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The plankton net results showed that water column between halo- and thermoclines contained on average 0.92 ± 0.61 MP m−3 (237 ± 277 ng/m−3; mean ± SD), whereas the 30 L samples from the end of halocline and the beginning of thermocline contained 0.44 ± 0.52 MP L−1 (106 ± 209 ng L−1). Hence, microplastics are likely to accumulate to thin layers in the halocline and thermocline. The vast majority of the found microplastics were polyethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate, which are common plastic types. We did not observe any trend between the density of microplastics and the sampling depth, probably because biofilm formation affected the sinking rates of the particles. Our results indicate the need to sample deeper water layers in addition to surface waters at least in the stratified water bodies to obtain a comprehensive overview of the abundance of microplastics in the aquatic environment

Sediment trapping – An attempt to monitor temporal variation of microplastic flux rates in aquatic systems

ediment trapping as a tool to monitor microplastic influx was tested in an urban boreal lake basin. The one-year-long trap monitoring consisted of 5-month and 7-month periods representing growing season and winter season (including the spring flood event), respectively. Sediment accumulation rate (SAR), and organic content were determined, highest SAR – 14.5 g/m2/d – was measured during the winter period. Microplastics were extracted from the sediment applying heavy-liquid density separation method and collected under a microscope for further identification with FTIR spectroscopy. PE was identified as the most abundant synthetic polymer type, while PP and PET are also present. The annual microplastic flux rate is 32 400 pieces/m2/year, and highest accumulation does not coincide with the highest SAR, but occurs during the growing season. Changes in the microplastic accumulation rates are related to seasonal conditions. Highest microplastic concentration with respect to dry sediment weight (10 200 pieces/kg) was observed in a growing season sample, while highest concentration with respect to sediment volume (1800 pieces/l) was observed during winter. This finding underlines the problems related to reporting microplastic concentrations in various units. The results highlight that sediment trap monitoring is an efficient tool for monitoring microplastic accumulation rate in aquatic environments and provides an opportunity to better understand and define processes controlling microplastic accumulation.</p

Particle balance and return loops for microplastics in a tertiary-level wastewater treatment plant

Highlights: Dewatering by centrifugation was a step that removed a high number of MPs from the sludge. Sludge retained especially the fibrous microplactics. Reject water transported microplastics inside a wastewater treatment plant. Disc filter-based tertiary treatment ensured removal of 99% of microplastics in wastewater.Microplastics (MPs) from households, stormwater, and various industries are transported to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where a high proportion of them are captured before discharging their residuals to watersheds. Although recent studies have indicated that the removed MPs are mainly retained in wastewater sludge, sludge treatment processes have gained less attention in MP research than water streams at primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments. In this study, we sampled 12 different process steps in a tertiary-level municipal WWTP in central Finland. Our results showed that, compared to the plant influent load, three times more MPs circulated via reject water from the sludge centrifugation back to the beginning of the treatment process. Fibrous MPs were especially abundant in the dewatered sludge, whereas fragment-like MPs were observed in an aqueous stream. We concluded that, compared to the tertiary effluent, sludge treatment is the major exit route for MPs into the environment, but sludge treatment is also a return loop to the beginning of the process. Our sampling campaign also demonstrated that WWTPs with varying hydraulic conditions (such as the one studied here) benefit from disc filter-based tertiary treatments in MP removal

Sediment trapping as a method for monitoring microplastic flux rates and deposition at aquatic environments

Microplastics are reported from wide range of aquatic environments with concentrations up to thousands of particles per kilogram of sediment. Due to a lack of temporal control, evaluation of the influx rate of microplastic pollution is not enabled. However, understanding the annual flux rate of microplastics to the aquatic environments is a crucial aspect for environmental monitoring and for risk assessment. A sediment trap method is widely applied in aquatic sedimentary studies in order to measure sedimentation rates and understand sedimentation processes. We have tested near-bottom sediment trap method in lacustrine and estuary environments, at central and coastal Finland, for measuring and quantifying the microplastic influx rate during one year. Near-bottom sediment traps with two collector tubes and known surface area, fixed one meter from the bottom, collect all particles that are about to accumulate on the basin floor of the water body. Controlled temporal interval of trap maintenance enables calculation and determination of local microplastic influx rate i.e. number of accumulating particles per time per surface area. The test results are very promising. Near-bottom sediment traps can be used for long term monitoring in order to gain a deeper understanding of the microplastic transport and sedimentation processes, confirm and compare the feasibility and efficiency of different environmental conservation methods, setting threshold values for microplastic influx, and supervising that the defined target conditions are met.</p

Plastic debris composition and concentration in the Arctic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Neuston samples were collected with a Manta trawl in the rim of the Arctic Ocean, in the Northern Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea at eleven coastal and open-sea locations. All samples contained plastics identified by FTIR microscopy. Altogether, 110 microplastics pieces were classified according to size, shape, and polymer type. The concentrations at the locations were generally low (x̅ = 0.06, SD ± 0.04 particles m−3) as compared to previous observations. The highest concentrations were found towards the Arctic Ocean, while those in the Baltic Sea were generally low. The most abundant polymer type was polyethylene. Detected particle types were mainly fragments. The number of films and fibers was very low. The mean particle size was 2.66 mm (SD ± 1.55 mm). Clustering analyses revealed that debris compositions in the sea regions had characteristic differences possibly reflecting the dependences between compositions, drifting distances, sinking rates, and local oceanographic conditions.</p

Redox-aktiiviset siltaavat ligandit lantanoidikomplekseissa

Redox-aktiiviset siltaavat ligandit on mahdollista hapettaa tai pelkistää suhteellisen pysyviksi radikaaleiksi inertissä atmosfäärissä. Siltaavina ligandeina ne voivat koordinoitua kahden tai useamman metalli-ionin välille. Paramagneettiset siltaavat radikaaliligandit ja lantanoidit ovat lupaavia rakenneosia yksittäismolekyylimagneettien valmistuksessa, sillä radikaalien diffuusit spinorbitaalit voivat peittää lantanoidien 4f-orbitaaleja, jolloin muodostuu voimakas vaihtokytkentä lantanoidin ja radikaalin välille. Lantanoidikompleksien magneettisuus syntyy lantanoidi-ionin elektronien, spin-ratakytkennän ja kidekenttäympäristön vuorovaikutuksista ja siihen vaikuttaa ligandien ja metallin välisen kytkennän lisäksi myös kompleksin symmetria. Yksittäismolekyylimagneetit ovat yhdisteitä, jotka toimivat erittäin matalissa lämpötiloissa kuten tavalliset magneetit, eli ne voidaan magnetisoida magneettikentässä ja ne säilyttävät magneettisuutensa, kun ulkoinen magneettikenttä poistetaan. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan redox-aktiivisten siltaavien ligandien käyttöä lantanoidikompleksien syntetisoinnissa. Kirjallisuusosassa luodaan ensin lyhyt katsaus molekyylien magneettisuuden teoriaan sekä peruskäsitteisiin ja sen jälkeen keskitytään redox-aktiivisiin siltaaviin ligandeihin lantanoidikomplekseissa. Niihin liittyen käydään läpi radikaalisilloitettujen kompleksien synteesit ja tarkastellaan kompleksien magneettisia ominaisuuksia sekä niihin vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Kokeellisessa osuudessa valmistettiin neljä siltaavaa redox-aktiivista hapen tai typen ja rikin kautta sitoutuvaa hydroksi- tai tiobentseenipohjaista ligandia ja tutkittiin, muodostavatko ne dinukleaarisia komplekseja yttriumin kanssa. Tavoitteena oli kartoittaa, olisiko mahdollista valmistaa rikkiatomien kautta lantanoideihin koordinoituvia radikaaliligandeja. Dinukleaaristen tuotteiden sijaan osa syntetisoiduista yhdisteistä oli polymeerisiä ja osassa reaktioista tuli sivutuotteena Y(III)-suoloja. Lisäksi tuotteiden niukkaliukoisuus aiheutti haasteita niiden karakterisoinnissa

Validation of an imaging FTIR spectroscopic method for analyzing microplastics ingestion by Finnish lake fish (Perca fluviatilis and Coregonus albula)

Highlights • The ingestion rate of microplastics (MPs) was 17% for perch and 25% for vendace. • Most of the ingested MPs were smaller than 100 μm. • Imaging FTIR method was developed for the quantification of MPs from fish gut. • Contamination increased the limit of detection especially for small MPs.Despite the ubiquitousness of microplastics, knowledge on the exposure of freshwater fish to microplastics is still limited. Moreover, no standard methods are available for analyzing microplastics, and the quality of methods used for the quantification of ingested microplastics in fish should be improved. In this study, we studied microplastic ingestion of common wild freshwater fish species, perch (Perca fluviatilis) and vendace (Coregonus albula). Further, our aim was to develop and validate imaging Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic method for the quantification of ingested microplastics. For this purpose, enzymatically digested samples were measured with focal plane array (FPA) based infrared microscope. Data was analyzed with siMPle software, which provides counts, mass estimations, sizes, and materials for the measured particles. Method validation was conducted with ten procedural blanks and recovery tests, resulting in 75% and 77% recovery rates for pretreatment and infrared imaging, respectively. Pretreatment caused contamination principally by small <100 μm microplastics. The results showed that 17% of perch and 25% of vendace had ingested plastic. Most of the fish contained little or no plastics, while some individuals contained high numbers of small particles or alternatively few large particles. Perch from one sampling site out of five had ingested microplastics, but vendace from all sampling sites had ingested microplastics. The microplastics found from fish were mostly small: 81% had particle size between 20 and 100 μm, and most of them were polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. In conclusion, the implemented method revealed low numbers of ingested microplastics on average but needs further development for routine monitoring of small microplastics