Large pieces of plastic can break down into nanosized particles that often find their way into the soil and water. Perhaps less well known is that they can also float in the air. It's unclear how nanoplastics impact human health, but animal studies suggest they're potentially harmful. As a step toward better understanding the prevalence of airborne nanoplastics, researchers have developed a sensor that detects these particles and determines the types, amounts and sizes of the plastics using colorful carbon dot films. [1]

Figure 1. Detecting nanoplastics in the air

Figure 1 shows the researchers will present their results today at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

“Nanoplastics are a major concern if they’re in the air that you breathe, getting into your lungs and potentially causing health problems,” says Raz Jelinek, Ph.D., the project’s principal investigator. “A simple, inexpensive detector like ours could have huge implications, and someday alert people to the presence of nanoplastics in the air, allowing them to take action.” [2]

Millions of tons of plastic are produced and discarded every year. Some plastic materials break down slowly during use or after disposal, contaminating the environment with micro- and nano-sized particles. Nanoplastics are so small (typically less than 1 micron wide) and light that they can even float in the air where people can unknowingly inhale them. Animal studies show that ingestion and inhalation of these nanoparticles can have devastating effects. Therefore, it may be useful to know the levels of airborne nanoplastics in the environment.

The researchers then tested an experimental sensor for nanoplastics in air by selecting carbon dots that would adsorb common types of plastics—polystyrene, polypropylene, and polymethyl methacrylate. During the experiments, plastic nanoparticles were sprayed, causing them to float in the air. When the carbon-dot film-coated electrodes were exposed to airborne nanoplastics, the team observed signals that were different for each type of material, Jelinek said. [3]

The team's next step is to see if their system can distinguish the types of plastic in mixtures of nanoparticles. Just as the combination of carbon dot films in the bacterial e-nose distinguished between gases with differing polarities, Jelinek says it's likely that they could tweak the nanoplastic sensor to differentiate between additional types and sizes of nanoplastics. [4]

References:

1. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-nanoplastics-air.html
2. https://sciencenewsnet.in/detecting-nanoplastics-in-the-air/
3. https://journalbreak.com/detecting-nanoplastics-in-the-air/
4. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220823095515.htm

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Detecting nanoplastics in the air, Anatechmaz, pp. 405