Issue 3, 2019

Nanoplastics formed during the mechanical breakdown of daily-use polystyrene products

Abstract

Large amounts of plastics are released into the environment every day. These released plastics have a clearly documented negative effect on wildlife. Much research attention has been given to large plastic pieces and microplastics. However, if the breakdown of plastics is a continous process, eventually nanoplastics will be produced. Nanoplastics will affect wildlife differently from larger plastic pieces. We have studied the products formed by the mechanical breakdown of two commonly used polystyrene products, takeaway coffee cup lids and expanded polystyrene foam. After breakdown using a food processor, we characterized the breakdown products using seven different methods and found nanosized polystyrene particles with different shapes and negative or nearly neutral surface charges. These results clearly demonstrate that daily-use polystyrene products can break down into nanoparticles. Model polystyrene particles with different sizes and surface modifications have previously been shown to have different negative effects on wildlife. This indicates that breakdown nanoparticles might have the potential to cause cocktail effects in nature.

Graphical abstract: Nanoplastics formed during the mechanical breakdown of daily-use polystyrene products

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Sep 2018
Accepted
03 Dec 2018
First published
04 Dec 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale Adv., 2019,1, 1055-1061

Nanoplastics formed during the mechanical breakdown of daily-use polystyrene products

M. T. Ekvall, M. Lundqvist, E. Kelpsiene, E. Šileikis, S. B. Gunnarsson and T. Cedervall, Nanoscale Adv., 2019, 1, 1055 DOI: 10.1039/C8NA00210J

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