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UV-Triggered Chemiluminescence as a Bulk Surrogate Indicator for Microplastic Contamination in Aquatic Matrices
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Scientists developed a fast, cheap test that uses light-triggered chemical reactions to estimate microplastic pollution in water, taking just minutes instead of the hours or days current methods require. This matters because quicker, more accessible testing could help track plastic contamination in our drinking water, streams, and wastewater more widely—an important step toward understanding how much of this pollution we might be exposed to. The method isn't perfect yet (certain minerals in water can throw off results), but it offers a promising shortcut for screening lots of water samples for plastic contamination.
High-throughput assessment of microplastic (MP) contamination in complex waters remains challenging because particle-resolved methods are low-throughput and inherently limited by size-dependent detection, particularly for nanoplastics. Here we report a UV-triggered chemiluminescence (CL) bulk-screening assay in which microplastic-derived dissolved organic matter (MP-DOM) generated during controlled UV weathering is transduced into a quantitative luminol–H 2 O 2 flow-injection CL (FIA-CL) readout. Each measurement requires only a 30 min pretreatment, 1 mL of sample, and a few-minute analysis. Polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) produced reproducible, time-resolved CL transients, and peak intensity responded linearly to MP loading over 0.1–0.5 g L –1 ( R 2 > 0.92) with polymer-dependent sensitivity. The assay performed optimally under near-neutral pH and 30 min irradiation conditions, while iron oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) was identified as a major interferent that markedly suppressed emission. Optical characterization (UV absorbance and EEM–PARAFAC) showed that CL intensity correlated with dissolved organic carbon and humic-like components ( R 2 = 0.43–0.60), suggesting that both the amount and composition of UV-generated MP-DOM contribute to signal generation. Application to urban streamwater and wastewater effluent demonstrated the assay’s utility in realistic matrices. Overall, the UV-assisted FIA-CL approach provides a rapid, mechanistically supported complementary bulk-screening surrogate for comparative assessment of MP contamination across aquatic samples.
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