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Development of a standardized methodology for the identification and characterization of airborne microplastics in working spaces
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Researchers developed a standardized methodology for identifying and characterizing microplastics in both outdoor and indoor atmospheric samples, addressing the absence of harmonized protocols that limits comparability across airborne microplastic studies. The standardized approach improved reproducibility and allowed more accurate assessment of human inhalation exposure in different environments.
While microplastics (MP) have been detected in aquatic and terrestrial environments in a variety of studies, nowadays more recent investigations reported their presence also in the atmosphere. MP prevalence was not only confirmed in outdoor environments, but also indoor. Considering the amount of time we spend in close environments, both for our daily activities and for work, it is of the outmost importance to monitor MP contamination in those spaces, in order to evaluate the potential threat posed to human health. This work aims at standardizing a MP sampling and analysis protocol that could allow industries to rapidly estimate the contamination in working environments. Employing passive and active air samplers, we collected and isolated airborne particles and fibres in three different working spaces of an industry that produces instruments for yarn processing. Samplings were replicated within the single day and seasonally, in order to evaluate MP exposure throughout the working day and the year. We employed two different analytical approaches: fluorophore dye to rapidly identify the MP present in the sample, and µFT-IR analyses to characterize the polymers. Preliminary results showed the presence of airborne particles, whose predominant shape is fibrous, in all the analyzed samples. Thus, the results of this work will allow to determine which sampling and characterization method could be more efficient to evaluate indoor MP contamination and to estimate workers' exposure to MP. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559500/document
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