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Smart Technologies for the Control of Emerging Contaminants in Ambient Air
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This review examines smart technologies for monitoring and controlling emerging contaminants in ambient air, with particular focus on microplastics in the 1-5 micrometer range, evaluating analytical approaches to address growing air quality concerns amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Air quality protection and control is an issue of growing interest. The aspects related to the spread of the coronavirus have accentuated this attention. Furthermore, among the emerging contaminants (EC’s) in ambient air, the microplastics (1 – 5 μm) are a great concern arising from anthropogenic activities. These pollutants may bring detrimental effects on human health. To control the EC’s, the first activity is the characterization. To date, limited studies highlight and describe technologies able to identify and measure the presence in the air of these types of emerging pollutants (EP’s). Furthermore, the presented studies show a methodology gap in their experiments. The research presents and discusses the state-of-the-art adopted technologies to characterize MPs in ambient air and pointing out strengths and weaknesses. Knowledge gap, uncertainties and recommendations are highlighted. The paper provides useful information in enhanced monitoring to support policymakers in emerging microplastics pollutants and related issues, as well as potential smart technology to be implemented.
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