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Uncovering the disposable face masks as vectors of metal ions (Pb(Ⅱ), Cd(Ⅱ), Sr(Ⅱ)) during the COVID-19 pandemic

Chemical Engineering Journal 2022 37 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Ran Liao Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Ran Liao Lujian Lin, Hanyi Li, Hanyi Li, Lujian Lin, Ran Liao Bo Yuan, Ran Liao Bo Yuan, Bo Yuan, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Lujian Lin, Binghuang Zhang, Hualong Hong, Lujian Lin, Ran Liao Ran Liao Hualong Hong, Ran Liao Ran Liao Ran Liao Binghuang Zhang, Hanyi Li, Ran Liao Ran Liao Bo Yuan, Hualong Hong, Ran Liao Ran Liao Ran Liao Bo Yuan, Hanyi Li, Hanyi Li, Ran Liao Hanyi Li, Chongling Yan, Haoliang Lu, Ran Liao Ran Liao Haoliang Lu, Hanyi Li, Hualong Hong, Ran Liao Jingchun Liu, Haoliang Lu, Haoliang Lu, Ran Liao Hualong Hong, Ran Liao Jingchun Liu, Ran Liao Haoliang Lu, Hualong Hong, Haoliang Lu, Chongling Yan, Jingchun Liu, Chongling Yan, Ran Liao Jingchun Liu, Jingchun Liu, Chongling Yan, Hualong Hong, Hualong Hong, Haoliang Lu, Hualong Hong, Chongling Yan, Chongling Yan, Ran Liao

Summary

Researchers found that disposable face masks, particularly after UV aging, act as effective vectors for heavy metal ions including lead, cadmium, and strontium, with aged masks adsorbing greater quantities of metals due to increased oxygen-containing surface groups.

The demand for disposable face masks (DFMs) increased sharply in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, information regarding the underlying roles of the largely discarded DFMs in the environment is extremely lacking. This study focused on the pristine and UV-aged DFMs as vectors of metal ions (Pb(Ⅱ), Cd(Ⅱ), and Sr(Ⅱ)). Further, the aging mechanism of DFMs with UV radiation as well as the interaction mechanisms between DFMs and metal ions were investigated. Results revealed that the aging process would help to promote more metal ions adsorbed onto DFMs, which was mainly attributed to the presence of oxygen-containing groups on the aged DFMs. The adsorption affinity of pristine and aged DFMs for the metal ions followed Pb(Ⅱ) > Cd(Ⅱ) > Sr(Ⅱ), which was positively corrected with the electronegativity of the metals. Interestingly, we found that even if DFMs were not disrupted, DFMs had similar or even higher adsorption affinity for metals compared with other existing microplastics. Besides, regarding environmental factors, including salinity and solution pH played a crucial role in the adsorption processes, with greater adsorption capacities for pristine and aged DFMs at higher pH values and low salinity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory further confirmed that the pristine DFMs interacted with the metals mainly through electrostatic interaction, while electrostatic interaction and surface complexation jointly regulated the adsorption of the metals onto aged DFMs. Overall, these findings would help to evaluate environmental behaviors and risks of DFMs associated with metals.

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