Study of the polystyrene degradation in water using nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA).

Several studies describe the release of plastic materials from irregular disposal in landfills affecting soil and water qualities. Studies report that increasing plastics are released into ecosystems estimating approximately 100 million tons by 2030 and, as a consequence causing serious damage to the environment. The impact on the water resources due to contamination is a critical issue. Thus, this research used a nanoparticle tracking system method - NTA (LM20) to determine the concentrations of nanoplastics emitted in aqueous solutions. The rate of nanoplastics production is important to design methods to mitigate the contamination. The present study results showed that the concentrations emitted in samples of 500 mg and 1 g of polystyrene initially reach 0.42E8 particles.mL-1 and 2.09E8 particles.mL-1 and continuously forms new structures increase the concentration in solution and the average particle size along the time. Thus, this research carried out a systematic study of the degradation of polystyrene over 7, 14, and 28 days under 30 °C, 50 °C and 70 °C, respectively. This research concluded that up to 27% of nanoplastic release is expected due to the environment temperature variation during the seasons of tropical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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