EurekAlert March 17, 2021 The quantification of micro/nanoplastics in complex environmental matrices is still a major challenge, notably for soluble ones. Researchers in Canada coupled laboratory-built nanostructures (zinc oxide, titanium oxide and cobalt) to mass spectrometry techniques to quantify micro/nanoplastics in water and snow matrices at picogram levels without sample pre-treatment. In parallel, they developed a technique to quantify micro/nanoplastics based on nanostructured laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (NALDI-TOF-MS), at ultra-trace levels. The detection limit is ∼5 pg for ambient snow. Soluble polyethylene glycol and insoluble polyethylene fragments were observed and quantified in fresh falling snow. Complementary physicochemical studies of […]
Tag Archives: Air pollution
Air pollution in New York City linked to wildfires hundreds of miles away
Science Daily January 22, 2020 Biomass burning, which occurs on a large-scale during wildfires and some controlled burns, is a major source of air pollutants that impact air quality, human health, and climate. Particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) has been shown to have particularly serious health effects when inhaled. Researchers at Yale University monitored the air quality at 5 sites in Cnnecticut and New York metropolitan area. In August of 2018, they observed two spikes in the presence of air pollutants found in the smoke of wildfires and controlled agricultural burning. Using data from […]