Microplastic pollution in the sediment of Jakarta Bay, Indonesia

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased use of plastic for personal protective equipment (PPE), single-use plastic bags, and food packaging raised significant environmental concerns. This study aimed to investigate the shape, abundance, and type of microplastics in the sediment of Jakarta Bay, specifically Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Port. Sediment was collected using an Ekman sediment grab sampler and was extracted using the density separation method. The microplastics were counted and categorized according to the shape under a microscope. The differences in microplastic abundance in three different stations were determined using a one-way ANOVA. The polymer of microplastics was identified using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR). The results show that the abundance of the microplastics from coastal sediment was highest in the Sunda Kelapa Port (45066.67 ± 5205.13 particle/kg dry weight), which is significantly different (p<0.05) from Tanjung Priok (40533.33 ± 2444.04 particle/kg dry weight) and Ancol Beach (34666.67 ± 2444.04 particle/kg dry weight). Fragments dominated the shape of microplastic in Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Post, comprising 36%, 40%, 38%, respectively, followed by fiber, film, and pellet. The FT-IR tests indicated that polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide are the most prevalent microplastic polymers.

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Initial Analysis of Plastic Debris Accumulation in the Estuary of Wonorejo River, Surabaya, Indonesia

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202014807001 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 148 ◽

pp. 07001

Author(s):

Setyo Budi Kurniawan ◽

Muhammad Fauzul Imron

Keyword(s):

River Estuary ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Sampling Point ◽

Plastic Pollution ◽

Plastic Debris ◽

Debris Accumulation ◽

Plastic Bags ◽

Sampling Points ◽

Advance Research ◽

One Way Anova

The purpose of this research was to investigate the accumulation of plastic debris in the Wonorejo River Estuary, Surabaya, Indonesia. Visible plastic debris were collected from three (3) sampling points along the intertidal area of Wonorejo River Estuary. The correlation between sampling points (SPs) and the amount of the collected plastic debris (CPD) was analysed using one-way ANOVA. Result of one-way ANOVA showed that the sampling point was significantly affect the amount of the collected plastic debris (p<0.05). A further analysis using Tukey’s Significance Honest Test indicating a significantly higher CPD on SP2 compared to the SP1 and SP3 (p<0.05). The amount of CPD were 126.07±12.00 g dry weight/m2 from SP1, 375.97±16.72 g dry weight/m2 from SP2, and 291.13±36.28 g dry weight/m2 from SP3. The highest percentage of collected debris item was plastic bags (up to 57.90%), followed by bottle caps (up to 16.65%). The most identified plastic types were Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) (up to 73.13%), followed by Polypropylene (PP) (up to 17.22%). Understanding the accumulation of plastic debris in estuary is a fundamental requirement to conduct an advance research related to the marine plastic pollution and to determine further actions to solve this problem.

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Plastic Food Packaging: Perceptions and Attitudes of Portuguese Consumers about Environmental Impact and Recycling

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13179953 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (17) ◽

pp. 9953

Author(s):

Morgana Weber Macena ◽

Rita Carvalho ◽

Luísa Paula Cruz-Lopes ◽

Raquel P. F. Guiné

Keyword(s):

Food Packaging ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Plastic Packages ◽

Plastic Bags ◽

Perceptions And Attitudes ◽

Plastic Materials ◽

Different Types ◽

Single Use ◽

Strongly Agree

The use of plastics for packaging has some advantages, since they are flexible and inexpensive. However, most plastics are of single use, which, combined with low recycling or reuse ratios, contributes substantially to environmental pollution. This work is part of a project studying the habits of Portuguese citizens concerning plastic food packaging and focuses on aspects related to sustainability. The survey was carried out via an online questionnaire about sustainability, recycling, and knowledge of the effects of plastic materials or their residues on the environment. The results were obtained based on a statistical analysis of the data. The participants tend to think about the negative impact of plastic packages on the environment; 39% sometimes do not buy plastic; and 30% try to look for alternatives. A substantial fraction, 81%, support the avoidance of plastic utensils and reduction in the use of plastic bags. Most participants have a good knowledge of recycling and strongly agree with the use of recycled materials, and 87% of respondents practice separation of different types of waste for recycling. Changing plastic consumption habits has not been an easy task. Nevertheless, it is expected that society will increasingly move toward sustainable habits, questioning its actions and considering their impact on the environment.

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RESEARCH: Dry Heat Processing of Single-Use Respirators and Surgical Masks

Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology ◽

10.2345/0899-8205-54.6.410 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 (6) ◽

pp. 410-416

Author(s):

Joyce M. Hansen ◽

Scott Weiss ◽

Terra A. Kremer ◽

Myrelis Aguilar ◽

Gerald McDonnell

Keyword(s):

Microbial Contamination ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

High Volume ◽

Airborne Particles ◽

Heat Processing ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Facilities ◽

Dry Heat ◽

Surgical Masks ◽

Single Use

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has challenged healthcare providers in maintaining the supply of critical personal protective equipment, including single-use respirators and surgical masks. Single-use respirators and surgical masks can reduce risks from the inhalation of airborne particles and microbial contamination. The recent high-volume demand for single-use respirators and surgical masks has resulted in many healthcare facilities considering processing to address critical shortages. The dry heat process of 80°C (176°F) for two hours (120 min) has been confirmed to be an appropriate method for single-use respirator and surgical mask processing.

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Milk acetone determination by the photometrical method after microdiffusion and via FT infra-red spectroscopy

Journal of Agrobiology ◽

10.2478/v10146-011-0004-9 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 33-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Oto Hanuš ◽

Václava Genčurová ◽

Yunhai Zhang ◽

Pavel Hering ◽

Jaroslav Kopecký ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Indirect Method ◽

Geometric Mean ◽

Mid Infrared ◽

Subclinical Ketosis ◽

Infra Red ◽

Variation Range ◽

Ft Ir ◽

Infrared Method ◽

Photometrical Method

Milk acetone determination by the photometrical method after microdiffusion and via FT infra-red spectroscopyMilk acetone (AC) and betahydroxybutyrate (BHB) are important indicators of the energy metabolism of cows (ketosis occurrence) and an effective method for their determination, with reliable results, is of great importance. The goal of this work was to investigate the infrared method MIR-FT in terms of its calibration for milk AC and to develop a usable procedure. The microdiffusion photometric (485 nm; Spekol 11) method was used with salicylaldehyde as a reference (Re) and mid infrared spectroscopy FT (MIR-FT: Lactoscope FT-IR, Delta; MilkoScan FT 6000, M-Sc) as an indirect method. The acetone addition to milk had no recovery using MIR-FT (Delta). The reference AC set must have acceptable statistics for good MIR-FT calibration (M-Sc) and they were: 10.1 ± 9.74 at a geometric mean of 7.26 mg l-1, and a variation range from 1.98 to 33.66 mg l-1. The AC correlation between Re and MIR-FT (Delta) was low at 0.32 (P>0.05 but the Log AC relationship between Re and MIR-FT (M-Sc) was markedly better at 0.80 (P<0.01). The conversion of >10 mg l-1 as an AC subclinical ketosis limit could be > -0.80 (feedback 0.158 mmol l-1 = 9.25 mg l-1) and > -1.66. This could be important for ketosis monitoring (using M-Sc).

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Efficacy Assessment of Biosynthesized Copper Oxide Nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) on Stored Grain Insects and Their Impacts on Morphological and Physiological Traits of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Plant

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology10030233 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 233

Author(s):

Ali A. Badawy ◽

Nilly A. H. Abdelfattah ◽

Salem S. Salem ◽

Mohamed F. Awad ◽

Amr Fouda

Keyword(s):

Block Design ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Copper Oxide Nanoparticles ◽

Rhyzopertha Dominica ◽

Stored Grain ◽

Stabilizing Agents ◽

Cuo Nps ◽

Vis Spectroscopy ◽

Ft Ir

Herein, CuO-NPs were fabricated by harnessing metabolites of Aspergillus niger strain (G3-1) and characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy, XRD, TEM, SEM-EDX, FT-IR, and XPS. Spherical, crystallographic CuO-NPs were synthesized in sizes ranging from 14.0 to 47.4 nm, as indicated by TEM and XRD. EDX and XPS confirmed the presence of Cu and O with weight percentages of 62.96% and 22.93%, respectively, at varied bending energies. FT-IR spectra identified functional groups of metabolites that could act as reducing, capping, and stabilizing agents to the CuO-NPs. The insecticidal activity of CuO-NPs against wheat grain insects Sitophilus granarius and Rhyzopertha dominica was dose- and time-dependent. The mortality percentages due to NP treatment were 55–94.4% (S. granarius) and 70–90% (R. dominica). A botanical experiment was done in a randomized block design. Low CuO-NP concentration (50 ppm) caused significant increases in growth characteristics (shoot and root length, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root, and leaves number), photosynthetic pigments (total chlorophylls and carotenoids), and antioxidant enzymes of wheat plants. There was no significant change in carbohydrate or protein content. The use of CuO-NPs is a promising tool to control grain insects and enhance wheat growth performance.

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ECO-DESIGN ACTIONS TO IMPROVE LIFE CYCLE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF FACE MASKS IN THE PANDEMIC ERA

Proceedings of the Design Society ◽

10.1017/pds.2021.133 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 1333-1342

Author(s):

Núria Boix Rodríguez ◽

Marco Marconi ◽

Claudio Favi ◽

Giovanni Formentini

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Performance ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Environmental Problem ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Single Use ◽

Near Future

AbstractFace masks are currently considered essential devices that people must wear today and in the near future, until the COVID-19 pandemic will be completely defeated through specific medicines and vaccines. Such devices are generally made of thermoplastic polymers, as polypropylene and polyethylene and are single use products. Even if in this period the sanitary emergency must have the maximum priority, the world society should not completely forget the environmental problem that are causing more and more obvious climate changes with correlated damages to ecosystems and human health. Despite the well-known correlation among anti-COVID protective equipment (or more generally medical devices) and environmental issues, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and eco-design-based studies in this field is very scarce. The present study aims to derive the most important environmental criticalities of such products, by using LCA and product circularity indicators of five different common masks. The final aim is to provide eco-design guidelines, useful to design new face masks by preventing negative impact on the environment.

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Electrospun Nanosystems Based on PHBV and ZnO for Ecological Food Packaging

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym13132123 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 2123

Author(s):

Maria Râpă ◽

Maria Stefan ◽

Paula Popa ◽

Dana Toloman ◽

Cristian Leostean ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Packaging ◽

Spin Trapping ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

Paramagnetic Resonance ◽

Hno3 Solution ◽

X Ray ◽

Trapping Method ◽

Ft Ir ◽

Doped Zno ◽

Electron Paramagnetic

The electrospun nanosystems containing poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and 1 wt% Fe doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) (with the content of dopant in the range of 0–1 wt% Fe) deposited onto polylactic acid (PLA) film were prepared for food packaging application. They were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), antimicrobial analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) techniques. Migration studies conducted in acetic acid 3% (wt/wt) and ethanol 10% (v/v) food simulants as well as by the use of treated ashes with 3% HNO3 solution reveal that the migration of Zn and Fe falls into the specific limits imposed by the legislation in force. Results indicated that the PLA/PHBV/ZnO:Fex electrospun nanosystems exhibit excellent antibacterial activity against the Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC-27853) due to the generation of a larger amount of perhydroxyl (˙OOH) radicals as assessed using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy coupled with a spin trapping method.

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A study on using expanded perlite with hydroxyapatite: Reinforced bio-composites

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part H Journal of Engineering in Medicine ◽

10.1177/0954411921996565 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095441192199656

Author(s):

Erdoğan Karip ◽

Mehtap Muratoğlu

Keyword(s):

Body Fluid ◽

Xrd Analysis ◽

Cold Isostatic Pressing ◽

Expanded Perlite ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

Pressing Method ◽

X Ray ◽

Infra Red ◽

Ft Ir

People are exposed to different kinds of diseases or various accidents in life. Hydroxyapatite (HA) has been widely employed for bone treatment applications. In this study, HA was extracted from sheep bones. Bio-composites were doped with 1, 5, and 10 wt.% of expanded perlite and 5 wt.% of ZrO2–MgO-P2O5. The bio-composites were prepared by the cold isostatic pressing method (250 MPa) and sintered at 900°C for 1 h. In order to evaluate the characteristics of the bio-composites, microhardness, density, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were carried out on them. Additionally, the specimens whose characteristics were determined were kept in synthetic body fluid (SBF), and their in vitro behavior was examined. As a result, it was observed that microhardness increased as both the weight and the grain size of the expanded perlite were increased. Calcium silicate, tri-calcium phosphate, and hydroxyapatite were observed in the XRD analysis of all samples, and the formation of apatite structures was increased by addition of ZrO2–MgO–P2O5.

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Influence of a Natural Plant Antioxidant on the Ageing Process of Ethylene-norbornene Copolymer (Topas)

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22084018 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (8) ◽

pp. 4018

Author(s):

Anna Masek ◽

Angelika Plota

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Colour Change ◽

Good Alternative ◽

Plant Origin ◽

Aging Behavior ◽

Current State ◽

Ft Ir ◽

Potential Use

In the field of polymer technology, a variety of mainly synthetic additives are used to stabilize the materials during processing. However, natural compounds of plant origin can be a green alternative to chemicals such as synthetic polyphenols. An analysis of the effect of hesperidin on the aging behavior of ethylene-norbornene copolymer was performed. The evaluation of changes in the tested samples was possible by applying the following tests: determination of the surface energy and OIT values, mechanical properties analysis, colour change measurements, FT-IR and TGA analyses. The obtained results proved that hesperidin can be effectively used as natural stabilizer for polymers. Furthermore, as a result of this compound addition to Topas-silica composites, their surface and physico-mechanical properties have been improved and the resistance to aging significantly increased. Additionally, hesperidin can act as a dye or colour indicator and only few scientific reports describe a possibility of using flavonoids to detect changes in products during their service life, e.g., in food packaging. In the available literature, there is no information about the potential use of hesperidin as a stabilizer for cycloolefin copolymers. Therefore, this approach may contribute not only to the current state of knowledge, but also presents an eco-friendly solution that can be a good alternative to synthetic stabilizers.

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Effectiveness of intervention on behaviour change against use of non-biodegradable plastic bags: a systematic review

Discover Sustainability ◽

10.1007/s43621-021-00015-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gbadebo Collins Adeyanju ◽

Teslin Maria Augustine ◽

Stefan Volkmann ◽

Usman Adetunji Oyebamiji ◽

Sonia Ran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Behaviour Change ◽

Methodological Quality ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Government Regulations ◽

Plastic Bags ◽

Regulatory Strategy ◽

Plastic Bag ◽

Single Use ◽

Biological Decomposition

AbstractThe devastating impacts that bio-degradable products such as plastic bags are having on human health, wildlife, and the environment is enormous, especially single-use once. Single-use plastics are non-biodegradable products and does not undergo biological decomposition nor degenerate. This review examines various government regulations targeted at changing behaviour against plastic bags consumption and their effectiveness. Following a rigorous search in 13 databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Nature, etc. only 17 peer-reviewed journal articles that are published between 2000 and 2019 and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Each study’s methodological quality was assessed using the GRADE system, and data were extracted using a uniquely designed form. The results revealed that regulations based solely on the thickness of plastic bags does not reduce plastic bags consumption. However, regulations focused on banning ‘single-use’ plastic bag usage, imposing higher taxes and levies on consumers, significantly reduce plastic bags consumption. Overall, the latter is considered the most effective. Also, the results show that attitude, perception and behaviour change toward bio-degradable products or climate-friendly behaviour can be significantly influenced by public policy or regulations. Although the behaviour seems short-lived in some countries, therefore further studies need to probe on why. Also, the absence of a national regulatory strategy in North America reduced the inclusion of studies from the region, hence need for more research focusing on sub-national regulations.

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