
Plastic pollution is a global problem that will continue to affect humanity for more than 100 years. There is the visible pollution, e.g. plastic debris in the environment, which leads to death for many animals (because they mistakenly think the plastic is food and eat it or because they get caught in the plastic waste). However, one process that occurs not visible to the naked eye is the decay of large pieces of plastic into smaller fragments (microplastics), which in turn decompose into even smaller particles, called Nanoplastic (more information about nanoplastic in the environment).
How exactly the process of decomposition due to weathering occurs and what exactly happens to nanoplastic particles was investigated in the paper presented here. The starting point for the investigation were plastic pellets in the medium size range of 100- 200 µm, which were exposed to laboratory weathering by water and solar radiation. In this manner, natural weathering by rain and solar radiation in Central Europe was imitated over a period of 1.5 years. The degradation could be divided into 3 main stages. First, the large fragments were smoothed by surface abrasion over a period of up to 17 days and smaller fragments detached (stage 1). After a period of at least 58 days, cracks formed on the plastic surface (stage 2). Finally, the cracks lead to the detachment of smaller particles (stage 3). Up to 14,000 nano- and microplastic particles could form from one original particle. The nanoplastic particles subsequently form larger agglomerates with microplastic particles. This could explain why individual nanoplastic particles are so difficult to detect in the environment. Environmental organisms will thus be exposed to nanoplastic and microplastic particles simultaneously. At the same time, nanoplastic particles bound to natural particles may also enter the food chain.
The experiments on the laboratory weathering of larger pieces of plastic into nano- and microplastic particles provide important insights into the environmental behavior of plastic. They also showed that there are different decomposition processes for different polymers.
Original Publication:
Menzel T., Meides N., Mauel A., et al. Degradation of low-density polyethylene to nanoplastic particles by accelerated weathering,
Science of The Total Environment 2022; 826 (154035). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154035

Weitere Spotlights
Spotlight January 2021: Nanoplastics challenge – How to improve tracking of nanopolystyrene distribution in the environment.
In January, we present a paper published in the Nature Journal communications materials. The article focuses on the development of a new detection method of nanopolystyrene. The method not only makes it possible to detect nanoplastics in the environment for the first time, but also to determine their accumulation in plants and animals. Nanoplastics, which […]
Read moreSpotlight September: A methodology for the automatic evaluation of data quality and completeness of nanomaterials for risk assessment purposes
This paper describes a method for automatically assessing the quality and completeness of nanosafety data for the purpose of risk assessment. Steps to develop the methodology for assessing data completeness and the methodology for assessing quality are presented. The methodology is tailored to physicochemical and hazard (meta) data, but can also be configured with appropriate […]
Read moreSpotlight May 2021: Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials
The European Commission’s new Action Plan for a Circular Economy Green Deal, the new European Industrial Strategy as well as the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability presented in October 2020 are ambitious plans to achieve a sustainable, fair and inclusive economy in the European Union. These strategies require that any new material or product must not […]
Read moreSpotlight October 2022: The titanium dioxide debate – why the current ECHA and EFSA hazard classification should be questioned
Due to various reports and scientific studies, titanium dioxide (TiO2)was also banned in Europe this year (2022) for use as a food additive with the indication that it could possibly be carcinogenic to humans. Although no case of tumour induction in humans has been reported since the use of this material in micro but also […]
Read more