Latent Polyester Nanoplastics in Water Environments

作者：Jintao Yang, Mengqi Yan, Junjie Zhang, Shuyi Zhang, Xiaofei Zhang, Rong Ji, Hongwen Sun, Lei Wang · 发表于：Environmental Science & Technology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/acs.est.5c02497 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies、Recycling and Waste Management Techniques

Polyester fibers are the most consumed textile fibers, and nanoparticles of polyester fibers, i.e., polyethylene terephthalate polymer (PET-NPs), continuously enter natural water environments ( Xu, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2023 ). However, the reported concentrations of PET-NPs are only tens to hundreds of ng/L ( Okoffo;; Thomas, J. Hazard. Mater., 2024 and Xu, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2022 ). In this study, we developed a dialysis–ultrasonication–filtration method coupled with mass spectrometry to quantify dispersed and aggregated PET-NPs in water environments. Dispersed PET-NPs are widely present in the freshwater rivers and lakes of China with an average concentration of 2.23 μg/L, but they are rare in the saltwater. Much more PET-NPs are detected in the dialyzed and ultrasonicated samples, indicating the significant contribution of PET-NP aggregates in natural surface water. The total concentrations of PET-NPs in fresh lake water (average: 7.02 μg/L) are much higher than those in seawater (average: 1.71 μg/L). The lower critical coagulation concentration of PET-NPs indicates that they are more prone to aggregation than other nanoparticles. PET-NPs aggregate faster in seawater than in freshwater, and Na + and Ca 2+ significantly promote aggregation. Conversely, the higher dissolved organic matter in lake water inhibits the formation of large PET-NP aggregates. Therefore, more PET-NPs were present in fresh lake water and latent as small aggregates but fewer in seawater. Altho...