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The (partial) replacement of synthetic polymers with bioplastics is due to increased production of conventional packaging plastics causing for severe environmental pollution with plastics waste. The bioplastics, however, represent complex mixtures of known and unknown (bio)polymers, fillers, plasticizers, stabilizers, flame retardant, pigments, antioxidants, hydrophobic polymers such as poly(lactic acid), polyethylene, polyesters, glycol, or poly(butylene succinate), and little is known of their chemical safety for both the environment and the human health. Polymerization reactions of bioplastics can produce no intentionally added chemicals to the bulk material, which could be toxic, as well. When polymers are used to food packing, then the latter chemicals could also migrate from the polymer to food. This fact compromises the safety for consumers, as well. The scarce data on chemical safety of bioplastics makes a gap in knowledge of their toxicity to humans and environment. Thus, development of exact analytical protocols for determining chemicals of bioplastics in environmental and food samples as well as packing polymers can only provide warrant for reliable conclusive evidence of their safety for both the human health and the environment. The task is compulsory according to legislation Directives valid to environmental protection, food control, and assessment of the risk to human health. The quantitative and structural determination of analytes is primary research task of analysis of polymers. The methods of mass spectrometry are fruitfully used for these purposes. Methodological development of exact analytical mass spectrometric tools for reliable structural analysis of bioplastics only guarantees their safety, efficacy, and quality to both humans and environment. This study, first, highlights innovative stochastic dynamics equations processing exactly mass spectrometric measurands and, thus, producing exact analyte quantification and 3D molecular and electronic structural analyses. There are determined synthetic polymers such as poly(ethylenglycol), poly(propylene glycol), and polyisoprene as well as biopolymers in bags for foodstuffs made from renewable cellulose and starch, and containing, in total within the 20,416–17,495 chemicals per sample of the composite biopolymers. Advantages of complementary employment in mass spectrometric methods and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is highlighted. The study utilizes ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic data on biodegradable plastics bags for foodstuffs; high accuracy quantum chemical static methods, molecular dynamics; and chemometrics. There is achieved method performance |r| = 0.99981 determining poly(propylene glycol) in bag for foodstuff containing 20,416 species and using stochastic dynamics mass spectrometric formulas. The results highlight their great capability and applicability to the analytical science as well as relevance to both the fundamental research and to the industry.
Quarry operations and soil health: Tracing metal pollution in Awi and Njagachan communities, Nigeria
Vol 6, Issue 1, 2025
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Abstract
This study investigated the influence of quarry operations on soil health by evaluating the metal pollution status of soils around major quarry communities (Awi and Njagachan) in Akamkpa, Nigeria. Soil samples were subjected to wet digestion and quantified using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Model AA-6800, Japan). The concentrations of lead (63.34–96.34 mg/kg), cadmium (4.29–7.40 mg/kg), mercury (2.34–3.76 mg/kg), arsenic (2.48–5.21 mg/kg), and selenium (1.22–2.75 mg/kg) were all below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), Dutch remediation levels, and other soil guidelines. However, significant spatial variation in metal levels across quarry sites points to anthropogenic influences, with quarries likely contributing to the elevated metal concentrations. Contamination factors indicated moderate contamination by lead, considerable contamination by cadmium, and very high contamination by mercury. The degree of contamination was high for all quarries except Ding Zing quarry, which showed a very high degree during the wet season. Ecological risk assessment revealed low potential risk from lead and arsenic, moderate to high risk from cadmium, and very high risk from mercury. Geo-accumulation indices suggested that soils were largely unpolluted by lead and arsenic but ranged from unpolluted to moderately polluted by cadmium and mercury. The study concludes that quarry activities contribute to elevated metal concentrations, posing varying levels of ecological risk. Continuous monitoring is strongly recommended to prevent potential long-term human and environmental health risks, with a focus on addressing mercury contamination. Regulatory measures should be enforced to mitigate further pollution.
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References
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