20.500.12556/RUL-164610 Towards harmonization of metal(loid)s determination in conventional and compostable plastics comparison of acid digestion protocols in LDPE and PBAT/TPS blends The determination of metal-containing additives in plastic materials via acid digestion protocols has attracted growing interest to address potential environmental implications. However, the lack of protocol harmonization hinders data comparability within the literature. Here, six acid digestion protocols were employed to determine the metal(loid) content in plastics: these included three different acid mixtures (HNO$_3$ combined with H$_2$SO$_4$, HCl or H$_2$O$_2$) for microwave-assisted digestion, with or without an additional room-temperature digestion step with H$_2$O$_2$. Each protocol was first validated for seven metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Sb, Sn and Zn) using a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) certified reference material (ERM®-EC681m). Then, validated protocols were applied on end-use materials, including conventional (i.e., LDPE) and compostable (i.e., PBAT/TPS) plastics. The combination of H$_2$SO$_4$ and HNO$_3$ with a further digestion step with H$_2$O$_2$ was the most suitable protocol: it successfully passed validation thresholds for all metal(loid)s (recoveries in the range 98.6–101.0 %) and yielded the highest concentrations in end-use materials. All other protocols resulted in a less efficient digestion of the sample matrix, leading to lower recoveries and the formation of solid residues. Notably, end-use plastics showed a great variability in metal(loid) concentrations, likely due to their additive-rich composition, in contrast to the minimal content of acid-soluble additives of the reference material. This study represents an initial step towards the harmonization of acid digestion protocols and highlights new challenges in accurately analyzing end-use plastic materials, due to their complex additive composition. polymers metals metalloids acid digestion additives microplastics polimeri kovine metaloidi kislinska razgradnja aditivi mikroplastika true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2024-11-05 13:24:39 2024-11-05 13:24:40 2024-11-22 14:55:02 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2024 0 0 10 str. Vol. 367, art. 143581 Nov. 2024 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 543.632.495:678 0045-6535 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143581 213674499 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524024810 1 995c00f2-9b70-11ef-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=195164 RAZ_Carnati_Stefano_2024.pdf RAZ_Carnati_Stefano_2024.pdf 1 4FC10416E456AA61BE419D307D1281E8 051ba765430626e7a467b5afe55183ed202ea81242f5641cb6f4d22d7a41ac4b f8144e55-9b72-11ef-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=195166 Fakulteta za kemijo in kemijsko tehnologijo 0 0 0