Identification and Quantification of Nanoplastics in Surface Waterand Groundwater by Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-MassSpectrometry

:nanoplastics (NPs) are currently considered anenvironmental pollutant of concern, but the actual extent of NPpollution in environmental water bodies remains unclear and thereis not enough quantitative data to conduct proper risk assessments.In this study, a pretreatment method combining ultrafiltration (UF,100 kDa) with hydrogen peroxide digestion and subsequentdetection with pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(Py-GC/MS) was developed and used to identify and quantify sixselected NPs in surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW),including poly(vinylchloride) (PVC), poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene(PE), and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The results showthat the proposed method could detect NPs in environmentalwater samples. Nearly all selected NPs could be detected in the surface water at all locations, while PVC, PMMA, PS, and PET NPswere frequently below the detection limit in the groundwater. PP (32.9-69.9%) and PE (21.3-44.3%) NPs were the dominantcomponents in both surface water and groundwater, although there were significant differences in the pollution levels attributed tothefiltration efficiency of riverbank, with total mass concentrations of 0.283-0.793 mu g/L (SW) and 0.021-0.203 mu g/L (GW).Overall, this study quantified the NPs in complex aquatic environments for thefirst time,filling in gaps in our knowledge about NPpollution levels and providing a useful methodology and important reference data for future research

Automated summary

This study developed a method to detect and quantify nanoparticles (NPs) in environmental water bodies, and quantified the concentrations of six selected NPs in surface water and groundwater. The results showed that NPs were widely present in the environmental water samples, with polypropylene and polyethylene as the dominant components. This study filled in the gaps in our knowledge about the levels of NP pollution.