[¹Ì±¹] ·çÀÌÁö¾Ö³ª ÁÖ¸³ ´ë ¿¬±¸ÆÀ, ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ ȯ°æ Ç³È ¹× ¿À¿° ¹°Áú Èí¼ö¿¡ ´ëÇÑ ¿¬±¸ ¹ßÇ¥
¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ Ư¼ºÀ» º¯È½ÃÅ°´Âµ¥ ÇÞºû ¿ªÇÒ ¼³¸í
¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½Àº Áõ°¡Çϴ ȯ°æ ¹®Á¦ÀÌ´Ù. »õ·Î¿î ¿¬±¸´Â ÇÞºûÀÌ ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ÀÇ Æ¯¼ºÀ» ¾î¶»°Ô º¯È½ÃÅ°´ÂÁö º¸¿©ÁØ´Ù. [»çÁøÁ¦°ø = ÆÄÀ̺갡À̾(5Gyres), ¿À¸®°Ç ÁÖ¸³ ´ëÇб³(Oregon State University)]
¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½Àº Àü ¼¼°èÀûÀ¸·Î ³î¶ó¿î ¼öÁØ¿¡ µµ´ÞÇÏ¸é¼ »õ·Î¿î ÇüÅÂÀÇ Çöó½ºÆ½ ¿À¿°À» ¾ß±â½ÃÄ×´Ù. ÀÏ¹Ý Çöó½ºÆ½Àº ÈÇÐÀûÀ¸·Î ºÒÈ°¼ºÀÎ °ÍÀ¸·Î ³Î¸® °£ÁÖµÇÁö¸¸, ȯ°æ dzÈÀÛ¿ë(weathering)À¸·Î ÀÎÇÑ Ç¥¸é Ư¼ºÀÇ º¯È´Â Á¾Á¾ °£°úµÇ¾î ȯ°æ¿¡¼ÀÇ ¼ö¸í Áֱ⠺м®(life-cycle analysis)À» ¹æÇØÇÑ´Ù.
¡ºACS ȯ°æ Au(ACS Environmental Au)¡»¿¡ ¹ßÇ¥µÈ »õ·Î¿î ³í¹®¿¡¼ ·çÀÌÁö¾Ö³ª ÁÖ¸³ ´ëÇб³(Louisiana State University, LSU)ÀÇ ¿¬±¸ÆÀÀº ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½¿¡ ´ëÇÑ Ç³È È¿°ú¿Í ÀÌ°ÍÀÌ ¾î¶»°Ô ¿À¿°¹°ÁúÀÇ Èí¼ö¸¦ Áõ°¡½Ãų ¼ö ÀÖ´ÂÁö¿¡ ´ëÇÑ ¿¬±¸¸¦ ÀÚ¼¼È÷ ¼³¸íÇÑ´Ù. ÀÌ ¿¬±¸´Â ¹Ì±¹ ±¹¸³ °úÇÐ Àç´Ü(U.S. National Science Foundation, NSF)ÀÇ Áö¿øÀ» ¹Þ¾Æ ÁøÇàµÆ´Ù.
¿¬±¸ÆÀÀº ½Ã¹Ä·¹ÀÌ¼ÇµÈ Ç³È ½ÇÇèÀ» ÅëÇØ ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ÀÇ ¹°¸® ÈÇÐÀû Ư¼ºÀ» º¯È½ÃÅ°´Â ÇÞºûÀÇ ¿ªÇÒÀ» ¼³¸íÇß´Ù.
³í¹®ÀÇ ±³½ÅÀúÀÚÀÌÀÚ ·çÀÌÁö¾Ö³ª ÁÖ¸³ ´ëÇб³ÀÇ ÈÇÐ °øÇÐÀÚÀÎ ºÎºê³×½Ã ¹Ù¸£Æ¼(Bhuvnesh Bharti)´Â "10ÀÏ °£ÀÇ Ç³È ÈÄ Ã³À½¿¡´Â ¼ö¸é À§¿¡ ¶° ÀÖ´ø ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ÀÌ ´ë·®ÀÇ ¹°¿¡ ÇöŹ(úØöú)µÅ ÀÖ´Â °ÍÀ» ¹ß°ßÇß´Ù"¸ç, "¿ì¸®´Â ÀÌ·¯ÇÑ º¯È°¡ ÀÌÈÄ¿¡ Àû¿Ü¼± ºÐ±¤¹ý(infrared spectroscopy)°ú Á¢ÃË°¢ ÃøÁ¤(contact angle measurements)À» ÅëÇØ È®ÀÎÇÑ ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ÀÇ ±¤»êÈ(photooxidation)¿¡ ÀÇÇÑ °ÍÀ̶ó°í °¡Á¤Çß´Ù"°í ¼³¸íÇß´Ù.
¿¬±¸ÆÀÀº ¶ÇÇÑ Ç³È·Î ÀÎÇÑ ¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ÀÇ ÈÇÐÀû º¯È°¡ Ç¥¸éÀÇ ¿À¿°¹°Áú Èí¼ö¸¦ Áõ°¡½Ãų ¼ö ÀÖÀ½À» ¹ß°ßÇß´Ù. ÀÌ ¿¬±¸ÀÇ ´ÙÀ½ ´Ü°è´Â µ¶¼º ÈÇй°ÁúÀÇ ÀáÀçÀû ¹æÃâÀ» Æò°¡ÇÏ´Â °ÍÀÌ´Ù.
¾Ø ¸¶¸® ½´¸ôÆ®³Ê(Anne-Marie Schmoltner) ¹Ì ±¹¸³ °úÇÐ Àç´Ü ÈÇаúÀÇ ÇÁ·Î±×·¥ Ã¥ÀÓÀÚ´Â "¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½Àº Àß ¾Ë·ÁÁø ȯ°æ ¹®Á¦ÀÌÁö¸¸ ÀÌ ÀÛÀº ÀÔÀÚÀÇ Æ¯¼ºÀÌ ¾î¶»°Ô º¯ÈÇÏ°í ±×°ÍÀÌ »ý¸íü¿¡ ¾î¶² ¿µÇâÀ» ¹ÌÄ¥ ¼ö ÀÖ´ÂÁö¿¡ ´ëÇØ ÃæºÐÈ÷ ¾ËÁö ¸øÇÑ´Ù"¶ó¸ç, "¹Ì¼¼ Çöó½ºÆ½ÀÇ Ç³È¸¦ ÀÌÇØÇÏ´Â °ÍÀÌ Áß¿äÇÑ Ã¹ ¹ø° ´Ü°èÀÌ´Ù"¶ó°í ¸»Çß´Ù.
[¿ø¹®º¸±â]
Researchers address environmental weathering of microplastics, pollutant uptake
Team delineated the role of sunlight in modifying the properties of microplastics
Microplastics have become a new form of plastic pollution, reaching an alarming level worldwide. Commodity plastics are widely considered to be chemically inert, but alterations in their surface properties owing to environmental weathering are often overlooked, impeding their life-cycle analysis in the environment.
In a new paper published in ACS Environmental Au, researchers at Louisiana State University detail their study of the effects of weathering on microplastics and how it might increase pollutant uptake. The work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Through its simulated weathering experiments, the group delineated the role of sunlight in modifying the physiochemical properties of microplastics.
"After 10 days of weathering, we found that microplastics, which were initially floating on the surface of the water, were suspended in the bulk water," said Bhuvnesh Bharti, a chemical engineer at LSU and the corresponding author on the paper. "We hypothesized that the changes were due to photooxidation of microplastics, which we later confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and contact angle measurements."
The scientists also found that chemical changes in microplastics caused by weathering could drive an increase in the uptake of pollutants on their surface. The team¡¯s next step is to evaluate the potential release of toxic chemicals.
"Although microplastics are a well-known environmental issue, we do not know enough about how the properties of these tiny particles change and what effects they may have on living beings," said Anne-Marie Schmoltner, a program director in NSF's Division of Chemistry. "Understanding the weathering of microplastics is a crucial first step."
[Ãâó = U.S. National Science Foundation(https://beta.nsf.gov/news/researchers-address-environmental-weathering) / 2022³â 11¿ù 2ÀÏ]
[¿¬±¸³í¹®¼ö·Ï = ACS Publicaions(https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsenvironau.2c00036)]