论文标题：Microplastics generated when opening plastic packaging

期刊：Scientific Reports

作者：Zahra Sobhani, Yongjia Lei et.al

发表时间：2020/03/19

数字识别码：10.1038/s41598-020-61146-4

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《科学报告》发表的一项研究Microplastics generated when opening plastic packaging指出，人们在日常任务中打开塑料袋和塑料瓶一类的塑料包装时，可能会产生少量的微塑料，这里的微塑料是指长度小于5毫米的塑料小颗粒。

一般认为，微塑料直接来自工业，比如去角质的护肤品，或是间接来自较大塑料物件的长时间分解。不过，日常任务如划破、撕开、拧开塑料包装和容器所产生的微塑料一直没有得到充分了解。

用扫描电镜（SEM）和拉曼光谱证实微塑料。

图片来源：Sobhani, Z., Lei, Y., Tang, Y. 等

澳大利亚纽卡斯尔大学的Cheng Fang和同事监测了撕开巧克力包装袋、划破密封胶带以及打开塑料瓶盖所产生的微塑料。他们还通过化学测试和显微镜对这些过程产生的微塑料进一步确认。

作者发现，撕开或划破的动作会产生不同形状和大小的微塑料，其中包括纤维、碎片或三角片，大小从几纳米到几毫米不等。产生最多的便是碎片和纤维。作者估计，每300厘米的塑料在被划拨或拧开时，可能会产生10-30纳克（0.00001-0.00003毫克）的微塑料，具体取决于打开方式和塑料本身的条件，如硬度、厚度或密度。

研究结果表明，打开塑料袋和塑料瓶等日常活动可能是少量微塑料的额外来源；但它们存在的风险、潜在的毒性，以及它们被摄入的方式还有待认识，有必要对人类暴露开展进一步研究。

摘要：Millions of tonnes of plastics have been released into the environment. Although the risk of plastics to humans is not yet resolved, microplastics, in the range of 1 μm - 5 mm, have entered our bodies, originating either from ingestion via the food chain or from inhalation of air. Generally there are two sources of microplastics, either directly from industry, such as cosmetic exfoliants, or indirectly from physical, chemical and biological fragmentation of large (>5 mm) plastic residues. We have found that microplastics can be generated by simple tasks in our daily lives such as by scissoring with scissors, tearing with hands, cutting with knives or twisting manually, to open plastics containers/bags/tapes/caps. These processes can generate about 0.46–250 microplastic/cm. This amount is dependent on the conditions such as stiffness, thickness, anisotropy, the density of plastic materials and the size of microplastics.This finding sends an important warning, that we must be careful when opening plastic packaging, if we are concerned about microplastics and care about reducing microplastics contamination.

（来源：科学网）