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- Lithner, Delilah, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental and human health hazard ranking of thermoplastic polymers
- 2009
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Ingår i: SETAC Europe Annual Meeting, May 31-June4, 2009, Gothenburg.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Plastics constitute a large material group with a continuously growing annual world production, from 150 million tons year 2000 to an estimated 260 million tons by year 2010. Several plastic products are made of chemical substances that are hazardous for human health and the environment. Plastics are composed of polymers that determine the plastic type and additives that enable processing or give the plastic its desired properties in a certain application. Due to the large number of polymers and additives, and many possible ways to combine them, the variation in chemical composition between plastic products is large. In the present study the aim was to provide guidance for distinguishing between more or less environmentally friendly plastic polymers and identifying the need for substitution of polymers and/or chemical substances used in polymer production. The different plastic polymer types were analysed based on which chemical substances that are needed to produce the polymers. For each chemical substance, environmental and human health classifications were collected from the European chemical Substances Information System (ESIS). A hazard ranking of the different plastic polymers was made based on chemical composition and environmental and human health classifications.
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2. |
- Lithner, Delilah, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Hazard assessment of electronic waste leachate using Daphnia magna bioassays and subsequent TIE testing
- 2009
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Ingår i: Conference programme.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Electronic waste can contain numerous chemicals often unknown chemicals for those who handle the waste. Major ingredients are polymers, additives and metals, but proportions and toxicity of the ingredients are essentially unknown. The present study was undertaken to screen various components of a computer and a mobile telephone. The components were cut and subjected to passive leaching in water for 72 h at room temperature. Then the water was tested for immobility of Daphnia magna for 24 and 48 h. Leachates which were toxic were tested in a concentration series and subjected to a first-step TIE to identify if the toxicity was caused by metals or organic compounds. The results have shown that standardized bioassays can be used to test the presence of toxic compounds in waste products in order to identify potential hazards to both man and the environment efficiently during handling and recycling. The use of a simplified and standardised methodology for leachate production and testing will facilitate the testing of numerous products simultaneously to identify critical components and also to facilitate the comparison of results between laboratories.
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3. |
- Lithner, Delilah, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Hazardous chemicals in consumer products – a toxicity study on plastics
- 2007
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Ingår i: Book of abstracts för två konferenser: 1. SECOTOX First Conference on Environmantal Management, Engineering, Planning and Economics (Skiathos, 24-28 Juni 2007); 2. Regulating Chemical Risk: Science, Politics and the Media (Stockholm, 16-17 augusti 2007).
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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4. |
- Lithner, Delilah, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Leachates from plastic consumer products – Screening for toxicity with Daphnia magna
- 2009
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Ingår i: Chemosphere. - : Elsevier BV. - 0045-6535. ; 74:9, s. 1195-1200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plastic products can contain chemicals that are hazardous to human health and the environment. In this study, it was investigated if various plastic products emit hazardous chemical substances to water. Two leaching methods (batch and diffusion tests) were used and the leachates were tested for acute toxicity to Daphnia magna. Nine out of 32 tested plastic product leachates had Daphnia 48-h EC50s ranging from 5 to 80 g plastic material L−1. For the remaining 23 products no effect on mobility was seen even at the highest test concentrations (70–100 g plastic material L−1). A compact disc (recordable) was the most toxic plastic product, but the toxicity was traced to the silver layer not the polycarbonate plastic material. The other products that displayed toxicity were made of either plasticised PVC (artificial leather, bath tub toy, inflatable bathing ring and table cloth) or polyurethane (artificial leather, floor coating and children’s handbag). While the Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) for compact discs using sodium thiosulfate addition showed that silver was causing the toxicity, the TIE for artificial leathers using C18 cartridges showed that hydrophobic compounds were causing the toxicity. Acute toxicity tests of plastic product leachates were found to be useful for screening purposes for differentiating between toxic and non-toxic products.
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