Korinna Altmann

• Dr.
• Federal Institute For Materials Research and Testing

Detection of micro- (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in food and environmental matrices has been gaining relevance due to their potential toxicological effects on human health. While MPs have been detected in a wide range of complex matrices, suitable methods for the characterization and chemical identification of NPs are still lacking, primarily due t...

In this study, we investigate the current accuracy of widely used microplastic (MP) detection methods through an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) involving ISO-approved techniques. The ILC was organized under the prestandardization platform of VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards) and gathered a large number (84) of analyti...

Extraction of plastic particles from soil is challenging and, thus, exceptionally little spatial information on plastic distribution at the field scale has been gathered. However, for environmental risk assessment, adequate sampling should complement coherent plastic profiling. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of mesoplastics...

Discharge from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) can result in the emission of organic micropollutants (OMPs) and microplastics (MPs) into the aquatic environment. To prevent this harmful release, a pilot plant consisting of an ozonation followed by a granular activated carbon (GAC) filter was operated at a WWTP in Germany, and its side-effects o...

Plastic value chain has become a central part of modern living. Excessive use and inadequate waste management have led to the emergence of plastic nanoparticles (PNPs) in the environment (Amobonye et al. 2021). Polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene nanoparticles (PSNPs, PENPs and PPNPs, respectively) are the most represented. Despite the grow...

There is only sparse empirical data on the settling velocity of small, non-buoyant microplastics thus far, although it is an important parameter governing their vertical transport within aquatic environments. This study reports the settling velocities of 4031 exemplary microplastic particles. Focusing on the environmentally most prevalent particle...

The plastic value chain, central part of modern living, caused environmental pollution and bioaccumulation of plastic nanoparticles (PNPs). Their ubiquitous presence in different environmental and biological compartments has become a...

Inputs of plastic impurities into the environment via the application of fertilizers are regulated in Germany and the EU by means of ordinances. Robust and fast analytical methods are the basis of legal regulations. Currently, only macro- and large microplastic contents (>1 mm) are measured. Microplastics (1–1,000 µm), are not yet monitored. Therma...

Despite the increasing concern about the harmful effects of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs), there are no harmonized guidelines or protocols yet available for MNP ecotoxicity testing. Current ecotoxicity studies often use commercial spherical particles as models for MNPs, but in nature, MNPs occur in variable shapes, sizes and chemical compositions....

Microplastics are widely distributed in aquatic and terrestrial environments, but up to now less is known about (eco)toxicological impacts under realistic conditions. Research so far has focused mainly on impacts on organisms by fresh, single‐origin plastic fragments or beads. However, plastics found in the environment are complex in composition, t...

Microplastics (MP) can be detected in all environmental systems. Marine and terrestrial aquatic systems, especially the transported suspended solids, have often been the focus of scientific investigations in the past. Sediments of aquatic river systems, on the other hand, were often ignored due to the time‐consuming sample preparation and analysis...

Microplastic (MP) particles with sizes between 1 and 1000 µm are widely distributed worldwide. Origin, transport pathways, and fate are poorly known, as sampling, sample preparation, and detection methods are major challenges. In addition, reference materials that mimic environmental particles are lacking. The most challenging is the yield of MP pa...

This study reflects typical consumer textile washing behaviour while taking into account existing standards in the household appliance and garment industries. Two garments were washed repeatedly with artificial dirt and detergent for 30 times. The collected washing water was separated using fractional filtration. Textile physical tests were used to...

Tracking waterborne microplastic (MP) in urban areas is a challenging task because of the various sources and transport pathways involved. Since MP occurs in low concentrations in most wastewater and stormwater streams, large sample volumes need to be captured, prepared, and carefully analyzed. The recent research in urban areas focused mainly on M...

In recent years, ThermoExtraction/Desorption‐Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (TED‐GC/MS) has been developed as a rapid detection method for the determination of microplastics (MP) mass contents in numerous environmentally relevant matrices and, in particular, for the measurement of polymers in water samples without time‐consuming sample prepar...

Airborne particulate matter is one of the main air pollutants. Their impact on mortality, and the occurrence of pulmonary and cardiovascular complications, have been the subject of numerous studies. Airborne particles are complex mixtures of organic and inorganic substances from different sources of particle emissions. Particulate Matter (PM) parti...

Nowadays, sensors based on polymers/nanostructured metal oxide composites have been investigated extensively because of their sensitivity to NO2 gas at ambient temperature. In this work, nanocomposite membranes of xanthan gum (XG) with different contents of MnO2 nanoparticles were prepared as a potential NO2 gas sensor operating at room temperature...

Microplastics (MP) contamination in natural water circulation is a concern for environmental issues and human health. Various types of polymer materials have been identified and were detected in MP analytic test procedures. Beyond MP polymer type, particle size and form play a major role in water analysis due to possibly negative toxicologic effect...

Water treatment with activated carbon (AC) is an established method for the removal of organic micropollutants and natural organic matter. However, it is not yet possible to predict the removal of individual pollutants. An appropriate material characterization, matching adsorption processes in water, might be the missing piece in the puzzle. To thi...

An immobilization of graphene oxide (GO) into a matrix of polyvinyl formaldehyde (PVF) foam as an eco-friendly, low cost, superior, and easily recovered sorbent of Pb ions from an aqueous solution is described. The relationships between the structure and electrochemical properties of PVF/GO composite with implanted Pb ions are discussed for the fir...

Microplastic detection in water samples becomes important for tracing microplastic sources. Microplastic may harm desalination facilities by blocking filters and disturbing the marine food chain. Thermoanalytical methods, such as aspyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy and spectroscopic methods like (micro) Raman spectroscopy or (micro) Fo...

An investigation of microplastic (MP) occurrence in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent with tertiary treatment was carried out. Representative sample volumes of 1 m3 were taken by applying a fractionated filtration method (500, 100, and 50 µm mesh sizes). The detection of MP mass fractions by thermal extraction desorption–gas ch...

Tire wear (TW) constitutes a significant source of microplastic in terrestrial ecosystems. It is known that particles emitted by roads can have an effect up to 100 m into adjacent areas. Here, we apply for the first-time thermal extraction desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) to determine TW in soil samples by detection of th...

The multiphoton lithography (MPL) technique represents the future of 3D microprinting, enabling the production of complex microscale objects with high precision. Although the MPL fabrication parameters are widely evaluated and discussed, not much attention has been given to the microscopic properties of 3D objects with respect to their surface prop...

The occurrence of microplastic (MP) in food products, such as beverages in plastic bottles, is of high public concern. Existing analytical methods focus on the determination of particle numbers, requiring elaborate sampling tools, laboratory infrastructure and generally time-consuming imaging detection methods. A comprehensive routine analysis of M...

Stainless steel AISI 304 surfaces were studied after a mild anodic polarization for oxide growth in the presence and absence of two derivatives of vitamin B2 (riboflavin and flavin mononucleotide) that can be secreted by metal‐reducing bacteria and act as a chelating agent for iron species. The alterations in oxide chemistry were studied by means o...

There is growing interest in quantifying microplastics in environmental samples. This application note presents a thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) method that is well suited to automation and increased sample throughput. The method is also able to detect all particle sizes in the sample as long as the l...

A sedimented freshwater suspended organic matter fortified with particles of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was employed in an interlaboratory comparison of thermoanalytical methods for microplastics identification and quantification. Three laboratories performed pyrolysis gas chromatog...

Understanding the interaction between boehmite and epoxy and the formation of their interphases with different mechanical and chemical structures is crucial to predict and optimize the properties of epoxy-boehmite nanocomposites. Probing the interfacial properties with atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based methods, especially particle-matrix long-ran...

A harmonization of sampling, sample preparation and detection is pivotal in order to obtain comparable data on microplastics (MP) in the environment. This paper develops and proposes a suitable sampling concept for waterbodies that considers different plastic specific properties and influencing factors in the environment. Both artificial water incl...

The occurrence of small particles consisting of organic polymers, so-called microplastic (MP), in aquatic environments attracts increasing interest in both public and science. Recent sampling campaigns in surface waters revealed substantial numbers of particles in the size range from a few micrometers to a few millimeters. In order to validate samp...

Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) as environmental contaminants have received interest since the 1960s [1]. TRWP have adverse effects on human health [2]. Multiple cities in the EU are violating legal threshold values for atmospheric pollution to which TRWP contribute. Therefore, financial penalties as well as consequences like vehicle bans in me...

The electrospray ionization (ESI) method was used for deposition of thin films of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) on Cu/ZSM-5 (5 wt.% Cu) and Ag–Cu/ZSM-5 (1 wt.% Ag and 4 wt.% Cu) composites. For comparative purposes, the ZSM-5 zeolite was synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and loaded with PAA under the same treating conditions as the composites. T...

Plasma polymers and electrospray-ionization (ESI) polymer layers are compared for most efficient adhesion promotion in carbon fiber-epoxy resin composites. The ultra-thin ESI layers (2–30 nm) of commercial poly(acrylic acid) and poly(hydroxyethylmethacrylate) produce an significant increase of adhesion measured by single-fiber pull out tests. Howev...

Thin coatings of high-molecular weight poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) were deposited onto carbon fibers by means of atmospheric electrospray ionization (ESI) as adhesion promoters in carbon fiber–epoxy resin composites. The carbon fibers were completely wrapped by pinhole-free polymer coatings in the upper 10 plies of...

Electrospray deposition (ESD) of highly diluted polymers was examined with regard to the deposited surface structure. Only the flight distance (flight time) onto the resulting deposited surface was varied from 20 to 200 mm. An apparatus without any additional heating or gas flows was used. Polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polyallylamine (PAAm) in methano...

Nebulizing of polymer solutions, in a high-voltage field under atmospheric conditions by electrospray ionization (ESI), is a comfortable way to deposit ultra-thin layers of polar or ionic polymers onto any conductive substrate materials. The substrate is grounded and the polymer solution is sprayed through a powered capillary. The formed charged dr...

Die Elektrospray-Ionisations (ESI)-Vernebelung von Polymerlösungen wird analytisch zur massenspektrometrischen Bestimmung der Molmassen von Makromolekülen genutzt. Dabei werden die Polymermoleküle nach einem speziellen Mechanismus im Hochspannungsfeld unter Normaldruckbedingungen vereinzelt und in das Massenspektrometer überführt. Dieser Prozeß kan...

The production of cytokines by lymphoid cells, isolated from non-infected and Haemonchus contortus-infected lambs, was investigated. Particular attention was paid to differences in T helper 1- (Th1) and Th2-type immune profiles between genetically resistant and random-bred animal groups. Non-infected resistant and random-bred lambs produced equival...

The numerical and functional attributes of populations of lymphocytes were compared in the blood, lymph and skin of young and mature sheep. Young sheep, four to eight months old, had a lower proportion of CD4+ cells in blood, lymph and skin than mature sheep three to six years old. In contrast, B cells and T19+ cells were as prevalent or more preva...

The effect on anti-hapten immune responses of altering the isoelectric point of hapten-carrier conjugates by cationization was examined in sheep and mice. No adjuvants were employed in these studies. In sheep the cationization of ovalbumin-dinitrophenyl (OVA-DNP) resulted in an enhanced primary anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP) response. The secondary anti-...

The leakage of [125I]-IgG1 into skin sites following injection of mediators of enhanced vascular permeability and during induction of transudates on the skin surface under negative pressure was examined to determine whether IgG is selectively transported into cutaneous transudates. 111In-transferrin was employed as a marker of plasma leakage unaide...