TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Welche Rolle spielen Textilien als Mikroplastik-Quelle im Abwasser? N2 - In diesem Vortrag wird die Rolle der Waschmaschine als Eintragspfad von Mikroplastik in das Abwasser diskutiert und eine experimentelle Annäherung an das Problem beschrieben. T2 - Wasserwirtschaftliches Kolloquium der TU Berlin CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.12.2023 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Waschmaschine PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59278 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Systemverständnis und Untersuchungsstrategien von Kunststoffeinträgen in die Umwelt – Ergebnisse des RUSEKU-Forschungsprojektes N2 - Ziel des Vortrages ist die Vermittlung der Herausforderungen der Mikroplastik-Analytik sowie der Harmonisierung der Analytik und des Ergebnistransfers in die Normung. T2 - Jahresabschluss-Sitzung GA "Mensch und Umwelt" CY - Online meeting DA - 24.11.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Mikroplastik-Analytik PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53830 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Update from ISO/TC 61/SC14/WG4 N2 - This talk is an update from ISO/TC 61/SC14/WG4. It describes the production of microplastic test material for the use in an interlaboratory comparison. IWe report the first results of an ILC on microplastic detection methods organized under the pre-stantdardisation plattform of VAMAS (www.vamas.org/twa45/) as Project 2 “Development of standardized methodologies for characterisation of microplastics with microscopy and spectroscopy methods”, within the Technical Working Area TWA 45 “Micro and Nano Plastics in the Environment”. The ILC has gathered 84 participants all over the world representing all continents. Reference materials were developed by BAM to test the main methods for MPs detection as addressed in ISO/TR 21960:2020: thermo-analytical methods (Py-GC/MS and TED-GC/MS) and vibrational methods (µ-IR and µ-Raman). As far as the mass fraction is concerned, accurate results with quite a good precision were achieved with the thermo-analytical methods. Number-based results are not adressed here. T2 - ISO/TC 147/SC 2/JWG CY - Online meeting DA - 03.06.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - ILC KW - Reference materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63340 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bartczak, Dorota A1 - Sikora, Aneta A1 - Goenaga-Infante, Heidi A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Drexel, Roland A1 - Meier, Florian A1 - Alasonati, Enrica A1 - Lelong, Marc A1 - Cado, Florence A1 - Chivas-Joly, Carine A1 - Fadda, Marta A1 - Sacco, Alessio A1 - Rossi, Andrea Mario A1 - Pröfrock, Daniel A1 - Wippermann, Dominik A1 - Barbero, Francesco A1 - Fenoglio, Ivana A1 - Booth, Andy M. A1 - Sørensen, Lisbet A1 - Igartua, Amaia A1 - Wouters, Charlotte A1 - Mast, Jan A1 - Barbaresi, Marta A1 - Rossi, Francesca A1 - Piergiovanni, Maurizio A1 - Mattarozzi, Monica A1 - Careri, Maria A1 - Caebergs, Thierry A1 - Piette, Anne-Sophie A1 - Parot, Jeremie A1 - Giovannozzi, Andrea Mario T1 - Multiparameter characterisation of a nano-polypropylene representative test material with fractionation, light scattering, high-resolution microscopy, spectroscopy, and spectrometry methods N2 - Reference and quality control materials with comparable physicochemical properties to nanoplastic contaminants present in environmental and food nanoplastics are currently lacking. Here we report a nanoplastic polypropylene material prepared using a top-down approach involving mechanical fragmentation of larger plastics. The material was found to be homogeneous and stable in suspension and has been characterised for average particle size, size distribution range, particle number concentration, polypropylene mass fraction and inorganic impurity Content using a wide range of analytical methods, including AF4, cFFF, PTA, (MA)DLS, MALS, SEM, AFM, TEM, STEM, EDS,Raman, ICP-MS and pyGC-MS. The material was found to have a broad size distribution, ranging from 50 nm to over 200 nm, with the average particle size value dependent on the technique used to determine it. Particle number concentration ranged from 1.7–2.4 × 1010 g−1 , according to PTA. Spectroscopy techniques confirmed that the material was polypropylene, with evidence of aging due to an increased level of oxidation. The measured mass fraction was found to depend on the marker used and ranged between 3 and 5 μg g−1 . Inorganic impurities such as Si, Al, Mg, K, Na, S, Fe, Cl and Ca were also identified at ng g−1 levels. Comparability and complementarity across the measurement methods and techniques is also discussed. KW - Polypropylene KW - Nanoplastics KW - Analytics KW - Reference material KW - Scattering methods PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-654680 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EN00917K SN - 2051-8153 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-65468 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kittner, Maria A1 - Coesfeld, Bianca A1 - Schlau, Sven A1 - Werischak, Thomas A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Kalbe, Ute T1 - Simultaneous sampling for microplastics and environmental contaminants from artificial turf: development of a new integrated microplastics eluate lysimeter N2 - To get a better understanding of potentially harmful contaminant emissions from soils or materials into the environment, politics demand practical and holistic sampling concepts for environmental samples such as leachates containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) or heavy metals, and hazardous particulate matter like microplastics (MP). Of particular concern are MP emissions from artificial turf sports pitches. So far, there has been only very limited data on MP mass emissions from artificial turf potentially posing a risk to the groundwater and no sampling device that allowed simultaneous sampling for dissolved and particulate contaminants. In this study, a novel integrative microplastics eluate lysimeter was developed to determine contaminant emissions from three artificial turf systems at different ageing states (fabric-new, artificially aged, real-time aged). For the accelerated ageing, all environmental simulation parameters were based on Central German conditions and simulated outdoor stress during the turf service lifespan of 15 years. MP masses from eluates were analysed using thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, PAH concentrations using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and heavy metals using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. Results showed that no PAH or heavy metal concentrations from the seepage water were above German legal limits for alternative granular construction materials considering soil and groundwater protection. Furthermore, it was found that only minimal MP emissions were released from new turf systems into the seepage water (< 1 mg/m2). Ageing of the artificial turf increased MP formation, especially from rubber infill and grass fibres, which are then carried into the seepage water. The highest total MP emissions over a simulated turf lifespan of 15 years were detected in two real-time aged turf systems ranging from 136.4–252.5 mg/m2. Considerably less total MP emissions were detected in accelerated aged artificial turf systems, one of which contained a synthetic rubber infill (5.4–8.0 mg/m2) and one without rubber infill (0.2–5.3 mg/m2). In summary, it was demonstrated that the newly developed MEL generated reliable and reproducible data and has thus proven itself as an integrated, straightforward and automated sampling device for simultaneous monitoring of particulate and dissolved pollutant emissions from simple soil matrices. KW - Lysimeter KW - Microplastics KW - Artificial turf KW - Thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons KW - PAH KW - Heavy metals KW - Soil samples PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-645301 DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01235-1 SN - 2190-4715 VL - 37 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Springer Open AN - OPUS4-64530 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Production of small micro- and nanoplastic reference materials supporting harmonization and standardization N2 - The MICROPLASTICdays at Ljubliana, Slowenia, were organized in cooperation with the PRIORITY cost action. The topic has been reference materials this time. The talk gives an idea of the preparation of reference materials in micro- and nanoplastic topic to support standardisation and regulation. It defines the term of micro-and nanoplastics and presents different case studies and critical attributes to the production depending on the enduser needs. T2 - MICROPLASTICdays CY - Ljubljana, Slovenia DA - 25.03.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics KW - Reference materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62801 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Development of a new Lysimeter System to assess Microplastic, PAH & Heavy Metal Emissions from Artificial Turf Sports Pitches N2 - Since September 2023, the European Commission introduced a new regulation to reduce emissions of microplastics (MP) into the environment, including the sale and use of intentionally added MP. Therein, the use of synthetic rubber granules in artificial turf is explicitly mentioned and banned for future use. Additionally, abrasions of grass fibres and other turf components are also considered as MP sources. Artificial turf pitches are multi component systems: e. g. grass fibres made of polyethylene (PE), synthetic infill made of ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM), carpet backing of polypropylene (PP) glued with polyurethane (PU), winding yarn of polyethylene terephthalate or elastic layer of Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) bound with PU. While the ban has great impact on recreational sports, there is so far no sufficient data to estimate the MP emissions from artificial turf sports pitches into the environment and thus their relevance as a source of MP pollution. To close this gap, three artificial turf scenarios in different ageing states (unaged, artificially aged and aged in real time) were analysed in this study: the past (old turf: fossil based, synthetic infill), present (most commonly installed in Germany: fossil based, synthetic infill) and future (turf with recycled grass fibres, no synthetic infill). To simulate outdoor weathering during the service life of approx. 15 years, accelerated ageing by UV weathering and mechanical stress was carried out. The newly developed and in-house manufactured Microplastic Eluate Lysimeter (MEL) simulates contaminant transfer into the groundwater and allows the simultaneous sampling for MP and dissolved contaminants, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) or heavy metals (HM). MP mass contents were analysed using smart microfilter crucibles (mesh size: 5 µm) and Thermal Extraction Desorption Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry and PAH and HM concentrations were determined using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry or Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy, respectively. T2 - MICRO2024: Plastic Pollution from Micro to Nano CY - Arrecife, Spain DA - 23.09.2024 KW - Microplastics Eluate Lysimeter KW - Microplastics KW - Heavy Metals KW - PAH KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61160 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Drago, C A1 - Wiesner, Yosri A1 - Braun, U A1 - Giovannozi, A A1 - Fadda, M A1 - Putzu, Mara A1 - Lorenzo, S A1 - Moscoso-Pérez, C A1 - Benismail, N A1 - Palma, C A1 - Almeida, J A1 - Mattarozzi, M A1 - Barbaresi, M A1 - Piergiovanni, M A1 - Masino, M A1 - Bianchi, F A1 - Careri, M A1 - v Bavel, B A1 - Maltseva, A A1 - Sillanpää, M A1 - Pröfrock, D A1 - Wippermann, D A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Harmonisation of sample preparation for microplastic analysis: Recovery rates of tablets containing microplastics as reference material for food and environmental matrix N2 - Microplastic are found ubiquitarians in the environment and food products. Up to now, their impact of risks on health and environment is still controversially discussed, but based on the precautionary principle alone, their presence should be monitored and emission should be reduced (see here also the status of existing EU regulations ). The crucial point is not only the reduction of microplastics pollution but also the introduction of legally binding, standardized procedures for their analysis. The limited availability of certified reference material as well as absence of standard operating procedures to identify, characterize and quantify microplastics according to number and mass have generated lack of comparability between different analytical methods and laboratories; but also, the need of time-consuming development of own protocols for each laboratory. Further on, harmonisation and standardisation of microplastics analysis requires specific reference materials that are used to validate the measurement and to ensure the comparability of results. In the first step, we developed tablets of a water-soluble matrix, containing defined numbers of microplastic particles or mass contents. These can be solved in water and can be handled as reference materials in bottled drinking water without additional sample preparation. These samples can be measured, using mass-based methods as thermo-analytical methods like thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) or pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and using umber-based methods as vibrational spectroscopy like Infrared and Raman directly after filtration. The aim of this work was to delevop standard operating procedure to measure microplastics in more complex matrices and to harmonise and compare different detection and characterization methods. In fact, these matrices require different additional treatments to allow a reliable quantification and identification of microplastics. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63366 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eisentraut, Paul A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Repräsentative Mikroplastik-Detektion in Umweltproben - Weiterentwicklung der TED-GC/MS N2 - Die große Herausforderung in der Detektion von Mikroplastik (MP)‑Partikeln (1-1000 µm) besteht darin, sie neben Millionen von natürlichen Partikeln in Umweltproben nachzuweisen. Zum Aufspüren von Senken, Eintragspfaden und für Monitoring-Kampagnen ist ein schnelles, automatisiertes Verfahren unerlässlich. Ein solches Verfahren wurde an der Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) mit der ThermoExtraktion/Desorption-Gaschromatographie-Massenspektrometrie (TED-GC/MS) in den letzten Jahren entwickelt. KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2021 UR - https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/do/10.1002/was.0004000195 SN - 0016-3538 SP - 2 EP - 5 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-54266 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - PlasticTrace WP1 – Stakeholder Workshop N2 - The talk summarizes the achievments of WP1 of the PlasticTrace project. Microplastic reference materials were developed by producing tablets. Different preparation methods were compared. Characterisation of the tablets was done after filtration with µFTIR, QCL, µRaman, Py-GC/MS and TED-GC/MS after ISO standards ISO 16094-2 and ISO/FDIS 16094-3. Polymer types are polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate. T2 - Stakeholder Workshop PlasticsTrace CY - Online meeting DA - 09.09.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - TED-GC/MS KW - PET PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64258 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Meurer, Maren T1 - Accelerated solvent extraction to identify an accurate polyethylene mass value in microplastic analytics N2 - It is of high priority to capture the extent of microplastics (MP) contamination for understanding its impact and consequences to our environment. However, due to a lack of standardized methods, MP analysis as well as its quality assurance, is still a challenge. The thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/-mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) as a novel innovative thermoanalytic method can detect MP particles in environmental samples based on their decomposition products. According to MP analysis, a distinctively larger polyethylene (PE) content in comparison to other synthetic polymers was detected in environmental samples. Various substances within the matrix which have a similar molecular structure to PE, like fats and oils, might interfere with its marker and lead to an overestimation. In this investigation an automated extraction method, the accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), is introduced as quality control tool before TED-GC/MS measurement. Thereby, not the extract like usually used, but the solid filtrate is analyzed. The aim is to clean the environmental samples from solvent removable compounds which could lead to false positive signals and thus receive a more accurate PE mass. Consequently, a sample mimicking environmental samples with a defined matrix and a known polymer mass was generated. The common polymers polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and styrene-butadiene rubber, used as an indication for tire wear, were added to the matrix. Different parameters for ASE extraction were varied such as different solvents, filters and purge time. Finally, a PE recovery rate of 91 % after extraction could be reached. T2 - Micro 2022 CY - Online meeting DA - 14.11.2022 KW - PE KW - ASE KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56347 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Miclea, P-T T1 - Evaluation of Toxicological Characteristics of Airborne Nano/Microplastic Particles From the Industrial Environment N2 - Micro and nano plastic (MNPs) particles and fibres represent a global scale contamination source with hazard potential. They can be identified all around our environment, even in air, soil and water. One of the major global MNPs polluters is the textile industry, which generates plastic particles (nylon, polyester, polyurethane, polyolefin, acrylic etc.) during the manufacturing processes. The study analyses the level of particle concentration outside a company that processes textile yarns, but also from the proximity of workplaces using an online air samplers with cascade and mono filter holders for silicon (Si) and quartz filters, respectively. A laser detector was used for real- time counting of particles of six size classes (PM0.3-PM10). Silicon (Si) filters with a diameter of 9 mm and pore sizes of 10 µm and 1 µm and quartz filters with a diameter of 25 mm and a pore size of 1.2 µm were used for particle sampling. A special holder was designed and made for selective sampling (PM10 and PM1.0) on Si filters. Quartz filters were pre-calcined (8000C) before collection. Sampling parameters: airflow (GilAir Plus pump) -2 l/m3, collection time -3 hours; starting time 7.00 am (T1)/2.00 pm (T2), intermittent natural ventilation, average temperature and humidity: 23.3 0C, RH: 52.5%. The weight of particles collected (µg) on the quart filters was 4.9E-05 (T1) and 5.1E-05 (T2) and on the Si filters 3,2 E-05(T1) and 5E-06(T2). The total number of the outside particles (PM0,3-PM10) was situated between 3584,58 (T1)-15165,05(T2) and inside 9901(T1) and 12921,61(T2). The highest number of PM 10 particles inside was 72/m3 and of PM0.3 particles 71979/m3. The samples were characterized using electron microscopy and µRaman spectroscopy. All samples showed a high concentration of particles on the filter. Samples show only particles with irregular shapes. The equivalent particle diameter was for PM10: 1-5 µm and PM1<1 µm. The total Ion Chromatogram shows the presence of PET-type polymer and the TED GS-MS analysis shows that the weight of the collected particles is PET. After extracting the particles from the quartz filters, they were tested for evaluation of the cytotoxic potential of preparations on human monocyte-macrophage cell cultures and peripheral lymphocytes. In the first case, the level of cytotoxicity was at the border between non-cytotoxic and cytotoxic and in the second test the result was moderate cytotoxic. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Nanoplastics KW - Raman microscopy PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63378 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Wimmer, Lukas A1 - Alcolea-Rodriguez, Victor A1 - Waniek, Tassilo A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Matzdorf, Kay A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Fengler, Petra A1 - Milczewski, Frank A1 - Otazo-Aseguinolaza, Itziar A1 - Ferrer, Manuel A1 - Bañares, Miguel A. A1 - Portela, Raquel A1 - Dailey, Lea Ann T1 - Quality-by-design and current good practices for the production of test and reference materials for micro- and nano-plastic research N2 - Understanding the environmental and human health impacts of micro- and nanoplastic pollutants is currently a high priority, stimulating intensive methodological research work in the areas of sampling, sample preparation and detection as well as intensive monitoring and testing. It is challenging to identify and quantify microplastics in complex organic matrices and concepts for nanoplastic detection are still in their infancy. All analytical techniques employed in studying micro- and nanoplastics require suitable reference materials for validation measurements, with requirements as diverse as the analytical tools used, ranging from different polymer types, size distributions and shapes of the material to the concentrations employed in different experimental set ups (ng to g amounts). The aim of this manuscript is to outline current good practices for small-scale laboratory production and characterization of suitable test and reference materials. The focus is placed on top-downfragmentation methods as well as bottom-up precipitation methods. Examples using polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate with size distribution classes of mainly 10–1000, 1–10 and <1 μm particles will be provided. Experiences and suggestions on how to produce well-characterized micro- and nano-plastics for internal research needs will ensure that studies using the materials have robust and informative outcomes. KW - Mmicroplastics KW - Nanoplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Standard validation method PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139595 SN - 0304-3894 VL - 497 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-63958 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Braun, U. A1 - Herper, D. A1 - Knefel, M. A1 - Bednarz, M. A1 - Bannick, C.-G. T1 - Smart filters for the analysis of microplastic in beverages filled in plastic bottles N2 - 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 MP in food products is still not possible. In the present work, we present the development of a smart filter crucible as sampling and detection tool. After filtration and drying of the filtered-off solids, a direct determination of the MP mass content from the crucible sample can be done by thermal extraction desorption gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (TED-GC/MS). The new filter crucible allows a filtration of MP down to particle sizes of 5 µm. We determined MP contents below 0.01 µg/L up to 2 µg/L, depending on beverages bottle type. This may be directly related to the bottle type, especially the quality of the plastic material of the screw cap. Dependent on the plastic material, particle formation increases due to opening and closing operations during the use phase. However, we have also found that some individual determinations of samples were subjected to high errors due to random events. A conclusive quantitative evaluation of the products is therefore not possible at present. KW - Microplastic KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Plastic bottles KW - Bbeverages KW - Filter crucible PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2021.1889042 SN - 1944-0057 VL - 38 IS - 4 SP - 691 EP - 700 PB - Taylor & Francis AN - OPUS4-52323 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Repräsentative Untersuchungsstrategien für ein integratives Systemverständnis von spezifischen Einträgen von Kunststoffen in die Umwelt (RUSEKU) N2 - Der Vortrag wurde im Rahmen der Abschlusskonferenz des Forschungsschwerpunktes "Plastik in der Umwelt" des BMBF gehalten. Er fasst die Ergebnisse des Verbundprojektes RUSEKU zusammen. Es wurde die Herstellung verschiedener Testmaterialien für die Mikroplastik (MP) Analytik beschrieben. Im weiteren geht es um verschiedene Ansätze MP kostengünstig und schnell zu detektieren, z.B. mit Nahinfrarotspektroskopie. Nanoplastik konnte mit der Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie sichtbar gemacht werden. Für die praxisnahe Beprobung von Gewässern wurde die Fraktionierte Filtration entwickelt. Integrale Beprobungen können mit dem Sedimentationskasten erfolgen. Als Beispiele für die Beprobung realer Gewässer wurde das urbane Abwassersystem Kaiserslautern, Getränkewasser und Waschmaschinenwasser gezeigt. T2 - Abschlusskonferenz des Forschungsschwerpunktes "Plastik in der Umwelt" des BMBF CY - Online meeting DA - 20.04.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Probennahme KW - RUSEKU PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52546 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Mikroplastik an der BAM: TED-GC/MS und Referenzmaterialien N2 - Thema ist die Funktionsweise der TED-GC/MS als Methode für die Mikroplastik-Detektion sowie die Herstellung dazugehöriger Referenzmaterialien an der BAM T2 - 25. Kolloquium Massenspektrometrie von Polymeren CY - Online meeting DA - 17.06.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Referenzmaterial PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52835 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Results of the Plastic in the environment comparative test N2 - The talk describes the sturcture and the results of the "plastics in the environment" comparative test of 2019. T2 - Symposium "Challenges of microplastic analysis – Bridging state of the art and policy needs” CY - Online meeting DA - 09.09.2021 KW - Microplastic KW - Comparative test KW - ILC PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53236 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Harmonisation efforts of the CUSP projects N2 - The talk is about harmonisation approaches within CUSP. First the five H2020 projects for research on risk assessment regarding microplastics topic were presented. Secondly, harmonisation process were discussed. T2 - VAMAS SC 47 Meeting CY - Turin, Italy DA - 19.10.2022 KW - Microplastics KW - Harmonisation KW - Nanoplastics KW - H2020 KW - Risk assessment PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56077 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, U. T1 - Analysis of Microplastics in Soil: Harmonisation and Standardisation - a first approach N2 - The talk is about microplastics in soil. Some results were presented with mainly state of the art according to microplastics in standardization. T2 - International Conference Microplastics in Soils CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 19.10.2022 KW - Microplastics KW - Microplastics standardisation KW - Microplastics in soil PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56078 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Welche Rolle spielen Textilien als Mikroplastik-Quelle im Abwasser? Was kann man dagegen tun? N2 - Diskutiert wird die Frage, ob Textilien gewaschen in der Waschmaschine ein Eintragspfad von Mikroplastik in die Umwelt sind. Nachgewiesen wird dies experimentell über Messungen zur Massenbestimmung mit der TED-GC/MS. T2 - DWA-Seminar: Mikroplastik in der (Siedlungs-)Wasserwirtschaft – Einordnung und Handlungsempfehlungen für die Praxis CY - Online meeting DA - 29.11.2023 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Waschmaschine KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59279 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja T1 - Umfassende Analyse von Leachabels aus rezyklierten HDPE-Kanistern N2 - Es wurde untersucht, welche Substanzen aus rHDPE-Post-Consumer-Rezyklat herausgelöst und nachgewiesen werden können (Non-Target-Analytik). Die Substanzen wurden sowohl chemisch als auch anwendungsbezogen systematisiert. Diskutiert wurde die Nutzung der Ergebnisse zur Festlegung von Qualitätskriterien von rHDPE sowie zur Verbesserung des mechanischen Recycling-Prozesses. T2 - 20. Gefahrgut-Technik-Tage CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 13.11.2025 KW - rHDPE KW - Rezyklat KW - Leachables PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64852 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Trubiroha, P. T1 - Simulationsdaten zur photooxidativen Beanspruchung an verschiedenen geografischen Freibewitterungs-Standorten N2 - Freibewitterungen weisen grundsätzlich eine hohe Variabilität der jeweiligen Intensität der Beanspruchungsparameter auf; sie sind nicht einfach wiederholbar. Um dennoch die Ergebnisse einer Beanspruchung vergleichen zu können, ist eine aussagekräftige Charakterisierung der Freibewitterung wichtig. Traditionell werden Daten bekannter Einflussgrößen wie Globalstrahlung, Temperatur oder Feuchtewerte herangezogen. Obwohl man weiß, dass diese Größen an den exponierten Oberflächen wechselwirken und kombiniert als Mikroklima Einfluss auf Degradationsprozesse nehmen, werden schon aus Praktikabilitätsgründen diese separat als klimatische Messgrößen angegeben. Die Aussagekraft dieser Daten ist mäßig. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, die Aussagekraft und damit Vergleichbarkeit zu erhöhen, indem diese Messdaten als Stundendaten zu Wirkintegralen vorverarbeitet und jahresweise akkumuliert werden. Betrachtet wird dafür der Prozess der Photooxidation, da dieser Alterungs-mechanismus bei allen Kunststoffen auftritt. Für eine einfache Modellierung wird die wirksame UV-Bestrahlung, gewichtet mit einer Arrhenius-abhängigen Ober¬flächen-temperatur (TOF), über den Beanspruchungszeitraum von hier je einem Jahr akkumuliert. Die Idee einer solchen Messgröße für photooxidative Ober¬flächen¬alterung wurde bereits vorgestellt [1]. Dort wurde ein Gerät vor¬geschlagen, mit dem dieser Wert für verschieden absorbierende Oberflächen für die Dauer einer Exposition akkumuliert wird, und ergänzend eine Abschätzung der Betauungs¬zeiten dieser Referenz-Oberflächen erfolgen könnte. Hier soll es um eine rechnerisch generierte Zusammenstellung dieser photo¬oxidativen 1-Jahres-Alterungswerte für verschiedene Standorte gehen. Ein Temperaturfaktor erfasst dabei den Einfluss der Strahlungserwärmung auf eine weiße, graue bzw. schwarze Referenzoberflächen, spiegelt also die Kopplung von solarer Strahlung und Temperatur wider [1]. Ermittelt wird er aus Stunden¬daten der Globalstrahlung und der Lufttemperatur. Die spektrale Wirkung wird aus Sonnenhöhenständen entsprechend der geografischen Breite mit Hilfe der FastRT-Oberfläche [2] als PiT·h-Wert abgeschätzt [3]. Anhand der errechneten Jahreswerte können die Schweregrade der photo¬oxidativen Beanspruchung an den verschiedenen Standorten unmittelbar verglichen werden. Die gezeigten Simulationsdaten für ein solches „elektronisches Referenzmaterial“ für photooxidative Degradation zeigen die prinzipielle Möglichkeit einer Kartografierung solcher Daten auf. T2 - 53. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Stutensee-Blankenloch, Germany DA - 26.03.2025 KW - Polymer 3R, UV, Bestrahlung, Bewitterung PY - 2025 SN - 978-3-9826129-2-8 VL - 53 SP - 19 EP - 28 PB - Gesellschaft für Umweltsimulation e.V. CY - 76327 Pfinztal (Berghausen) AN - OPUS4-62902 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Trubiroha, Peter A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker T1 - Significance of new data pairs for irradiance and (surface) temperature N2 - There is consent that UV irradiance and temperature at the place of photodegradation are the most important environmental parameters in weathering, along with humidity. This contribution shows how an improvement in the measurement data situation can improve the significance and comparability of outdoor exposures. Photooxidative ageing is calculated using sample polymers for which the corresponding modelling data (Exposure Response Functions, ERF) is available. The mean square deviations are estimated, which result from using different spectral irradiances and different spectral sensitivities, both of the sensors and the polymers. It will be shown here how the significance of the irradiance values increases with increasing approximation of the spectral sensitivities of the sensor and polymer. Also, the mean square deviations are estimated, which result from using different activation energies and surface temperatures. A selection of different variables to describe the weathering exposure is created. The potential of either individual values or data pairs is evaluated in terms of significance or correlation to the calculated photooxidative ageing. Recording hourly data also enables subsequent evaluations of individual test specimens, adapted to the respective colour or to determine activation energies. An accumulated value, calculated from PIT-radiometer irradiance and a suited surface temperature, can provide a comparison of different outdoor exposures over different locations or years. Thus, a characterisation of the weathering exposure would be related to a reference spectral sensitivity (much closer to a polymer than that of a common UV radiometer), one reference activation energy, and different surface temperature scenarios with, on the one hand, graded solar absorptions (white / grey / black) and, on the other hand, different thermal couplings (coated metal / thick plastic). This results in three values each for plastic samples and coated metals (light / grey / dark). It will never be possible to accurately predict the weathering tests for individual samples (with their specific sensitivities), but the proposed approaches can go a long way towards the comparability of outdoor weathering exposures. T2 - 10th European Weathering Symposium EWS CY - Graz, Austria DA - 11.09.2024 KW - Polymer 3R KW - Outdoor weathering PY - 2024 SN - 978-3-9826129-1-1 SP - 121 EP - 133 PB - Stober Medien GmbH CY - Eggenstein AN - OPUS4-61291 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja T1 - Significance of new data pairs for irradiance and (surface) temperature N2 - There is consent that UV irradiance and temperature at the place of photodegradation are the most important environmental parameters in weathering, along with humidity. This contribution shows how an improvement in the measurement data situation can improve the significance and comparability of outdoor exposures. Photooxidative ageing is calculated using sample polymers for which the corresponding modelling data (Exposure Response Functions, ERF) is available. The mean square deviations are estimated, which result from using different spectral irradiances and different spectral sensitivities, both of the sensors and the polymers. It will be shown here how the significance of the irradiance values increases with increasing approximation of the spectral sensitivities of the sensor and polymer. Also, the mean square deviations are estimated, which result from using different activation energies and surface temperatures. A selection of different variables to describe the weathering exposure is created. The potential of either individual values or data pairs is evaluated in terms of significance or correlation to the calculated photooxidative ageing. Recording hourly data also enables subsequent evaluations of individual test specimens, adapted to the respective colour or to determine activation energies. An accumulated value, calculated from PIT-radiometer irradiance and a suited surface temperature, can provide a comparison of different outdoor exposures over different locations or years. Thus, a characterisation of the weathering exposure would be related to a reference spectral sensitivity (much closer to a polymer than that of a common UV radiometer), one reference activation energy, and different surface temperature scenarios with, on the one hand, graded solar absorptions (white / grey / black) and, on the other hand, different thermal couplings (coated metal / thick plastic). This results in three values each for plastic samples and coated metals (light / grey / dark). It will never be possible to accurately predict the weathering tests for individual samples (with their specific sensitivities), but the proposed approaches can go a long way towards the comparability of outdoor weathering exposures. T2 - 10th European Weathering Symposium EWS CY - Graz, Austria DA - 11.09.2024 KW - Polymer 3R KW - Outdoor weathering PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61292 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Trubiroha, P. A1 - Giehl, A. A1 - Schönlein, A. A1 - Feil, F. T1 - Normenvorschlag zur Bewitterung transparenter oder transluzenter Kunststoffe N2 - Aufgrund des tieferen Eindringens der solaren Strahlung treten bei transparenten und bei transluzenten (durchscheinenden) Kunststoffen veränderte Bedingungen gegenüber opaken Proben auf. Dies kann zu speziellen Effekten und damit zu einem abweichenden Bewitterungsverhalten führen. Auch aus Mangel an geeigneten Normen werden diese Effekte häufig vernachlässigt. Deshalb initiiert der DIN-FNK auf ISO-Ebene ein entsprechendes Dokument. Die Norm ist in der Form eines Technical Reports geplant. In einem ersten Teil sollen die Besonderheiten transparenter oder transluzenter Kunststoffe erläutert werden, um den Nutzer für mögliche Probleme zu sensibilisieren. Im zweiten Teil werden Empfehlungen für Bestrahlung oder Bewitterung herausgearbeitet. In einem dritten Teil geht es dann um Besonderheiten bei der Messung von Eigenschaftsänderungen transparenter bzw. transluzenter Kunststoffe. In informativen Anhängen sollen verschiedene Beispiele die Thematik illustrieren. T2 - 51. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Stutensee-Blankenloch, Germany DA - 29.03.2023 KW - Bewitterung KW - Polymer 3R KW - Bestrahlung KW - UV PY - 2023 SN - 978-3-9818507-8-9 SP - 39 EP - 46 PB - Gesellschaft für Umweltsimulation e.V. CY - Pfinztal (Berghausen) AN - OPUS4-57271 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja T1 - Simulationsdaten zur photooxidativen Beanspruchung an verschiedenen geografischen Freibewitterungs-Standorten N2 - Freibewitterungen weisen grundsätzlich eine hohe Variabilität der jeweiligen Intensität der Beanspruchungsparameter auf; sie sind nicht einfach wiederholbar. Um dennoch die Ergebnisse einer Beanspruchung vergleichen zu können, ist eine aussagekräftige Charakterisierung der Freibewitterung wichtig. Traditionell werden Daten bekannter Einflussgrößen wie Globalstrahlung, Temperatur oder Feuchtewerte herangezogen. Obwohl man weiß, dass diese Größen an den exponierten Oberflächen wechselwirken und kombiniert als Mikroklima Einfluss auf Degradationsprozesse nehmen, werden schon aus Praktikabilitätsgründen diese separat als klimatische Messgrößen angegeben. Die Aussagekraft dieser Daten ist mäßig. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, die Aussagekraft und damit Vergleichbarkeit zu erhöhen, indem diese Messdaten als Stundendaten zu Wirkintegralen vorverarbeitet und jahresweise akkumuliert werden. Betrachtet wird dafür der Prozess der Photooxidation, da dieser Alterungs-mechanismus bei allen Kunststoffen auftritt. Für eine einfache Modellierung wird die wirksame UV-Bestrahlung, gewichtet mit einer Arrhenius-abhängigen Ober¬flächen-temperatur (TOF), über den Beanspruchungszeitraum von hier je einem Jahr akkumuliert. Die Idee einer solchen Messgröße für photooxidative Ober¬flächen¬alterung wurde bereits vorgestellt [1]. Dort wurde ein Gerät vor¬geschlagen, mit dem dieser Wert für verschieden absorbierende Oberflächen für die Dauer einer Exposition akkumuliert wird, und ergänzend eine Abschätzung der Betauungs¬zeiten dieser Referenz-Oberflächen erfolgen könnte. Hier soll es um eine rechnerisch generierte Zusammenstellung dieser photo¬oxidativen 1-Jahres-Alterungswerte für verschiedene Standorte gehen. Ein Temperaturfaktor erfasst dabei den Einfluss der Strahlungserwärmung auf eine weiße, graue bzw. schwarze Referenzoberflächen, spiegelt also die Kopplung von solarer Strahlung und Temperatur wider [1]. Ermittelt wird er aus Stunden¬daten der Globalstrahlung und der Lufttemperatur. Die spektrale Wirkung wird aus Sonnenhöhenständen entsprechend der geografischen Breite mit Hilfe der FastRT-Oberfläche [2] als PiT·h-Wert abgeschätzt [3]. Anhand der errechneten Jahreswerte können die Schweregrade der photo¬oxidativen Beanspruchung an den verschiedenen Standorten unmittelbar verglichen werden. Die gezeigten Simulationsdaten für ein solches „elektronisches Referenzmaterial“ für photooxidative Degradation zeigen die prinzipielle Möglichkeit einer Kartografierung solcher Daten auf. T2 - 53. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Stutensee, Germany DA - 26.3.2025 KW - Polymer 3R KW - UV KW - Bestrahlung KW - Bewitterung PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62903 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja T1 - Digitale Umweltsimulation am Beispiel der Photooxidation von Polymeren N2 - Die Umweltwirkungen auf ein Material werden als Überlapp der Funktionskurven von Materialempfindlichkeit und einwirkenden Umweltparametern betrachtet. Wenn entweder die Empfindlichkeit oder die Beanspruchungen Null sind, ergibt sich auch keine Umweltwirkung und bei beidseitig Werten größer Null das jeweilige Produkt der beiden. Die Akkumulation der nicht-reversiblen Effekte über die Zeit und allen Eigenschaftsänderungen entspricht der Alterung des Materials für den jeweiligen Expositionszeitraum. Die digitale Umweltsimulation gliedert sich hier in drei Teilaspekte. Ein erster, rein materialwissenschaftlicher Teil hat die Aufgabe, alle relevanten Materialempfindlichkeiten experimentell zu quantifizieren. Ein zweiter – unter Umständen numerischer Teil – hat die Aufgabe, das Bauteil und seine Einbaulage zu digitalisieren und aus den makroskopischen Umgebungsbedingungen die relevanten mikroklimatischen Umweltparameter für alle Oberflächen- oder Volumenelemente zu bestimmen. In einem dritten Teil werden die Einwirkungen über den betrachteten Zeitraum berechnet und kumuliert. Dieses Konzept, das auf den so genannten Expositions-Reaktions-Funktionen (ERF) basiert, wird an Beispielen der Photoxidation erläutert. Dieses Vorgehen wurde schon beim ViPQuali-Projekt als Numerische Umweltsimulation umgesetzt. Überprüft werden muss das Modell unbedingt an einer realitätsnahen Validierungsbeanspruchung. Hier werden die ermittelten ERFs mit über den kompletten Beanspruchungszeitraum geloggten Umweltparametern gekoppelt, um die berechnete mit der experimentell erfahrenen Alterungswirkung zu vergleichen. Nur so kann sichergestellt sein, dass alle für die Anwendungsumgebung relevanten Materialempfindlichkeiten einbezogen wurden. T2 - 52. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Blankenloch, Germany DA - 26.03.2024 KW - Polymer 3R KW - UV KW - Bestrahlung KW - Bewitterung PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-59831 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker T1 - Gedanken, Tipps & Tricks zu künstlichen Bewitterungsprüfungen N2 - Die Fragestellung kann nur exemplarisch dargestellt werden, aber ist hoffentlich auch für langjährige Praktiker in den ausgewählten Punkten interessant. Es sollen für folgende Bereiche Beispiele gegeben werden: Probenvorbereitung, Testvorbereitung, Testdurchführung und Auswertung. T2 - 53. Jahrestagung der GUS 2025; Umwelteinflüsse erfassen, simulieren, bewerten. CY - Stutensee, Germany DA - 26.03.2025 KW - Künstliche Bewitterung KW - Umweltsimulation KW - Wechseltemperaturen KW - Prüfung KW - UV KW - Feuchte KW - Beregnung PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62862 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja T1 - Combined impact of UV radiation and nitric acid (HNO3) on HDPE jerrycans – comparison of outdoor and lab test N2 - A damaging action of HNO3-55% only occurs in combination with its decomposition into nitrous gases, which can be caused by UV radiation. In a laboratory test, transparent HDPE jerrycans have been exposed to both UV radiation and 55 wt-% nitric acid solution at (41 ± 2)°C, for up to 20 days. For comparison, UV radiant exposure (21 days) and nitric acid exposure (up to 6 weeks) were performed separately, at nearly equal temperatures. The respective damages are compared with FTIR spectroscopy in ATR and HT-gel permeation chromatography (GPC) on a molecular level and with hydraulic internal pressure testing as a component test. For the used jerrycans, relevant oxidation can only be found after the combined exposure. The gradual increase in oxidative damage shows the good reproducibility of the lab exposure. The decomposition of nitric acid into nitrous gases by UV radiation – as well as the jerrycan oxidation – is also observed at lower HNO3 concentration (28 wt- %). Similar results are obtained after outdoor tests. Again, the damage occurs only after combined exposure, in contrast to the exposures to UV only and to HNO3 only, which were conducted in parallel. Outdoor exposures are most readily accepted as they represent possible end-use conditions. However, the reproducibility of these exposures is poor due to the large temporal variations in weather. There are also several safety risks, which is why the number of replicates remains limited. Since the outdoor and lab exposure tests show the same qualitative results, it is appropriate to conduct systematic studies in the laboratory. After 6 days of lab exposure, the oxidation damage is rated as critical, which corresponds to about 1/10 year in Central Europe, according to the UV radiant exposure. It should be noted that this amount can also occur in two sunny weeks. T2 - 24th iapri World Packaging Conference CY - Valencia, Spain DA - 17.06.2024 KW - UV exposure KW - Nitric acid KW - Polyethylene KW - Oxidation PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60416 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - PE-Rezyklat Einsatz in Gefahrgutbehältern? N2 - In diesem Vortrag geht es darum zu beschreiben, ob Rezyklat für PE Behälter gefüllt mit Gefahrgut Anwendung finden darf. Kanister aus Neuware und Rezyklat wurden verschiedenen Untersuchungen unterzogen. Es wurde der Feststoff und Leachable getestet. Methoden sind TED-GC/MS und GC-HRMS. Proben der Leachable wurden nach 1 und 4 Wochen genommen und die Peakanzahl vergleichen dargestellt. Als Lösemittel wurden Wasser, Ethanol, EtOAc, Ammoniak und HNO3 verwendet. T2 - Fachaustausch Projekt GeSKAR CY - Dessau, Germany DA - 10.01.2025 KW - Gefahrgutbehälter KW - Rezyklat PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62396 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - What can thermoanalytical methods do for you ? N2 - This presentation summarizes outcomes of the CUSP projects POLYRISK and PlasticsFatE according to thermoanalytical methods.It highlights the importants of analytical methods to measure physical and chemical properties of the test materials. These informations are neccessary for interpretation of the toxicological test results. T2 - CUSP conference CY - Utrecht, Netherlands DA - 14.09.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - CUSP KW - Polymer 3R KW - Thermoanalytical methods PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58312 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bandow, N. A1 - Aitken, M. D. A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Schoknecht, Ute A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg A1 - Stephan, Ina T1 - Using Environmental Simulations to Test the Release of Hazardous Substances from Polymer-Based Products: Are Realism and Pragmatism Mutually Exclusive Objectives? N2 - The potential release of hazardous substances from polymer-based products is currently in the focus of environmental policy. Environmental simulations are applied to expose such products to selected aging conditions and to investigate release processes. Commonly applied aging exposure types such as solar and UV radiation in combination with water contact, corrosive gases, and soil contact as well as expected general effects on polymers and additional ingredients of polymer-based products are described. The release of substances is based on mass-transfer processes to the material surfaces. Experimental approaches to investigate transport processes that are caused by water contact are presented. For tailoring the tests, relevant aging exposure types and release quantification methods must be combined appropriately. Several studies on the release of hazardous substances such as metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, flame retardants, antioxidants, and carbon nanotubes from polymers are summarized exemplarily. Differences between natural and artificial exposure tests are discussed and demonstrated for the release of flame retardants from several polymers and for biocides from paints. Requirements and limitations to apply results from short-term artificial environmental exposure tests to predict long-term environmental behavior of polymers are presented. KW - Environmental simulations KW - Polymer-based products KW - Artificial weathering KW - Degradation KW - Leaching KW - Soil contact PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-509310 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13122709 SN - 1996-1944 VL - 13 IS - 12 SP - Paper 2709, 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Switzerland AN - OPUS4-50931 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Plarre, Rüdiger A1 - Stephan, Ina T1 - Umweltsimulation an der BAM – Grundlegende Ansätze mit Beispielen aus der natürlichen Umwelt N2 - Drei grundlegend verschiedene Ansätze für Umweltsimulation werden an Beispielen illustriert: (i) Ganzheitlicher Ansatz - Nachstellen von Umweltmilieus im Labor Ziel ist hier das Nachstellen von (kombinierten) Umweltbedingungen im Labor; die Umweltparameter werden mit all ihren Wechselwirkungen aufgebracht. Hauptnutzen ist eine gegenüber der natürlichen Beanspruchung erhöhte Reproduzierbarkeit der Umweltbedingungen. Hat man sein Laborsetup entwickelt, ist es auf verschiedene Materialien anwendbar. Unter solchen Laborbedingungen ermittelte Lebensdauern sind dabei nicht auf die typischerweise sehr variablen Real-Umweltbedingungen übertragbar. (ii) Parametrisierter Ansatz - Ermittlung einzelner Materialempfindlichkeiten Hierbei werden im Labor die Wirkungen separater Umweltparameter auf Materialien nachgestellt. Für eine solche Separation der Einflussfaktoren ist insbesondere die Aufschlüsselung möglicher Wechselwirkungen der Umwelt-parameter (z.B. Mikroklima an bestrahlten Oberflächen) erforderlich. Einzelne (meist Alterungs-) Empfindlichkeiten können qualitativ nachgewiesen werden oder sogar – als Beanspruchungs-Wirkungs-Funktionen – quantifiziert werden, was einen wesentlichen Schritt in Richtung der Digitalisierung der Material¬prüfung darstellt. Insbesondere ist dann auch eine Lebensdauer-vorhersage für vorgegebene Zeitreihen der Beanspruchungs¬parameter umsetzbar. (iii) Rückwirkungen auf die Umwelt Umweltbeanspruchungen können zur Freisetzung von Schadstoffen in die Umwelt führen. Durch die Nachstellung kritischer, aber realitätsnaher Einsatzszenarien kann die Menge an freigesetzten Substanzen abgeschätzt werden. Egal, welcher Ansatz verfolgt wird – ein Vergleich mit der oder einer Real-beanspruchung ist unerlässlich, ebenso wie die Messdatenaufzeichnung (data logging) aller potenziell relevanten Beanspruchungsparameter während dieser Realbeanspruchung. Obwohl die naturnahe Umwelt – sowohl in der BAM als auch bei der GUS – gegenüber der technischen Umwelt eher untergeordnet auftritt, werden zur Illustration Beispiele aus der naturnahen Umwelt verwendet. T2 - 50. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Online meeting DA - 23.03.2022 KW - Umweltsimulation PY - 2022 SN - 978-3-9818507-7-2 SP - 79 EP - 89 AN - OPUS4-55015 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Geburtig, Anja T1 - Digitale Umweltsimulation am Beispiel der Photooxidation von Polymeren N2 - Die Umweltwirkungen auf ein Material werden als Überlapp der Funktionskurven von Materialempfindlichkeit und einwirkenden Umweltparametern betrachtet. Wenn entweder die Empfindlichkeit oder die Beanspruchungen Null sind, ergibt sich auch keine Umweltwirkung und bei beidseitig Werten größer Null das jeweilige Produkt der beiden. Die Akkumulation der nicht-reversiblen Effekte über die Zeit und allen Eigenschaftsänderungen entspricht der Alterung des Materials für den jeweiligen Expositionszeitraum. Die digitale Umweltsimulation gliedert sich hier in drei Teilaspekte. Ein erster, rein materialwissenschaftlicher Teil hat die Aufgabe, alle relevanten Materialempfindlichkeiten experimentell zu quantifizieren. Ein zweiter – unter Umständen numerischer Teil – hat die Aufgabe, das Bauteil und seine Einbaulage zu digitalisieren und aus den makroskopischen Umgebungsbedingungen die relevanten mikroklimatischen Umweltparameter für alle Oberflächen- oder Volumenelemente zu bestimmen. In einem dritten Teil werden die Einwirkungen über den betrachteten Zeitraum berechnet und kumuliert. Dieses Konzept, das auf den so genannten Expositions-Reaktions-Funktionen (ERF) basiert, wird an Beispielen der Photoxidation erläutert. Dieses Vorgehen wurde schon beim ViPQuali-Projekt als Numerische Umweltsimulation umgesetzt. Überprüft werden muss das Modell unbedingt an einer realitätsnahen Validierungsbeanspruchung. Hier werden die ermittelten ERFs mit über den kompletten Beanspruchungszeitraum geloggten Umweltparametern gekoppelt, um die berechnete mit der experimentell erfahrenen Alterungswirkung zu vergleichen. Nur so kann sichergestellt sein, dass alle für die Anwendungsumgebung relevanten Materialempfindlichkeiten einbezogen wurden. T2 - 52. Jahrestagung der GUS CY - Stutensee-Blankenloch, Germany DA - 26.03.2024 KW - UV KW - Polymer 3R KW - Bewitterung KW - Bestrahlung PY - 2024 SN - 978-3-9826129-0-4 SP - 31 EP - 40 PB - Gesellschaft für Umweltsimulation e.V. CY - Pfinztal (Berghausen) AN - OPUS4-59830 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Bewertung der Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden auf Kunststoffbasis N2 - Es handelt sich hierbei um die Abschluss-Präsentation des Projektes "Bewertung der Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden auf Kunststoffbasis", die am 28.11.24 vor dem Drittmittelgeber Zukunft Bau Forschungsförderung im Rahmen der 28. Projekttage der Bauforschung präsentiert wurde. Der 30-minütige Vortrag gliederte sich in die Kapitel Forschungsbedarf, Konzept, Ergebnisse und Take Home-Messages des Projektes. T2 - 28. Projekttage der Zukunft Bau Forschungsförderung CY - Online meeting DA - 26.11.2024 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Kunststoffrasen KW - PAK KW - Schwermetalle KW - Mikroplastik Eluat Lysimeter PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61815 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tuma, Dirk A1 - Mady, A. H. A1 - Baynosa, M. L. A1 - Saad, M. A1 - Dhakal, G. A1 - Kim, W. K. A1 - Shim, Jae-Jin T1 - Morphology-engineered hollow NiTiO₃/C–Ag/Ag₃PO₄ S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst: mechanistic insights into sunlight-driven tetracycline degradation N2 - Tetracycline (TCH), a widely used antibiotic, persists in aquatic and terrestrial environments, posing ecological risks and accelerating antibiotic resistance. To address this, we report a hollow-structured NiTiO₃/C–Ag/Ag₃PO₄ (NT/C–AAP) photocatalyst—the first hollow-type nickel titanate—synthesized via a self-template solvothermal route followed by photodeposition. The catalyst integrates key design strategies—hollow architecture, oxygen vacancies, carbon coating, and an S-scheme heterojunction—to optimize photocatalytic performance. The hollow structure enhances light harvesting via internal scattering, oxygen vacancies facilitate O2 adsorption and superoxide (O₂•⁻) generation, and the S-scheme heterojunction effectively suppresses electron–hole recombination while preserving strong redox potential. NT/C–AAP achieved 96% TCH degradation within 1 h and 82% mineralization in 3 h under solar light, far exceeding core–shell (18%) and aggregated (47%) NiTiO₃-based catalysts. Complete removal was realized within 40 min under 400 W visible light. The catalyst maintained 96% activity after five cycles, confirming excellent durability. Compared with previously reported NiTiO₃ photocatalysts, NT/C–AAP delivered a 50–400% performance enhancement arising from its engineered hollow structure and improved electronic properties. Mechanistic studies identified O₂•⁻ and •OH radicals as dominant species, validating the role of morphology and interface engineering in directing charge separation and redox activity. Additionally, a catalyst performance index was proposed to facilitate comparison across diverse conditions. Overall, this work introduces a novel, durable photocatalyst that links structural design to functional performance and demonstrates strong potential for practical environmental remediation. KW - Heterojunction photocatalyst KW - Photodegradation KW - Tetracycline PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655946 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-025-01600-x SN - 2522-0128 VL - 9 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Springer Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-65594 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - de Eulate Pérez, Elisa García A1 - Wen, Keqing A1 - Voss, Heike A1 - Thiele, Dorothea A1 - Richter, Anja M. A1 - Bonse, Jörn T1 - Escherichia coli repellence via laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on titanium: Critical role of biofilm-associated gene expression N2 - The inconsistency in the observed bacteria-repellent effects of laser-induced surface textures remains a subject of scientific debates. With E. coli TG1 as test strain, we performed biofilm formation assays on ultrashort pulse laser textured titanium. Samples covered with low spatial frequency LIPSS (LSFL) of periods around 750 nm or with high spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL) featuring smaller periods around 100 nm were processed on polished samples. While LSFL significantly reduce the number of adhering bacteria compared to the polished reference, HSFL do not. Simultaneously, we concentrate our study on bacterial strategies employed for biofilm formation, that is the transcription of the biofilm-associated genes csgB, involved in primary adhesion to a surface, and wza, participating in biofilm maturation. Promoter regions of these genes were cloned into a promotor probe plasmid with the green fluorescent protein GFP+ as reporter and transferred into the test strain. As indicated by the fluorescence intensity of the reporter protein, among the bacteria colonizing LSFL-covered areas, a markedly higher proportion of cells transcribing csgB or wza were detected, compared to the bacterial populations colonizing the polished or HSFL-covered areas. To our knowledge, this is the first study indicating that the antifouling effect of LSFL topographies can be counteracted when bacteria activate biofilm-associated genes. KW - Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) KW - Titanium KW - Biofilm KW - Antifouling KW - Gene expression KW - Fluorescence microscopy PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655572 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2026.166363 SN - 0169-4332 VL - 730 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65557 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Božičević, Lucija A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Hildebrandt, Jana A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Vrček, Valerije A1 - Peranić, Nikolina A1 - Kalcec, Nikolina A1 - Vinkovic Vrcek, Ivana T1 - Estrogenic activity of plastic nanoparticles mixture under in vitro settings N2 - 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 serious threat to human health and ecosystems. Frequently used plastic materials such as polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE) have been detected in the form of PNPs in the food chain, soil, water and air, as well as in human feces and blood. In this study, we aimed to provide novel insights in endocrine disrupting properties of PNPs using in vitro estrogen receptor (ER) transactivation assay. The effects of PP-NPs, PE-NPs and PS-NPs and their mixture on T47D-KBluc cell line stably transfected with luciferase as reporter enzyme was evaluated by means of cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and ER activation. Tested dose range for PNPs was 0.001 – 10 mg/L. Both cellular uptake and cytotoxicity for all PNPs was found to be dose-dependent. Only the highest dose of PP-NPs and PE-NPs induced apoptosis and cell death, while PS-NPs were not cytotoxic in tested dose range. For tested concentrations, PP-NPs and PE-NPs showed significant agonistic activity on ER, while PS-NPs cannot be considered ER active. When, applied as mixture, PNP demonstrated additive toxicity effects compared to the effect of each individual PNPs. Additivity was also observed for ER agonistic effect of PNPs mixture according to the benchmark dose-addition modelling approach. This study provides missing science-based evidence on endocrine disrupting effects of PE-NPs, PP-NPs, PS-NPs and their mixtures and highlights the importance of considering unintentional, aggregate and combined exposure to different PNPs in risk management. KW - Risk assessment KW - Nanoplastics KW - Estrogenic activity of plastic nanoparticles PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EN00883E SN - 2051-8153 VL - 11 IS - 5 SP - 2112 EP - 2126 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-59724 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitt, M. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Fengler, Petra A1 - Gehde, M. T1 - Air-based polyethylene fragmentation with high yield to form microplastic particles as reference material candidates N2 - Microplastic particles with sizes between 1 to 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. Most challenging is the yield of MP particle production and the need for resource-intensive grinding with liquid nitrogen. In this paper, a machine is designed to produce aged microplastic particles as reference material candidates with high yield. The machine is based on ultraviolet aging of a thin foil and mechanical fragmentation using clean air. An example of aging and fragmentation of high density polyethylene with additional physical and chemical characterization of shape, size, aging state by carbonyl index and density is presented. KW - Microplastics KW - Degradation of polyethylene KW - Air fragmentation KW - Microplastics reference material PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/appl.202200121 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Wiley online library AN - OPUS4-57203 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Simone T1 - Influence of the pH Value to the Degradation of Ester-Based Thermoplastic Polyurethanes N2 - Microplastics are solid polymeric particles with a size of 1-1000 μm (ISO/TR21960:2020), which can be emitted from mismanaged waste into the environment, where microplastic is now ubiquitous. What happens to the microplastics after ending up in the environment, which risks entail and what effects it has are not sufficiently clarified up to now. The most certain issue is that the plastic particles in the environment are exposed to natural ageing, are fragmenting and degrading, such that the potential risk to ecosystems and humans is increasing due to the formation of smaller and smaller particles, potentially even including nanoplastics, if these are ingested before their further degradation. Therefore, and in view of a possible registration of polymers under REACH in the future, it is necessary to investigate the degradation of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) regarding hydrolysis stability to evaluate possible risks and effects to the environment. In the present studies, one thermoplastic polyurethane – with and without hydrolysis stabilizer – is exposed to different pH buffers at 50°C for 14 days to investigate hydrolysis depending to different pH values (acid, alkali and neutral) based on OECD guideline TG111. The hydrolysis behavior of the TPUs is characterized by surface sensitive techniques and on bulk properties. First degradation effects can be detected by SEC. Hydrolysis, especially under acidic and basic conditions, leads to chain scissions to lower molecular masses. Furthermore, the degradation products which indicate the structure of the bulk material were detected by thermo-analytical methods like TGA-FTIR for the small degradation products and the thermo extraction/desorption-gaschromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) for bigger degradation products. Acidic and basic hydrolysis shows the same degradation behavior which is caused by a preferred scission of the ester and urethane functionalities. Surface-sensitive techniques such as XPS demonstrate less carboxylic acid formation at acidic than at alkaline pH value in the TPU without stabilator, where as the TPU with stabilator ages to the same extent in both pH ranges. Altogether, the hydrolysis of TPUs – independently of added stabilizer or not – in acid and alkali environment is accelerated compared to the neutral hydrolysis. T2 - SETAC CY - Dubin, Ireland DA - 30.04.2023 KW - Degradation KW - Thermoplastic Polyurethane KW - Microplastic KW - Polymer Hydrolysis KW - Polymer 3R KW - REACH PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58906 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cirkovic Velickovic, T. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Dailey, L T1 - CUSP Conference WG1 & WG3: MATERIALS AND METHODS N2 - This talk is a presentation about the main results of the CUSP cluster on micro- and nanoplastics human health that work from 2021 to 2025 in Horizon Europe programme according to the WG1 and 3. These groups combined the analytics and the materials with interlaboratory comparisons (ILC). The talk reflects the need of realistic test materials with defined properties for micro- and nanoplastic research. Some were developed are now available. The talk also highlights the need for harmonisation and the results of different ILCs that were performed. T2 - CUSP conference CY - Brussels, Belgium DA - 25.02.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Interlaboratory comparison (ILC) PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62703 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kittner, Maria A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden N2 - Die Europäische Kommission hat 2023 ein Verbot zum bewussten Austrag von Mikroplastik (MP) in die Umwelt beschlossen, das auch für die Verwendung von synthetischen Gummi-Granulaten (v. a. EPDM) in Sportböden gilt. In Deutschland gibt es laut DFB ca. 5100 Kunstrasenplätze. In der EU beläuft sich die Anzahl laut ECHA auf 13,000 Kunstrasen- und 47,000 Bolzplätze, Tendenz steigend. Das Hauptziel des Projektes ist daher, eine Massenbilanz für die Freisetzung von MP zu erstellen, um so eine Schätzung des MP-Austrags pro Kunstrasenplatz und Jahr zu ermöglichen. Dafür werden die MP-Emissionen von drei Kunstrasenszenarien in verschiedenen Zuständen (ungealtert, künstlich gealtert und in Echtzeit gealtert) verglichen: die Vergangenheit (Kunstrasen: fossilbasiert, EPDM-Füllung), die Gegenwart (der in Europa am häufigsten installierte Rasen) und die Zukunft (Rasen mit recycelten Grasfasern, keine synthetische Füllung sondern z.B. Quarzsand oder Korkschrott). Dazu werden fabrikneue Kunststoffrasen und EPDM-Granulat unter Laborbedingungen beschleunigt gealtert, um die Freiland-Beanspruchung eines Kunststoffrasens in circa 15 Jahren abzubilden. Die Verwendung spezieller Mikrofiltertiegel in Lysimeter-Experimenten ermöglicht die Abschätzung der Partikelgrößen des emittierten MP, was eine Grundbedingung für die Bewertung einer potenziellen Gesundheitsgefährdung für Menschen ist. Ergänzend werden weitere umweltrelevante Schadstoffausträge aus den Kunststoffrasen quantifiziert und so mögliche Transportpfade überprüft. Um in Zukunft den Anforderungen des Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetzes zu entsprechen, sollen in diesem Projekt zudem Erkenntnisse zur Rückführbarkeit von Gummi-Granulaten und Altrasen in den Rohstoffkreislauf gewonnen werden KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Kunststoffrasen KW - PAK KW - Schwermetalle PY - 2024 UR - https://www.zukunftbau.de/neue-meldung/zukunft-bau-journal-2024 SP - 9 EP - 9 PB - Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR) CY - Bonn AN - OPUS4-61823 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Frelih, Milena T1 - Impact of Engineered Nanomaterials on Microbial Communities in the Aquatic Environment N2 - Engineered nanoparticles have garnered significant attention for their unique properties and potential applications across various industries. They were extensively examined for their toxicological effect in vitro and in vivo, but their effects on environmental and biological systems remain underexplored. A key area of concern is how nanoparticles interact with microbial communities in natural ecosystems, since these communities are vital for processes such as nutrient cycling, biodegradation, and maintaining ecosystem health and functioning. Currently, environmental risk assessments of nanoparticles majorly involve higher organisms (e.g. algae, zooplankton), but omit the effects on complex communities and ecosystems as a whole. This research aims to investigate the impact of nanomaterials on aquatic microbial communities using a combination of laboratory experiments and field-sampling along a gradient from low to highly anthropogenically impacted aquatic ecosystems around Berlin, Germany. To holistically assess changes in microbial composition and functional activity in response to nanomaterial exposure, we will apply molecular, microbiological, analytical as well as OMIC methods. We hypothesize that nanoparticles induce significant compositional changes in microbial community structures, potentially leading to alterations in stress responses and other functional effects. Nanomaterials have the potential to benefit the environment by contributing to energy and resource efficiency, remediation of contaminated sites, or water treatment. In order to represent truly sustainable products, though, a safe use for humans and ecosystems must be assured. Ultimately, this research will contribute to more accurate environmental risk assessments and help guide the responsible use of nanotechnology in various industries. T2 - SETAC Europe CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microbial Communities KW - Aquatic Environment KW - Nanomaterials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63164 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Braun, U. T1 - Thermoanalytical methods to measure mass in microplastics N2 - The talk adresses the use of thermoanalytical methods in microplastics analysis. T2 - EUROLAB webinar: MICROPLASTICS: regulations, standards and the role of laboratories CY - Online meeting DA - 15.02.2023 KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Thermoanalytical methods KW - Microplastic mass PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57009 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Release of synthetic fibres during washing of typical household textiles: Findings from washing machine tests and resulting policy recommendations N2 - This talk summarizes the experimental setup and the results of one washing experiment under realistic conditions according to microplastic fiber release. T2 - Tackling microplastics in the environment CY - Brussels, Belgium DA - 09.03.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Fibers of textile origin KW - Washing machine KW - Microplastic fibre release PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57204 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wiesner, Yosri T1 - Metrological Observation of the Stability Performance of Reference Materials for Microplastic Analysis N2 - The formation of microplastic (MP) particles (1-1000 µm) is mostly related to physicochemical degradation processes of macroplastics. Photooxidative damage is often set as the initial degradation process, which leads to embrittlement of the plastics. Mechanical processes then lead to further fragmentation and the formation of MP particles. In the environment, this can be associated with UV exposure through direct radiation from the sun, which leads to radical formation in the polymer systems on the one hand and radical formation of oxygen on the other. The result is material embrittlement usually caused by chain shortening in the polymeric system. Due to specific ecosystem conditions, the damaged polymer is fragmented by erosive, abrasive processes or wave action. According to reference material topic for MP analysis, pristine and artificially weathered polymers are needed. Starting from granulate or macroplastics, these can be pulverised with different techniques, bottled and stored until usage. The bottled powders need to be homogen and stable over a defined time interval regarding to a specific property. This work deals with different polymer types, aged and non-aged. It tries to answer the question under which storage conditions polymers will be stable in particle size. The powders are characterized for chemical composition and shape with FTIR, DSC and SEM. Particle size distribution was measured by laser diffraction with wet and dry dispersion. Artificially pre-aged materials seem to be more vulnerable for further aging and less stable in particle size distribution measurements. T2 - SETAC Dublin– SETAC Europe 33nd Annual Meeting CY - Dublin, Ireland DA - 30.04.2023 KW - Reference material KW - Microplastics KW - Metrological Observation PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57475 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Lukas, M. T1 - Artificial Plastic Ageing as a Framework for Microplastics Ecotoxicity Evaluation N2 - Microplastics are widely distributed in aquatic and terrestrial environments, up to now less is known on toxicological impacts under realistic conditions. Research so far has focused mainly on the impacts on organisms by fresh plastic fragments or beats. However, plastic materials found in the environment are mainly a mixture of different polymers and particularly degraded during aging processes. Although especially oxidized degradation products might escape from plastic materials during aging, there is a lack of information on potentially adverse effects on aquatic biota. The latter is of particular interest as oxidized chemicals become more water soluble due to higher polarity and are more bio-available, therefore. The present study focussed on plastic leachates of polystyrene (PS) and polylactic acid (PLA), which were derived from alternating stress by hydrolysis and UV radiation. Test specimen of PS, PLA or PS/PLA blends (each 50 %) were alternatingly maintained in water at 45 °C for five days and UV radiated at 45 °C for two days, for in total six weeks. Ecotoxicological effects of potentially generated degradation products of plastic materials in the storage water (mineral water, pH: 7.2) were detected by algae growth inhibition tests with Desmodesmus suspicatus and photosystem II inhibition tests with Raphidocelis subcapitata. Results clearly indicate inhibitory effects on algae growth by contaminants in the storage water of stressed plastic materials with increasing growth inhibition of proceeding hydrolysis and UV stress times. Here, different plastics cause variable responses of algal growth. First chemical analyses indicate dissolved monomers and their oxidation products of plastic materials as possible driver of detected ecotoxicological effects, since detected microplastic particles do not seem to harm algae. The existing data highlight the relevance of plastic aging as a framework for microplastic ecotoxicity evaluation and allow a proof of concept. T2 - SETAC 2023 CY - Dublin, Ireland DA - 30.04.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Ecotoxicity KW - Plastic aging KW - Algae growth inhibition tests PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57501 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Miclea, P.-T. T1 - Real-life airborne micro- and nano-plastic particles and fibres on a porous membrane filter system from a textile factory suitable for both: vibrational and mass spectrometry N2 - The poster presents an application of Si wafer filter system on indoor air sampling. A textile factory producing PP fibres was sampled. T2 - SETAC Europe 2023 CY - Dublin, Ireland DA - 30.04.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Polymer 3R KW - Textile fibres KW - Si wafer filter KW - Microplastics sampling PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57462 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Material Selection Strategy N2 - This poster is a summary of the material used in the PlasticsFatE project. It indicates the strategies for testing of various polymer properties next to each other according to risk and hazard assessment. T2 - CUSP annual meeting and conference CY - Utrecht, Netherlands DA - 12.09.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - CUSP KW - Material selection PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58311 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Current projects in risk assessment and harmonisation N2 - The talk gives an overview about EU projects currently running for risk assessment and harmonisation in microplastic analysis. T2 - Micro- and Nanoplastics CY - Halle (Saale), Germany DA - 01.11.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Harmonisation in microplastics KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58766 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Visileanu, E. T1 - Methods for the collection and characterization of airborne particles in the textile industry N2 - The presentation summarizes possibilities to sample airborne micro and nanoplastic particles. An example of a textil company is shown. T2 - 5th International Conference on Human Systems Engineering and Design: Future Trends and Applications (IHSED 2023 CY - Dubrovnik, Croatia DA - 27.09.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Polymer 3R KW - Textile company PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58561 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Bewertung der Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden auf Kunststoffbasis N2 - Projektvorstellung "Bewertung der Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden auf Kunststoffbasis": Motivation, Konzept, Umsetzung, erste analytische Ergebnisse der TED-GC/MS T2 - 24. Projekttage der Zukunft Bau Forschungsförderung CY - Bonn, Germany DA - 13.06.2023 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Kunststoffrasen KW - Lysimeter KW - Beschleunigte Alterung PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58441 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Bewertung der Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden auf Kunststoffbasis N2 - Projektvorstellung "Bewertung der Freisetzung von Mikroplastik aus Sportböden auf Kunststoffbasis": Konzept, Umsetzung, erste Mikroplastik-Ergebnisse. T2 - Projektbegleitkreissitzung des Projektes "Ermittlung und Minderung von Mikroplastik- und Schadstoffemissionen von Kunststoffrasen-Sportplätzen (MiMiK)“ CY - Sittensen, Germany DA - 25.09.2023 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Kunststoffrasen KW - Lysimeter KW - Beschleunigte Alterung PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58442 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - van den Berg, A. A1 - Adriaans, K. A1 - Hoppener, E. A1 - Parker, L. A1 - Boersma, A. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Legler, J. A1 - Pieters, R. T1 - Inflammation-related key events stimulated by micro- and nanoplastics N2 - The presence of micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNP) in our environment has raised increasing public and political concern. Increasing evidence suggests that humans are exposed to these MNP, mostly via inhalation or ingestion. The EC-Horizon project POLYRISK (https://polyrisk.science) aims to establish an IATA/AOP-based tiered approach to assess human health risks of MNP. In our research, we focus on assessing immunotoxicological effects of MNP. We have tested a series of primary, secondary, environmentally aged (incubated in River Rine water) and chemically altered MNP for their potential to affect dendritic cells or macrophages. MNP used in this study include primary and weathered PS, secondary PVC, PA, PP (with or without talc) and PE. The secondary PE and PP (w/o talc) particles appeared to have oxidized groups on their surface. Data shows that MNP can be engulfed by macrophages (PMA-stimulated human THP1 cells) and human blood-derived dendritic cells (DCs). The effects of virgin as well as secondary MNP (0, 10 or 100 μg/ml) on THP1 macrophages were limited to decrease of mitochondrial activity (Alamar blue), increase of cellular leakage (LDH), and stimulation of lysosomal activity. None of these MNP stimulated gene expression of NFκB or release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNFα, IL-1β). On the other hand, secondary PP and PE with oxidized surface groups did increase NFκB gene expression and release of cytokines by THP1 macrophages. Virgin and weathered PS particles were tested using DCs, and only weathered PS did stimulate DC activity (increased costimulatory molecules CD83, CD86) and as consequence allogeneic T cells. DC activation appeared to result from environmental contaminants. In conclusion, of all MNPs tested only those that contained active surface groups or environmental components appeared to be immunostimulatory, whereas primary and secondary MNP rather reduced macrophage activity and viability (at relatively high concentrations of 100 μg/ml). Further research is needed to reveal molecular mechanisms and to translate in vitro findings to real-world exposure scenarios. T2 - 58th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX 2024) CY - Copenhagen, Denmark DA - 08.09.2024 KW - Micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNP) KW - Human health risks KW - Immunotoxicological effects PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2024.07.052 AN - OPUS4-63363 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rossi, A T1 - Lactose Tablets as Suitable Microplastics Reference Material to Support Validation Studies and Quality Control N2 - One of the main challenges in validating microplastics detection methods is the lack of suitable reference materials that accurately reflect the properties of interest. To bridge this gap, the EU-funded PlasticTrace project has developed water-soluble tablets containing precisely defined amounts of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles. Each tablet includes a specific mass (0.2, 18.5, or 400 µg) and particle count (151 or 1764, measured via Raman spectroscopy). Production follows a rigorous solid-phase dilution process, ensuring high reproducibility and quality control. The PET particles used in these tablets have an average size of approximately 40 µm, with a range between 10 and 200 µm, and an irregular, stone-like shape. All measurements align with ISO/TC 147/SC 2 standardization efforts and adhere to ISO/DIS 16094-2 and ISO/DIS 16094-3. To assess tablet homogeneity, the most widely accepted microplastics detection techniques, i.e. µ-FTIR, µ-Raman, Py-GC/MS, and TED-GC/MS, were applied. Different batches were produced, each containing varying particle numbers and masses, reaching the detection limits of the methods used. The results demonstrated excellent consistency between tablets, successfully passing homogeneity tests. Furthermore, no significant changes were observed in the tablets' composition or stability after six months of storage. This innovative reference material represents an important advancement in microplastics analysis, supporting laboratories in meeting EU Commission requirements for the monitoring of microplastics in drinking water and wastewater with greater accuracy and reliability. The production process can be transferred for other plastic particles is this size range. T2 - BERM 16 CY - Halifax, Canada DA - 01.06.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Reference materials KW - Raman microscopy PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63403 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fernández-González, V. T1 - Innovations in Microplastic Measurement: A Pyrolysis Approach for a Polyethylene Terephthalate Reference Material N2 - In the framework of the PlasticTrace project, in which a reference material for PET microplastics will be proposed, a method using pyrolysis and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry detection (Py-GC-MS) is developed to quantify the mass of PET microplastics (10-100 µm) in tablets at two different concentration levels. The overall aim of this project is to develop international metrological capacity that enables the traceable measurement and characterization of SMPs and NPs in environmental and food samples and the production of suitable reference materials, according to the metrological requirements (https://plastictrace.eu/). The proposed method consists of dissolving the tablet containing the PET microplastics in milli-Q water and filtering the solution using a glass microfiber membrane 13 mm filter size, 1.6 µm pore size. After filtering and several washes to ensure complete dissolution of the tablet and recovery of all PET microplastics, the filter is removed, folded, and placed in a capsule of the pyrolyzer for direct Py-GC/MS analysis. Two main markers were selected for PET quantification: vinyl benzoate and benzoic acid, with consistent concentrations found for both at high PET concentrations (≈400 µg) (24% RSD, n=17), but interferences with the matrix and vinyl benzoate were found at low concentrations (≈17 µg PET), with only benzoic acid being valid as a marker in this case (22% RSD, n=10). As an alternative to the quantification of PET microplastics in tablets at low concentrations, derivatization is proposed, for which tetramethylammonium hydroxide solution (TMAH) is added directly into the pyrolysis cap. The PET marker in this case is dimethyl terephthalate, with which good results have also been found (19.6% RSD, n=10 ). The proposed method is robust, simple, with high automation and very little sample handling and treatment, and allows the analysis of PET microplastics (>10 µm) in tablets with excellent accuracy and precision even at very low concentrations. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics KW - GC/MS PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63383 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kühnel, D. T1 - Micro and nanoplastics (MNP) a wish list for reliable determination of the risks for humans N2 - The assessment of risks to human health from micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) and their associated chemicals is hampered by significant uncertainties and data gaps regarding human exposure, biological fate and potential health effects. There is also a notable lack of validated test MNPs, natural particles to serve as reference controls, and lack of harmonised toxicological assessment methods specifically designed for the unique properties of MNPs. These limitations contribute to data scarcity and further complicate exposure and hazard assessment for MNP and their associated chemicals. The European research cluster CUSP (https://cusp-research.eu/) aims to fill these gaps by providing reliable data and suggests approaches for assessing human exposure and health risks associated with MNPs and their associated chemicals, including contaminants. As part of this initiative, five projects address the health risks of MNPs from different perspectives, focusing on different exposure pathways and health effects. In particular, the PlasticsFatE project (https://www.plasticsfate.eu/) structures the data requirements and developes strategies to overcome both general and material-specific barriers to MNP in hazard and risk assessment. Based on safety research on engineered nanomaterials, which has shown that it is impossible to experimentally test all MNP variants and their chemical mixtures, CUSP emphasises the need for pragmatic approaches. These approaches aim to effectively utilize knowledge from nanomaterial research, emphasize the reuse of generated data on fate and effects of MNPs, as well as identify and address data and knowledge gaps along with uncertainties, while considering the specific properties of MNPs and test approaches. This poster provides a structured overview of the current challenges in the risk assessment of micro- and nanoplastics and introduces the first step of categorising the different types of obstacles. Specific strategies to overcome these different types of challenges will be presented. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63385 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Booth, A. T1 - Production of a 1-10 μm polypropylene reference material for development of analytical methods N2 - The poster is about the preparation of microplastics in the size range of 1-10 µm. These size range of particles can be inhalded and therefore be toxic for humans. The preparation is done by comminution of PP pellets and sieving. Characterisation occured for size with laser diffraction, for type with FTIR and for shape with SEM. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63367 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Miclea, P.-T. T1 - Novel laser pre-structured silicon filters for microplastics analysis N2 - This research presents a novel laser-assisted approach to silicon filter fabrication, offering an effective alternative to traditional photolithographic processes. By integrating selective femtosecond laser irradiation with photoelectrochemical etching, we achieved precisely controlled pore geometries, overcoming common challenges in filter production for microplastic and nanoscale filtration suitable for microplastic number and mass analysis. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics KW - Raman microspectroscopy PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63384 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Putzu, Mara T1 - Optimization of production process for microplastics reference materials N2 - Microplastics (MP) are defined as plastic particles mainly consisting of polymers in the size range of 1 to 1000 µm. They can be found in a wide range of environmental matrices but also in food products, indicating a potential risk on humans and environment. Plastic debris in the environment or food chain are extremely complex in terms of size, concentration, polymer type, levels of physiochemical degradation and undefined morphologies which makes their isolation and detection in complex matrices challenging. Analytical detection methods and techniques to identify and quantify microplastics in environmental and food matrices are numerous but validated and standardized methods are currently lacking. To close this research gap, reference materials (RMs) and representative sample preparation approaches are urgently needed. Homogeneity and stability are two crucial characteristics for the certification process of the reference materials. For this purpose, we aim to present ways to prepare reference materials containing very low masses of close-to reality plastic particles with broad size distribution (10-100 µm) that are homogeneously distributed in tablet-to-tablet variation and stable over time. Our work is based on the ISO Guide 30:2015 and ISO Guide 35:2017 to fulfil the criteria set in future standards ISO/DIS 16094-2 and ISO/DIS 16094-3. The property of interest will be the mass detected by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Furthermore, informative values will be achieved by mass-based technique TED-GC/MS and spectroscopic microscopy techniques, such as µ-FTIR spectroscopy and µ-Raman. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63386 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jaffer, Yousuf Dar A1 - Abdolahpur Monikh, Fazel A1 - Nguyen, Nhung H.A. A1 - Sevcu, Alena A1 - Abdulkadir, Nafiu A1 - Raha, Jakub A1 - Katsumiti, Alberto A1 - Bilbao, Ainhoa A1 - Altman, Korinna A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter T1 - Bio-based microplastics increase the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments N2 - The role of microplastics as vectors for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is increasingly recognized. This study investigated whether bio-based microplastics, often promoted as environmentally friendly alternatives, exhibit similar or enhanced HGT potential compared to conventional plastics. We examined the HGT rates of the trimethoprim resistance gene (dfrA1) and tetracycline resistance gene (tetA), carried on a broad-host-range plasmid, among Escherichia coli (donor) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Pseudomonas sp., or a natural lake microbial community (recipients). Four bio-based polymer types—polylactic acid (PLA) granules, commercial PLA, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) granules, and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)- were compared with two conventional microplastics, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and bottle-derived HDPE. The bio-based microplastics exhibited significantly higher HGT frequencies, with a 21–48-fold increase compared to control chitosan in single-strain experiments and a 13-fold increase within the lake microbial community. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing revealed distinct bacterial community compositions colonizing different microplastic types in the lake water. The transconjugant communities, indicative of successful HGT events, were strongly influenced by microplastic type. While Nannocystis was generally dominant, the PLA (granule) microplastic exhibited a unique profile dominated by Candidatus Megaira and Niveispirillum. Additionally, Flavobacterium and Fluviicola were uniquely detected as transconjugants on HDPE (granule). These findings demonstrate that bioplastics have a significant influence on the selective enrichment of specific transconjugant genera, suggesting a prominent role of microplastics, particularly bio-based plastics, in shaping ARG dissemination within complex microbial ecosystems. We recommend a comprehensive risk assessment of bio-based plastics, particularly their potential to enhance the spread of ARGs, before their widespread implementation in consumer products. KW - Microplastics KW - Bioplastics KW - Conventional plastics KW - Antibiotik resistence gene PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-656293 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2026.100613 SN - 2452-0748 VL - 41 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65629 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Seifert, Lando T1 - Grundlagen Korrosion und Korrosionsschutz N2 - Im Rahmen des jungen gfkorr Events an der Universität Kassel in diesem Jahr wurde der Grundlagenvortrag vor Young Professionals und Studierenden vorgestellt. Die BAM beschäftigt sich im Fachbereich 7.6 schwerpunktmäßig mit der Korrosionsprüfung, den Korrosionsschäden und -reaktionen rund um Anwendungsfälle der Hauptkonstruktionswerkstoffe Stahl, verzinkter Stahl, Nichtrostende Stähle und Aluminium in relevanten Umgebungsbedingungen. Der Impulsvortrag sollte die Faszination für die Korrosion übermitteln. Dabei wurde anhand von Schadensfällen grundlegende Mechanismen und Haupteinflussfaktoren erörtert. Gestartet wurde mit einem prominenten Versagensfall und Beispiel für Spaltkorrosion aus der Luftfahrt... T2 - die junge gfkorr @ Universität Kassel CY - Kassel, Germany DA - 02.03.2026 KW - Korrosion KW - Korrosionsschutz KW - Stahl KW - Zink KW - Aluminium KW - Nichtrostende Stähle KW - Korrosivität KW - Spaltkorrosion PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65614 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Vogel, Christian T1 - Investigating the Thermal Decomposition of PFAS in a Full-Scale Commercial Hazardous Waste Incinerator N2 - Effective and safe treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-laden waste in full-scale hazardous waste facilities is currently the only commercial method for large-scale PFAS destruction, but concerns remain about incomplete combustion and harmful byproducts. Therefore, the fate of fluorine during incineration was investigated in a full-scale hazardous waste incinerator to assess the viability and potential risks of this method. The project involves developing advanced analytical tools, including real-time infrared spectroscopy, and conducting trial burns under varied conditions. Conditions that influence incineration performance are identified, analyzing for products of incomplete destruction (PIDs), exploring the role of fly ash and surfaces in PFAS breakdown, and evaluating the potential formation of polyfluorinated dioxins and furans. Collectively, these tasks aim to deliver practical tools and guidance for scientists and engineers, while informing policymakers and the public on the benefits and potential risks of PFAS incineration. T2 - DoW Applied Innovation Workshop CY - Washington, DC, USA DA - 02.03.2026 KW - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Incineration PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65638 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Miclea, Paul T1 - Microanalysis of Airborne Nano/Microplastic Particles in an Textile Industrial Environment N2 - Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging global contaminants, present in air, soil, and water. The textile industry is potentially a major contributor, releasing synthetic particles like polyamide, polyester, and acrylic during production. This study assessed MNP levels outside and inside a textile-processing facility using online air samplers with silicon (Si) and quartz filters. Real-time particle counts (PM0.3–PM10) were obtained via a laser detector. Si filters (9 mm, 10/1 µm pores) and quartz filters (25 mm, 1.2 µm pores, pre-calcined at 800°C) were used for sampling. Custom holders allowed selective sampling for PM10 and PM1 on Si filters. Sampling conditions included a 3-hour collection at 2 L/min (GilAir Plus pump) starting at 7:00 AM (T1) and 2:00 PM (T2), with intermittent ventilation, 23.3 °C average temperature, and 52.5% humidity. Particle weights collected (µg) were: quartz – 4.9E-05 (T1), 5.1E-05 (T2); Si – 3.2E-05 (T1), 5E-06 (T2). Outside particle counts ranged from 3,584 (T1) to 15,165 (T2); inside: 9,901 (T1) to 12,921 (T2). Maximum indoor PM10 and PM0.3 levels were 72/m³ and 71,979/m³, respectively. Particles were analyzed using electron microscopy and µRaman spectroscopy, confirming high concentrations of irregularly shaped PP-based particles (1–5 µm). T2 - 12th TEXTEH CY - Bucharest, Romania DA - 23.10.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Airborne particles KW - Raman microspectroscopy PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64485 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Monikh, F. A. A1 - Baun, A. A1 - Hartmann, N. B. A1 - Kortet, R. A1 - Akkanen, J. A1 - Lee, J.-S. A1 - Shi, H. A1 - Lahive, E. A1 - Uurasjärvi, E. A1 - Tufenkji, N. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Wiesner, Yosri A1 - Grossart, H.-P. A1 - Peijnenburg, W. A1 - Kukkonen, J. V. K. T1 - Exposure protocol for ecotoxicity testing of microplastics and nanoplastics N2 - 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. Moreover, protocols developed for chemicals that dissolve or form stable dispersions are currently used for assessing the ecotoxicity of MNPs. Plastic particles, however, do not dissolve and also show dynamic behavior in the exposure medium, depending on, for example, MNP physicochemical properties and the medium’s conditions such as pH and ionic strength. Here we describe an exposure protocol that considers the particle-specific properties of MNPs and their dynamic behavior in exposure systems. Procedure 1 describes the top-down production of more realistic MNPs as representative of MNPs in nature and particle characterization (e.g., using thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry). Then, we describe exposure system development for short- and long-term toxicity tests for soil (Procedure 2) and aquatic (Procedure 3) organisms. Procedures 2 and 3 explain how to modify existing ecotoxicity guidelines for chemicals to target testing MNPs in selected exposure systems. We show some examples that were used to develop the protocol to test, for example, MNP toxicity in marine rotifers, freshwater mussels, daphnids and earthworms. The present protocol takes between 24 h and 2 months, depending on the test of interest and can be applied by students, academics, environmental risk assessors and industries. KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Cryo milling PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-023-00886-9 SN - 1754-2189 SP - 1 EP - 38 PB - Nature Protocols AN - OPUS4-58557 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - ILC on Laser diffraction - preliminary results N2 - This presentation addresses an interlaboratory comparison on size of polymeric particles (microplastics) measured by laser diffraction. Two microplastic particles were measured separately and once as mixture. Evaluation was done with Fraunhofer and Mie. Here, the first results are presented. T2 - CUSP Annual Meeting CY - Utrecht, Netherlands DA - 12.09.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Laser diffraction KW - Polymer 3R KW - Size distribution KW - Polymer size PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58318 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Drexel, R. T1 - Nano-sized Polypropylene as a Promising Candidate Reference Material: Preparation, Characterization and Stability in Complex Matrices N2 - The lack of nanoplastic (NPs) reference materials capable of mimicking real-world scenarios is currently hampering the development of validated extraction techniques from complex matrices (e.g. soils, sediments, biota), the development of analytical approaches for robust identification and quantification, and the ability to use environmentally relevant test materials in (eco)toxicity testing and hazard assessment [1]. The large body of available data suggests that larger microplastics (MPs) in the natural environment are irregular shaped, partially degraded (chemically and physically), a continuum of sizes, shapes and densities, represent a wide range of polymer types, and acts as a reservoir for thousands of plastic chemicals. Although NPs have been described as being neither MPs nor engineered nanoparticles [2], and while direct measurement data of true NP in the environment remain elusive, they are expected to be as equally diverse as MPs [3]. Here, we present a strategy towards the development of a potential NP reference material based on nano-sized polyproplyene particles (nanoPP) developed within the EURAMET-funded PlasticTrace project (https://plastictrace.eu/). The strategy includes the preparation, the physicochemical characterization and the stability assessment of nanoPP in suspension both in its pristine state, but also when spiked into food (mineral water and milk) and environmental matrices (suspended particulate matter collected from the river Elbe ). Collected experimental data suggests nanoPP to be a promising candidate for a NP reference material. T2 - SETAC Europe 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Nanoplastics KW - Reference materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63382 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Validation of microplastics detection methods and proficiency testing: Suitable microplastic reference materials for interlaboratory comparison N2 - The talk summarizes challenges in microplastic analysis. It shows the preparation of microplastic reference materials as well as the testing on homogeneity and stability. The reference material is used in an international laboratory comparison to compare different detection methods used for microplastic analysis. The methods used were µ-IR (FTIR+LDIR) for number-based methods and TED-GC/MS and Py-GC/MS for mass-based methods. The ILC was done under the umbrella of VAMAS TWA 45. Results of the participants are presented. T2 - BAM Akademie CY - Online meeting DA - 16.05.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - ILC KW - Microplastics detection KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60085 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Mikroplastik Detektion mit Thermoanalytischen Methoden: Analytik, Referenzmaterial, Ringversuche N2 - Ich dem Vortrag geht es um die Vorstellung von thermoanalytischen Methoden für die Mikroplastik-Detektion. Verschiedene Kopplungsmöglichkeiten werden gezeigt und die Funktionsweise der TED-GC/MS wird erklärt. Im zweiten Teil werden Referenzmaterialien für die Mikroplastik-Analytik diskutiert. PET -Tabletten des PlasticTrace Projektes werden vorgestellt. Am Ende wird der VAMAS Ringversuch zur Mikroplastik-Detektion gezeigt. T2 - Plastik, Mikroplastik, Nanopartikel, PFAS und Verunreinigungen (Agilent Workshop) CY - Hamburg, Germany DA - 28.05.2024 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Polymer 3R KW - Ringversuche KW - Referenzmaterial PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60155 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Drago, C. T1 - Standardization Methods for the Analysis of Microplastics (10 100µm) in Food Matrix: Sample Preparation and Digestion of Milk Powder. N2 - Monitoring of microplastics in food matrices is crucial to determinate the human exposure. By direct ingestion microplastics could be released in the food during the production, through packaging and by consumer’s use. The absence of standard methods to quantify and detect different size range and type of microplastics has led to difficult and time consuming procedural steps, poor accuracy and lack of comparability. In this work, matrix characterization and laboratory experiments were used to investigate the efficiency of sample preparation in milk powder. This information is crucial to compile a standard procedure for sample preparation and digestion of common milk powder to detect different particle sizes and types of polymers. Charaterisation is done by TGA and TOC measurements. T2 - SETAC Europe 2024 CY - Sevilla, Spain DA - 05.05.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Harmonisation in microplastics KW - Polymer 3R KW - Microplastics in milk PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60034 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Vogel, Christian T1 - Investigating the Thermal Decomposition of PFAS in a Full-Scale Commercial Hazardous Waste Incinerator (SERDP ER24-4073) N2 - Effective and safe treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-laden waste in full-scale hazardous waste facilities is currently the only commercial method for large-scale PFAS destruction, but concerns remain about incomplete combustion and harmful byproducts. Therefore, the fate of fluorine during incineration was investigated in a full-scale hazardous waste incinerator to assess the viability and potential risks of this method. The project involves developing advanced analytical tools, including real-time infrared spectroscopy, and conducting trial burns under varied conditions. Conditions that influence incineration performance are identified, analyzing for products of incomplete destruction (PIDs), exploring the role of fly ash and surfaces in PFAS breakdown, and evaluating the potential formation of polyfluorinated dioxins and furans. Collectively, these tasks aim to deliver practical tools and guidance for scientists and engineers, while informing policymakers and the public on the benefits and potential risks of PFAS incineration. T2 - DoW Applied Innovation Workshop CY - Washington, DC, USA DA - 02.03.2026 KW - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Incineration PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65639 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Update – Milling and weathering of granules N2 - The talk aims to describe the production of microplastic particles as test material and the additional weathering for aged particles. T2 - PlasticsFate meeting CY - Online meeting DA - 12.11.2021 KW - Microplastic KW - Cryo milling KW - Aged particles PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53737 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Beschleunigung und Hemmung - Komplexe Wechselwirkungen bei der Zersetzung von thermoplastischen PLA/PS-Blends unter realitätsnahen Umweltbedingungen N2 - Mit dem stetigen weltweiten Anstieg der Nachfrage nach Polymerprodukten nimmt auch die potenzielle Menge an Kunststoffabfällen in der Umwelt zu. Problematisch ist, dass viele der wirtschaftlich relevantesten Kunststoffe sehr lange brauchen, um in der Umwelt abzubauen, sich dort akkumulieren und in kritisch betrachtetes Makro- und Mikroplastik zu zerfallen. Auf der Grundlage des Vorsorgeprinzips fordert die Europäische Kommission daher die Entwicklung neuer polymerer Materialien, die diesem Problem der Persistenz entgegenwirken und unter natürlichen Umweltbedingungen schneller abgebaut werden können. 1,2 Um dieses Problem anzusprechen, wurden mittels additiver Fertigung Polymerblends aus photooxidationsempfindlichem Polystyrol (PS) und hydrolyseempfindlicher Polymilchsäure (PLA) hergestellt. Die Hypothese war, dass sich die beiden Thermoplaste aufgrund ihrer unterschiedlichen Abbauprozesse gegenseitig in ihrem Abbau unterstützen, wenn sie unter moderaten, realitätsnahen Umweltalterungsbedingungen (45 °C) abwechselnd der Photooxidation und Hydrolyse ausgesetzt werden. In der Praxis zeigten die Ergebnisse, dass die Degradation von PLA durch die Anwesenheit von PS deutlich beschleunigt worden ist – wohingegen die Degradation von PS gehemmt wurde. In diesem Vortrag werden die detaillierten Ergebnisse der Oberflächen- (ATR-FTIR, REM) und Bulk-Analysen (DSC, TGA, FTIR-Transmission, TED-GC/MS) der Blends sowie ergänzende Mikroplastik-Ergebnisse des umgebenden Wassermediums (TED-GC/MS) erörtert. T2 - 50. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Umweltsimulation (GUS) CY - Online meeting DA - 23.03.2022 KW - Polymerblend KW - PLA KW - Hydrolyse KW - PS KW - Bewitterung KW - UV-Bestrahlung KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Wasser KW - Mikroplastik PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54544 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Plastik in Böden: Mikroplastik-Analytik N2 - Im Vortrag wir eine Methode zur Analyse von Mikroplastik in Böden dargestellt. Es geht dabei um die Probenvorbereitung und Detektion. T2 - Fachgespräch "Plastik in Böden" CY - Online meeting DA - 28.03.2022 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Mikroplastik-Analytik KW - Methodenentwicklung Böden PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54646 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Plastik in Böden: Mikroplastik-Ergebnisse N2 - In diesem Vortrag geht um die Vorstellung der Ergebnisse des UBA Projektes Plastik in Böden. Es werden Mikroplastik-Gehalte in verschiedenen Böden präsentiert. T2 - Fachgespräch "Plastik in Böden" CY - Online meeting DA - 28.03.2022 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Mikroplastik Böden KW - Mikroplastik-Analytik PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54648 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Mikroplastik heute: Was haben wir in den letzten Jahren erreicht? N2 - In diesem Vortrag geht es um eine Übersicht über die Thematik der Mikroplastik, Was ist Mikroplastik, wie entsteht es und wo kommt es her. Es wird beschrieben wie eine repräsentative Probenahme erfolgen kann und wie welche Herausforderungen bei der Probenvorbereitung existieren. Die Detektion wird ausführlich beschrieben, sowohl mit Partikelanzahl als auch Masse. Im weiteren werden erste Referenzmaterialien und ihre Anwendung in internationalen Ringversuchen beschrieben. Der zweite Teil zeigt die Normungsaktivitäten im Bereich der Mikroplastik. T2 - Mitgliederversammlung der GdCh Lackchemie CY - Online Meeting DA - 20.09.2024 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Polymer 3R KW - Reference material KW - ILC on detection methods PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61087 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Contaminant Emissions from Artificial Turf Sports Pitches - Simultaneous sampling for Microplastics, PAH and Heavy Metals N2 - In September 2023, the European Commission introduced a new regulation to reduce microplastic (MP) emissions into the environment, including the sale and use of intentionally added (large) MP < 5 mm (ISO/TR 21960: 2020). This explicitly applies to the use of synthetic rubber granulate infill in artificial turf installations, which are complex multi-component systems consisting of multiple synthetic polymers (Fig. 1). In addition, abrasions of synthetic grass fibres and other turf components are also considered as MP sources. Although this has a major impact on public recreational sports, there is so far no sufficient data to estimate the MP emissions from artificial turf sports pitches into the environment and thus their relevance as a source of MP pollution. To close this gap, this study compared environmental contaminant emissions of three artificial turf scenarios at different ageing states (unaged, artificially and real-time aged): the past (old turf: fossil based, synthetic infill), present (most commonly installed in Germany: fossil based, EPDM infill) and future (turf with recycled grass fibres, no synthetic infill). Accelerated ageing by UV weathering and mechanical stress was carried out to simulate the outdoor weathering during the lifespan of approx. 15 years. MP emissions and released environmentally relevant contaminants posing a risk to the groundwater were simultaneously sampled using the newly developed Microplastic Eluate Lysimeter manufactured at BAM (Fig. 2). MP contents were analysed using smart microfilter crucibles (mesh size: 5 μm) with subsequent MP detection by TED-GC/MS. Additionally, concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were determined using GC/MS and heavy metals using ICP-AES. T2 - 22nd European Symposium on Polymer Spectroscopy (ESOPS) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 08.09.2024 KW - Microplastics Eluate Lysimeter KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Heavy Metals KW - PAH PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61013 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Miclea, Paul-Tiberiu T1 - Membrane filter cascade for size-selective analysis of nano-and micro particles N2 - From a metrological point of view, the analysis of micro and nanoplastics MNP requires not only representative and meaningful methods for sampling, preparation, and detection, but also defined and reproducible analytical procedures for the processes and materials used. For such a validation of the detection procedures (including the determination of process and laboratory blank values), the filters and laboratory conditions used in interaction with the final MNP measurement play a central role for detection limits regarding MNP size, MNP content and statistical measurement control, in addition to the reference materials mentioned above. On the basis of available filtration materials (e.g. metal mesh, silicon, aluminum oxide, polycarbonate) and metrological boundary conditions, key aspects for metrologically sound method development must be defined. Two key categories of analysis are developed for the characterization of MNP’s: analytical methods (e.g. µ-IR spectroscopy, µRaman) and mass spectrometry (eg. Py-GC/MS or TED-GC/MS). If in the first category the shape, size, number of particles and the size distribution present in the samples can be determined. In the second category the mass of the material can be measured and the volume of plastic present in the samples can be deduced from this. Both catagories are very sensitive in terms of the volume of material that can be analyzed; vibrational methods can detect single particles but mass-based method require enough particles to reach the limit of detection. That is why in this study we propose a filtration system, which in our opinion brings the two categories much closer to each other and allows true measurements of particle number and mass of the same sample. In this way it is possible not only to estimate the volume of plastic in the sample, but also to determine with much greater precision the number of particles and the type of plastic present. Furthermore, new methods for particle detection can be added and combined with existing methods. Our proposed system can be used for a single filter, but also for the use of several filters in cascade. In this way a separation of particles by size can be achieved. T2 - 13th Annual World Congress of Nano Science & Technology 2024 CY - Osaka, Japan DA - 22.05.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Si filters KW - Filtration KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61097 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Drago, Claudia T1 - Rapid sample preparation to detect microplastics in baby milk powder N2 - Microplastics, ubiquitous as it is, could be released into food during production chain, through packaging and by consumer´s use. To determinate human exposure to microplastics is crucial to monitor microplastics in food matrices. The current absence of standard sample preparation procedures to identify and quantify different microplastics according to number and mass have generate time-consuming protocols and lack of comparability among different analytical methods, laboratories and time scales. Monitoring microplastics in complex matrices as food, and in particular in baby milk powder, requires an accurate approach that need to be validate, to ensure the comparability of results. Bottled drinking water or surface waters, for example, can be measured with mass-based methods (TED-GC/MS or Py-GC/MS) directly after filtration. Baby milk powder, instead is more challenging, due to the proteins and fatty acid that clog the filters and contaminate the measuring devices with heavy carry over. In this study, we characterize the baby milk powder by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and we tested different treatments for matrix reduction: water, H2O2, citric acids. In particular, the use of citric acid was tested for protein reduction before filtration. Our hypothesis was that citric acid will induce the precipitation of proteins and amino acids, leading to a strong matrix reduction. In fact, this sample pre treatment, allowed us to use a higher intake, necessary for representative quantification. Finally, the milk powder was spiked with reference material tablets containing polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The PET was not degraded by the citric acid and high recovery rate was achieved by TED-GC/MS and Py-GC/MS methods. Considering the simplicity and accessibility of this sample preparation and its robust results, this procedure could be easily proposed as a simple sample preparation approach to monitor microplastics by mass-based methods. T2 - MICRO 2024 CY - Arrecife, Spain DA - 23.09.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Milk KW - Polymer 3R KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61273 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Round Table for Expert Stakeholders​ - The Transfer of Research into Policy and Regulation N2 - This talk gives an overwiew about the material and physico chemical characterisation of materials developed for the EU founded project PlasticsFate. Particles in 1st and 2nd sample set are presented next to their characterisatin and documentation in data sheets. Some materials are prepared for reference material and used in an interlaboratory comparison. Results are briefly discussed. T2 - Stakeholder Workshop PlasticsFate CY - Bühl, Germany DA - 17.09.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Polymer 3R KW - Interlaboratory comparison PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61088 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Alić Stolar, Jasna T1 - Harnessing mechanochemistry to tackle PFAS pollution N2 - We are currently facing one of the most serious environmental crises in human history – the widespread pollution caused by PFAS. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are toxic, persistent, highly mobile, and bioaccumulative compounds, often referred to as 'forever chemicals'. For over 70 years, they have been used to make products resistant to water, heat, and stains, but the cost of damaging ecosystems and harming human health was revealed far too late. As of 2023, there were more than 23,000 confirmed PFAS contamination sites in Europe alone, with at least an equal number of presumptive contamination sites due to historical and current industrial activities.1 Public concern has pushed regulatory bodies to restrict the production of the most common PFAS, but with over 10,000 PFAS compounds and existing contamination, the problem remains largely unresolved. State-of-the-art remediation strategies rely on energy-intensive incineration, which releases greenhouse gases and smaller, volatile PFAS derivatives.2 Here, we present a fast, simple, and sustainable method for the complete degradation of PFAS, leveraging mechanochemistry3 to break down the persistent carbon-fluorine bonds. Our findings indicate that liquid-assisted grinding conditions accelerate the degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid compared to neat grinding conditions, resulting in a significant reduction in energy consumption. Moreover, the fluoride released during the process binds to inorganic additives, allowing fluorine recovery as crystalline salts and preventing the formation of secondary toxic waste. The method has strong potential for scaling up and offers a green and viable solution for real-world application in PFAS decontamination. T2 - Tag der Chemie CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 03.07.2025 KW - Mechanochemistry KW - Forever chemicals KW - Sustainability PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63972 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bauer, J. A1 - Miclea, P.-T. A1 - Braun, U. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Turek, M. A1 - Hagendorf, C. T1 - Microplastic detection and analysis in water samples N2 - 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. Thermo analytical methods such as pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy, and spectroscopic methods like (micro) Raman spectroscopy or (micro) Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy in combination with appropriate filters and sample preparation are suitable for analyzing microplastics on a scale from 1 µm to 1000 µm fast and unambiguous. While the thermo analytical methods are suitable for larger sample volumes, Raman spectroscopy and Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy are able to detect and analyze single microplastic particles for instance in bottled water. Machine learning algorithms ensure a reliable classification of different plastic materials. T2 - International Conference on Sustainable Energy-Water-Environment Nexus in Desert Climate 2019 CY - Ar-Rayyan, Qatar DA - 02.12.2019 KW - Microplastics KW - Water samples PY - 2022 SP - 111 EP - 113 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-56240 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Müller, Axel T1 - Representative sampling of roadside soil and determination of tire wear contents by TED-GC/MS N2 - The presentation describes microplastic findings from tyre wear near roads. Both the sampling and the analysis are presented. T2 - Mikroplastik Workshop der Hochschule Zittau CY - Online meeting DA - 25.11.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Reifenabrieb KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Probennahme PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53831 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wiesner, Yosri T1 - MIKROPLASTIK – von der Probenvorbereitung bis zur Analytik N2 - Der Vortrag beschreibt die Herausforderungen bei der Analyse von Mikroplastik inklusive Probennahme, Probenvorbereitung und Detektion. Es werden Ergebnisse aus dem BMBF-Projekt RUSEKU vorgestellt. T2 - LABO-Anwendertag CY - Online meeting DA - 23.11.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Mikroplastik-Analytik PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53829 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Mikroplastik – Ein Problem für die Menschheit? N2 - Mikroplastik findet sich in Ozeanen, Seen, Flüssen und Bächen. Es kann in unserem Boden, in der Luft und sogar in Organismen nachgewiesen werden. Jedes Jahr werden weltweit Millionen Tonnen freigesetzt. Doch wo und wie landet Mikroplastik in der Umwelt? Und wie können wir diese winzigen Partikel nachweisen? T2 - Berlin Science Week CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 01.11.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53734 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Mikroplastik Referenzmaterial und erste Vergleichsuntersuchungen N2 - Hierbei geht es um die Vorstellung von ersten Möglichkeiten um Referenzmaterial für die Mikroplastik-Analytik herzustellen und die Ergebnisse erster Vergleichsversuche. T2 - EUROLAB-D Workshop: Mikroplastik in der Praxis CY - Online meeting DA - 30.11.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Referenzmaterial KW - Vergleichsversuche PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53880 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Microplastics at BAM: TED-GC/MS and reference materials N2 - Thsi talk aims to present the activities of microplastic analysis at BAM according to TED-GC/MS and reference materials developement. T2 - Webinar BAM / University of Birmingham CY - Online meeting DA - 15.06.2021 KW - Microplastic KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Reference materials PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53738 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scharek, Vera M. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - A direct solid sampling approach for fluorine determination via ETV/ICP-QQQ-MS N2 - Organic fluorine sum parameters are used to detect F-containing pollutants, e.g., per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), in the environment, within materials, or for monitoring technical processess, e.g., thermal decomposition of PFAS during municipal waste incineration. However, established approaches determining the extractable organic and adsorbable organic fluorine content (EOC and AOC) require laborious and error-prone sample preparation. We report a solid sampling-electrothermal vaporization (ETV) method for direct fluorine measurement based on the formation of [138Ba19F]+ with an inductively coupled plasma-triple quadrupole-mass spectrometer (ICP-QQQ-MS). Method development involved the instrumental setup for Ba introduction and fluorine-specific tuning of lens and collision-reaction cell (CRC) parameters. An inorganic fluorine fraction was detected in a cyclonic dust sample from a municipal waste incineration plant as a peak above a broad background signal. The content was estimated through standard addition using a NaF solution to 2300 mgg−1. With a limit of detection (LOD) of 130 mg g−1, which was below the reported value for an electrothermal vaporization/inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ETV/ICP-MS) approach, acquiring [19F]+. The method's potential for fractionation analysis was demonstrated by analyzing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) powder. KW - PFAS KW - ETV/ICP-QQQ-MS KW - Solid sampling PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-656766 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ja00014b SN - 0267-9477 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-65676 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roß, Marcel A1 - Severin, Stefanie A1 - Hildebrandt, Jana A1 - Erdmann, Kerstin A1 - Miaskiewicz, Aleksandra A1 - Škorjanc, Viktor A1 - Bernardes de Araujo, Wander Max A1 - Leyden, Matthew A1 - Korte, Lars A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Dallmann, André A1 - Albrecht, Steve T1 - Compositional Analysis of Metal Halide Perovskites: Insight into the Coevaporation Process via Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy N2 - Lead halide perovskites have emerged as a highly promising class of materials for solar cells. Nevertheless, suitable procedures to analyze the exact composition of the perovskite films are rare and are not generally applicable. Here we show a simple and fast method to determine the absolute composition of mixed metal halide perovskites through a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance and total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The method is validated on powder mixtures and applied to thin film samples prepared by coevaporation of formamidinium iodide (FAI), CsI, PbI2 and PbBr2, allowing correlation between film composition and solar cell performance. We show that the rates of the individual precursors do not always translate linearly into film composition and that the preparation of the hole transport layer MeO-2PACz strongly influences the incorporation of FAI. Our work highlights the importance of compositional analysis and demonstrates how the developed method provides new insights into the complex coevaporation process in perovskite solar cells. KW - e‑ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy KW - Metal Halide Perovskites KW - CoevaporationP rocess KW - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-656932 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c03689 SN - 2380-8195 VL - 11 IS - 2 SP - 1935 EP - 1943 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-65693 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Thünemann, Andreas T1 - Developtment of Nanoplastics Reference Materials at BAM N2 - Engineered particles are essential for sustainable innovation and modern industrial applications, but their reliable, number‑based characterisation remains a major challenge. Regulatory frameworks in healthcare, personal care (EU 745/2017, 749/2017, 1223/2009), and environmental monitoring—such as the EU Drinking Water Directive 21840/2020—demand robust particle measurements across complex matrices. Yet standardised methods currently exist only for simple particle systems, leaving significant gaps for technologically relevant materials and for micro‑ and nanoplastics as emerging pollutants. These challenges are amplified by the lack of well‑defined input parameters, particularly density and refractive index, which are critical for many analytical and modelling approaches. This talk highlights BAM’s work on developing nanoplastics reference materials to support validated, traceable, and harmonised measurement methods. I will outline strategies for producing stable, well‑characterised polymeric nanoparticles, establishing accurate material parameters, and integrating these reference materials into interlaboratory and standardisation activities. These efforts provide the metrological foundation urgently needed for regulatory testing, environmental monitoring, and industry innovation. T2 - ConcenSus Virtual Webinar on Reference Materials supporting characterization of nanomaterials: Current status and future trends CY - Online meeting DA - 17.03.2026 KW - Nanoplastics KW - Nanoparticle PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65717 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana T1 - Combined impact of UV radiation and nitric acid (HNO3) on HDPE jerrycans – comparison of outdoor and lab test N2 - A damaging action of HNO3-55% only occurs in combination with its decomposition into nitrous gases, which can be caused by UV radiation. In a laboratory test, transparent HDPE jerrycans have been exposed to both UV radiation and 55 wt-% nitric acid solution at (41 ± 2)°C, for up to 20 days. For comparison, UV radiant exposure (21 days) and nitric acid exposure (up to 6 weeks) were performed separately, at nearly equal temperatures. The respective damages are compared with FTIR spectroscopy in ATR and HT-gel permeation chromatography (GPC) on a molecular level and with hydraulic internal pressure testing as a component test. For the used jerrycans, relevant oxidation can only be found after the combined exposure. The gradual increase in oxidative damage shows the good reproducibility of the lab exposure. The decomposition of nitric acid into nitrous gases by UV radiation – as well as the jerrycan oxidation – is also observed at lower HNO3 concentration (28 wt- %). Similar results are obtained after outdoor tests. Again, the damage occurs only after combined exposure, in contrast to the exposures to UV only and to HNO3 only, which were conducted in parallel. Outdoor exposures are most readily accepted as they represent possible end-use conditions. However, the reproducibility of these exposures is poor due to the large temporal variations in weather. There are also several safety risks, which is why the number of replicates remains limited. Since the outdoor and lab exposure tests show the same qualitative results, it is appropriate to conduct systematic studies in the laboratory. After 6 days of lab exposure, the oxidation damage is rated as critical, which corresponds to about 1/10 year in Central Europe, according to the UV radiant exposure. It should be noted that this amount can also occur in two sunny weeks. T2 - 24th iapri World Packaging Conference CY - Valencia, Spain DA - 17.06.2024 KW - Ppolyethylene KW - UV exposure KW - Nitric acid KW - Oxidation PY - 2024 VL - 2 SP - 30 EP - 37 PB - ITENE AN - OPUS4-60414 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Deliverable 2: Summary report on: The development of pristine SI traceable reference materials for SMPs (0.1 μm - 10 μm) and NPs (< 0.1 μm), representative of partially degraded/naturally aged samples in complex food and environmental matrices, and for realistic polydisperse size distributions and irregular shapes N2 - PlasticTrace aims to address the urgent need for development and harmonisation of methods for the chemical identification, physical characterisation and quantification of released small micro/nanoplastics (SMPs/NPs) in drinking water, food and environmental matrices, as required by the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). This report describs the characterisation of nanoPP analysed in the PlasticTrace project aiming to develop a reference material. The nanoPP was analysed mainly by light scattering methods. Homogeneity control was done by DLS. KW - Nanoplastics KW - Reference materials PY - 2024 N1 - Project Number 21GRD07: PlasticTrace (Tracing Micro and NanoPlastics in Food and Environment), funded by the European Union SP - 1 EP - 29 PB - European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) CY - Braunschweig AN - OPUS4-62299 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Reference material candidates for microplastic analysis N2 - Every day, there are new headlines in the media about microplastics (1-1000 µm, ISO/TR 21960:2020) and nanoplastics (< 1 µm, ISO/TR 21960:2020) findings all over the planet with high variations in particle number and mass. The challenges in analytics are very complex, e.g. representative sampling, non-destructive sample preparation with concentrated particles and homogeneous distribution and true detection. All together lead to lacks in harmonization and results, which are hardly comparable. On the other hand, monitoring of microplastics is mandatory in the future strictly regulated by the EU commission in the Drinking water and Wastewater Framework Directive. One step to accurate and precise results will be the development of suitable reference materials mimicking particles in the environment. BAM developed test materials, which are produced by mixing a small portion of microplastic particles with a water-soluble matrix. After solid phase dilution and homogenisation small portions are pressed into tablets and bottled in glass vials (Figure 1). These tablets are well characterized with particle size distribution and SEM images. Additionally, they are tested as reference material candidate according to homogeneity and stability for particle number with µ-IR and µ-Raman as well as on particle mass with Py-GC/MS and TED-GC/MS after ISO Guide 35. Results are promising. The material passed the homogeneity control. No changes are observed within 6 months of storage. The same tested reference material is finally used in sample preparation experiments, where environmental suspended particular matter from surface water or baby milk powders are spiked with the tablets. T2 - ESOPS CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 09.09.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Reference materials KW - Polymer 3R KW - Tablets PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61017 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Challenges in microplastics standardisation N2 - This talk addresses the challanges in microplastic analytics. It shows the need of standards, analytics and reference materials for accurate and reliable measurements. It explains the state of the art for referenence materials in this field and their problems. A solution is presented with PET tablets. The urgent need of harmonisation it also emphasised. T2 - MARII Summit CY - Madrid, Spain DA - 15.10.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64488 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sieg, Holger A1 - Heilscher, Jasmin A1 - Ott, Franziska A1 - Böhmert, Linda A1 - Drusch, Stephan A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Rohn, Sascha A1 - Braeuning, Albert A1 - Kieserling, Helena T1 - Direct Interactions of Micro- and Nanoplastics with Proteins – A Key to Mechanistic Understanding? N2 - Micro-/Nanoplastics (MNP) have gained widespread scientific and public attention within the last two decades. While knowledge about measuring techniques, occurrence and exposure was improved substantially, questions on toxicological impact of MNP remained unclear. A major reason for that are the continued remaining knowledge gaps with regard to mechanistical understanding of MNP effects. Our work aimed at investigating MNP properties, protein interactions, and cellular effects in combination. Therefore, we characterized MNP-protein- adsorption, changes in protein structure, cellular uptake and cellular modes of action. In a first study, we studied the molecular interactions of β-lactoglobulin, a serum and storage protein, with different MNP materials1. We identified structural changes, depending on physicochemical MNP properties, using FTIR- and fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, we investigated cellular uptake of MNP individually and as a complex with β-lactoglobulin and studied the effects on cell growth and viability, using colorimetric MTT testing, flow cytometry, and cell impedance measurements. MNP material properties, especially hydrophobicity, had an impact on protein folding and consequently also on cellular interactions. In a second study, we applied α-amylase, an extracellular digestive protein with enzymatic activity. Here, in addition, we investigated the influence of MNP binding on enzyme activity, using a colorimetric starch degradation assay. We observed for the most MNP, that adsorption processes resulted in a decrease of enzyme activity. Furthermore, we used Alexa633 staining to visualize MNP uptake with and without the presence of α-amylase. Taken together, this work aims to close data gaps regarding mechanistical effects of MNP on cells by investigating direct MNP-protein-interactions. Mechanistic knowledge is crucial for understanding toxicological effects of MNP, and therefore, also for the risk assessment of possible hazards on human health. T2 - 92. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Experimentelle und Klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie (DGPT) CY - Düsseldorf, Germany DA - 17.03.2026 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65667 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kricheldorf, H. R. A1 - Weidner, Steffen T1 - Polymerization of L-lactide with SnCl2: A Low Toxic and Eco-friendly Catalyst N2 - Polymerizations of L-lactide catalyzed either by neat SnCl2 or by SnCl2 + difunctional cocatalysts were conducted in bulk at 180, 160 and 140 °C with variation of the Lac/Cat ratio and time. With neat SnCl2 poly(L-lactide) having weight average molecular weights (uncorrected Mw’s) up to 190 000 g mol−1 were obtained mainly consisting of linear chains. Addition of salicylic acid or 1,1-bisphenol yielded a higher fraction of cyclic polylactides but lower molecular weights. Furthermore, SnCl2 was compared with Bu2SnCl2 and various other metal chlorides and the best results were obtained with SnCl2. With ethyl L-lactate as initiator SnCl2-catalyzed ROPs were performed at 120 °C and the lac/initiator ratio was varied. All these experiments were conducted under conditions allowing for comparison with ROPs catalyzed with neat Sn(II)-2-ethyhexanoate. Such a comparison was also performed with ε-caprolactone as monomer. KW - Catalyst KW - Polylactide KW - MALDI-TOF MS KW - Polycondensation PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520517 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-020-02042-w SN - 1566-2543 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-52051 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geburtig, Anja A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana T1 - Combined impact of UV radiation and nitric acid on high‐density polyethylene containers as a laboratory test N2 - In a laboratory test, transparent high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) jerrycans have been exposed to both UV radiation and 55 wt‐% nitric acid solution at (41 ± 2)°C, for up to 20 days. For comparison, UV radiant exposure (21 days) and nitric acid exposure (up to 6 weeks) were performed separately, at nearly equal temperatures. The damages are compared with FTIR spectroscopy in ATR and HT‐gel permeation chromatography(GPC) on a molecular level and with hydraulic internal pressure testing as a component test. For the used jerrycans, relevant oxidation can only be found after the combined exposure. This is caused by the decomposition of nitric acid into nitrous gases by UV radiation, which is also observed at lower concentrations (28 wt‐%). After 6 days of laboratory exposure, this is rated as critical, which corresponds to about 1/10 year in Central Europe, according to the UV radiant exposure. The gradual increase in oxidative damage shows the reproducibility of the test. KW - Molecular mass distribution KW - High-density polyethylene KW - Nitric acid KW - UV radiation PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550141 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pts.2673 SN - 0894-3214 VL - 35 IS - 10 SP - 729 EP - 735 PB - Wiley CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-55014 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kricheldorf, Hans. R. A1 - Weidner, Steffen T1 - About the Toxicity of Polymerization Catalysts and Polymer Additives Based on Tin(II) Salts and Tin(IV) Compounds N2 - This article reviews and discusses information on the toxicity of numerous tin-based catalysts used in academic research and industrial production for the synthesis of various polymers, such as polyesters, polyurethanes, and polysiloxanes. Tin(IV) compounds used as additives and as PVC stabilizers are also considered. Emphasis is put on the differentiation between tin(II) salts on the one hand and tin(IV) compounds on the other hand. In the first chapter, historical facts about human contact with stannous ions are discussed, along with toxicity studies of canned foods and beverages. In the second part, toxicity tests based on cell cultures and medical applications of tin(II)-containing films or implants are described. The third part focuses on alkyl and aryl tin(IV) compounds. KW - Tin KW - Toxicity KW - Environment KW - Polymer catalysts KW - Polymer additives PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642877 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.5c00105 SN - 1871-5532 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-64287 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schumacher, Julia T1 - Unlocking black fungi: from genomes to material conservation and biotechnological innovation N2 - Black fungi are a polyphyletic group of melanized ascomycetes adapted to extreme environments such as deserts, rocks, and human-made surfaces. Their slow compact growth, and thick melanized cell walls confer exceptional stress tolerance but have long hindered molecular studies and genetic engineering. Consequently, the biology and biotechnological potential of these organisms remained largely unexplored. To overcome these limitations, we selected the rock-inhabiting black fungus Knufia petricola as a model. Its genome sequence (12 contigs, ~10,000 genes) enabled the development of a versatile genetic toolbox based on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing, achieving up to 100% homologous recombination and supporting multiplex editing of at least six genomic regions. Color-based selection systems targeting pigment genes enable rapid identification of strains with correctly integrated expression cassettes, including simultaneous insertion of optimized genes coding for blue, green, and red fluorescent proteins for co-localization and protein interaction studies. These tools enable functional analyses of traits central to extremotolerance, such as the role of melanin in stress protection, biofilm formation, and material interactions. Furthermore, K. petricola has been established as a eukaryotic expression platform: heterologous genes from bacteria, fungi, and plants can be expressed under constitutive or inducible promoters, including the Tet-on system for tunable gene regulation. Pigment-free strains provide access to metabolic precursors, enabling high-level synthesis of alternative secondary metabolites. Importantly, the optimized transformation protocols were successfully transferred to the Antarctic black fungus Cryomyces antarcticus, a cryptoendolithic extremophile and astrobiology model, demonstrating that even the most stress-tolerant fungi can be genetically engineered. Together, the genome sequence and advanced genetic engineering strategies have transformed K. petricola from a challenging extremotolerant organism into a tractable model for studying stress adaptation, material interactions and a promising host for biotechnology and synthetic biology approaches. These achievements, combined with emerging black fungal genomes, inform sustainable material protection strategies to mitigate colonization and biodeterioration of exposed surfaces, linking fundamental research with applied solutions for material conservation and industrial biotechnology. T2 - Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) 2026 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 22.03.2026 KW - Functional genetics KW - Material colonizer KW - Pigments PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65752 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schumacher, Julia T1 - Biodiversity on Materials: Black Fungi Colonizing Solar Panels N2 - Sun-exposed surfaces are extreme environments characterized by intense UV radiation, temperature fluctuations, desiccation, and nutrient scarcity. These habitats are colonized by extremotolerant microorganisms that often form multispecies biofilms. Among them, black fungi (Ascomycota) stand out for their unique morphophysiological traits: slow growth, small compact colonies, reproduction by budding or meristematic growth, and continuous deposition of 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) melanin on thickened cell walls. This melanin is thought to provide protection against abiotic stress, for both the fungi and their microbial partners. Originally associated with natural substrates such as rocks in hot, cold, or saline deserts, black fungi have recently been detected on human-made surfaces, including solar panels, where they may reduce system efficiency. Despite their simple morphology, black fungi represent a vast and underestimated genetic diversity with representatives in Eurotiomycetes, Dothideomycetes, and Arthoniomycetes. They exhibit diverse lifestyles, including lichen symbioses, opportunistic pathogenicity, and saprobic growth. However, only a few genomes of black fungi have been sequenced to date. Initial analyses indicate haploid or diploid states, occasional genome duplications, and gene loss, reflecting adaptation to extreme conditions. For even fewer species, genetic engineering tools are available. To address this gap, we develop genetic tools for functional studies and compare genome sequences. The STRES Community Science Program, funded by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), aims to sequence up to 600 black fungal genomes from diverse extreme environments (https://stresblackfungi.org/). Our contribution includes black fungi isolated from solar panels in Germany and the United States – among some several new species. Annotated genomes are now becoming available, enabling comparative analyses to discover novel genes for enzymes and secondary metabolites. These efforts also support strategies to mitigate undesired biofilm formation on man-made surfaces such as facades and solar panels. T2 - Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) 2026 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 22.03.2026 KW - Biodiversity KW - Fungi KW - Melanin PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65750 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Erdmann, Eileen A. T1 - In-vivo Transposon Mutagenesis in the Black Fungus Knufia petricola N2 - Microcolonial black fungi, commonly found on sun-exposed natural and man-made surfaces worldwide, belong to different classes within the Ascomycota but convergently evolved similar morpho-physiological adaptations to colonize extreme low-competitive environments. Genetic studies of these organisms have long been hampered by slow growth, lack of sexual cycles and difficulties in transformation. To overcome these limitations, CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing was implemented in the rock-inhabiting fungus Knufia petricola (Eurotiomycetes, Chaetothyriales). This enables efficient generation of deletion mutants and overexpression strains for functional analyses, and thus hypothesis-driven targeted mutagenesis. However, the unique ability of black fungi to colonize oligotrophic extreme environments remains poorly understood, and genes involved are unknown. To address this, a hypothesis-generating tool for functional assessment of new species- and/or trait-specific genes was implemented in K. petricola. Specifically, we adapted the two-component Activator/Dissociation (Ac/Ds) transposon system from maize for generating insertional mutants by in vivo mutagenesis. For controlling the transposition of a Ds transposon carrying a resistance cassette, the inducible and metabolism-independent Tet-on promoter system was combined with the Ac transposase (AcTPase) coding sequence fused to a functional nuclear localization signal. In total, six auxotrophic Ac/Ds starter strains were generated, each harboring the Ds transposon at different positions within ade2, ura3 or ppt1. Induction of TET::AcTPase with doxycycline followed by selection on ADE/URA/LYS-lacking media resulted in prototrophic revertants for most Ac/Ds strains. Sequencing of excision sites revealed characteristic footprints. Mapping of Ds re-insertion sites demonstrated transpositions both within the same chromosome and across different chromosomes, identifying 30 genes as non-essential. Current efforts include scaling up mutant generation, as the generation and sequencing of saturated mutant libraries combined with mutation mapping will enable the systematic identification of essential genes under diverse culture conditions. T2 - Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) 2026 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 22.03.2026 KW - Genetics KW - Material colonizer KW - Melanin PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65749 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -