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Organisationseinheit der BAM
Microplastics are a ubiquitous yet long-overlooked component of airborne particulate matter. The surface of these plastic particles provides a unique niche for microorganisms, collectively known as the plastisphere. The plastisphere in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems harbors microbial communities with distinct compositions, structures, and functional profiles, posing potential planetary health risks. The characteristics, fate, and impacts of the microbiome associated with airborne microplastics, however, remain largely unknown. In this review, we fill the knowledge gaps by exploring how airborne microplastics serve as key habitats for microorganisms and the potential planetary health implications. We show that microplastics are expected to carry and sustain microorganisms over long distances and timescales in air, potentially dispersing pathogens, antibiotic-resistance genes, and other bioactive agents across ecosystems. These interactions may perturb ecological processes and biological health on a planetary scale. Interdisciplinary research and innovative methodologies are urgently required to better understand and mitigate the airborne plastisphere risks.
Safety characteristics are used for the safe operation of processes. Designing protection measures requires explosion characteristics to be determined, namely the maximum explosion pressure and the maximum rate of pressure rise. Safety characteristics of single-phase components (solid, liquid or gas) can be determined according to standards that were developed 40 years ago and are continuously improved. For hybrid mixtures containing a flammable gas and a combustible dust there has been an approach in the 80s but it has never been improved nor applied ever since (ISO 6184-3). A new approach by four German research facilities and the German Institute for standardization (DIN) with the aim of developing a new standard was launched in 2019. In 2022 the key findings led to a first international round robin test with eleven participating facilities from seven countries. The dust component was corn starch and methane was chosen as gas component. In order to strengthen the data foundation before finalizing and publishing the new standard, a second round robin test was initiated with hydrogen as gas component and lycopodium as dust. The paper will summarize the findings and their influence on the new standard.
