Study of the fate and interactions of microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment

Microplastics (MPs), defined as plastic particles in the 1 μm-1 mm dimension range, are recognized as ubiquitous pollutants in all environmental compartments. The PhD project focused on developing and optimizing innovative analytical methods based on mass-spectrometry techniques, evolved gas analysis-mass spectrometry (EGA-MS), pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to investigate various aspects related to MP pollution. The key aspects addressed in this thesis include: • MPs degradation phenomena, examined through both physical-chemical changes occurred in the polymers and the characterization of chemicals released from MPs into water as a consequence of aging; • the development and optimization of analytical protocols for quantifying both MPs and associated organic contaminants; • the evaluation of different sample pretreatments for Py-GC-MS quantification of MPs in different environmental matrices. The research provides advanced analytical strategies for MPs analysis, highlighting the still unexplored potential of analytical pyrolysis, and contributes to a deeper understanding of microplastic pollution, offering valuable tools for environmental monitoring.