Dynamic flow and pollution of antimony from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers in China

Jianwen Chu; Xingyun Hu; Linghao Kong; Ningning Wang; Suhuan Zhang; Mengchang He; Wei Ouyang; Xitao Liu; Chunye Lin

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144643

Dynamic flow and pollution of antimony from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers in China

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jun 1:771:144643. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144643. Epub 2021 Jan 18.

Authors

Jianwen Chu¹, Xingyun Hu², Linghao Kong², Ningning Wang¹, Suhuan Zhang¹, Mengchang He³, Wei Ouyang¹, Xitao Liu¹, Chunye Lin¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: hemc@bnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33540166
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144643

Abstract

Antimony (Sb), a regulated contaminant, is added as a catalyst in the process of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) synthesis. Previously, Sb release from PET bottles and films was studied. However, Sb release from PET fibers (the most common form of PET) is limited. Therefore, a network model of material flow for PET fibers in China is developed, and the anthropogenic Sb flow and release entering into the hydrosphere, pedosphere, and atmosphere are studied based on microexperiments and macromodels. To compensate for the uncertainty caused by material flow analysis, Sb pollution in the surrounding areas (the drinking water of nearby residents and sediments of nearby river area) is further explored by combining field investigations and sample analysis. The results are as follows: 1) the manufacture stage of PET fibers is the main source of Sb release (2926 t), followed by the dyeing (2223 t) and weaving (908 t) stages; 2) Sb release (1108 t) from waste PET fibers subjected to landfill disposal is the highest. Sb release (872 t) from discarded fiber waste is second highest. Sb release from PET fibers subjected to mechanical recycling, incineration, and chemical recycling is 784, 284, and 25 t, respectively; and 3) an obvious source-sink relationship is found between anthropogenic Sb in the rivers and sediments and the intensity of the industries. This study suggests that Sb from PET fibers should be properly managed to prevent widespread dispersion in the hydrosphere, pedosphere, and atmosphere.

Keywords: Antimony (Sb) release; China; Material flow analysis (MFA); PET fibers; Sb pollution.