Disinfection inducing release of contaminants from baby play mats: Microplastics and volatile organic compounds.

Baby play mats serve as essential protective equipment widely utilized in residences, daycares, and kindergartens. Given their direct contact with infants and young children, the pollutants released from play mats may pose potential health risks. This study investigated the impact of disinfection on the release of microplastics (MPs) from play mats and offers an in-depth analysis of the derived volatile organic compounds (VOCs) release. The results revealed that various disinfection treatments promoted the release of MPs from play mats. Among them, chlorination bleaching induced play mats to produce 2-3 times less MPs than ultraviolet sterilization (UVS) and UV-bleaching disinfection. The generation potential of MPs derived from play mats of different materials was ranked as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) > polypropylene (PP) ≈ polyethylene (PE) > polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Furthermore, PE play mat released highest concentration of total VOC after disinfection, increasing from 1.82 mg/m2 (control) to 15.82 mg/m2 (UV-bleaching). However, PVC released the most species of VOCs, with 76 species identified through non-target screening, such as several alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, ketones, etc. Through toxicological prediction, VOCs with high toxic potential were identified. Individual VOCs from PP, such as Pentadecane (CAS: 629-62-9), exhibited high yields at 3.16 ng/g after UV-bleaching treatment. In conclusion, chlorination bleaching is safer than UVS and UV-bleaching disinfection in mitigating the release of pollutants from play mats.