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This article presents the results of flame-retardancy tests conducted on cellulose sheets produced using a Rapid Köthen apparatus treated with retardants. The agents used were potassium carbonate (PC) K 2 CO 3 (concentrations of 20; 33.3; and 50% wt/wt), monoammonium phosphate (MAP) NH 4 H 2 PO 4 (concentrations of 35% wt/wt), diammonium phosphate (DAP) (NH 4 ) 2 HPO 4 (concentrations of 42.9% wt/wt), and bisguanidal phosphate (FOS) C 2 H 10 N 6 (concentrations of 22.5% wt/wt). The agents were used to improve Kraft cellulose-based sheets' flame-retardant properties and compare their performances. As part of the study, the flammability of the materials was determined by the following methods: an oxygen index (OI) test, a mass loss calorimeter (MLC) test, and a mini fire tube (MFT) test. All formulations showed an increase in flame retardancy compared to the control test. All protected samples were non-flammable for OI determinations, and DAP-protected samples showed the highest OI index. For the MLC test, DAP-protected and MAP-protected samples showed the best heat-release rate (HRR), total heat release (THR), and average heat-release rate (ARHE) (samples did not ignite for 600 s). In the MFT test, all treated samples had comparably reduced weight loss. The best parameter was achieved for MAP and DAP (15% weight loss).

The contamination characteristics, migration patterns and health risks of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were investigated in 66 Chinese paper products by using target and non-target screening methods. Among 57 target PFASs, 5 and 6 PFASs were found in the hygiene paper products (n F 2n+1 COOH. Microwave heating can increase the release of PFAS in popcorn bags and convert long-chain PFAS into short-chain ones. The migration experiments indicated that the ethanol in food simulants can increase the migration of PFAS, and short-chain PFAS exhibits a greater migration trend. The estimated daily intake (EDI) values for 6 of 18 paper bowls/plates exceeded the recommendation of 0.63 ng/kg bw/day by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), posing a potential threat to human health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The occurrence of chlorinated derivatives of bisphenol S (Cl x -BPS) and BPS was investigated in nine types of paper products ( n = 125), including thermal paper, corrugated boxes, mail envelopes, newspapers, flyers, magazines, food contact paper, household paper, and business cards. BPS was found in all paper product samples, while Cl x -BPS were mainly found in thermal paper (from below the limit of detection (-1 ), corrugated box (-1 ), mailing envelope (-1 ), and newspaper (-1 ) samples. All samples with detectable Cl x -BPS concentrations contained a high concentration of BPS. Cl 1 -BPS was the most frequently detected analyte, followed by Cl 2 -BPS-2 (2-chloro-4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxyphenyl)sulfonylphenol), Cl 2 -BPS-1 (2,6-dichloro-4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)sulfonylphenol), Cl 3 -BPS, and Cl 4 -BPS. The estimated daily intake of Cl x -BPS via dermal transfer upon handling of paper products was 0.546 and 16.4 ng per day for generally and occupationally exposed individuals, at the maximum concentration of 3.76 μg g -1 . Additionally, the potential toxicity of Cl x -BPS was predicted using an in silico tool, showing toxicity gradually increased with an increasing degree of chlorination of BPS. Thus, human exposure to Cl x -BPS through paper products should be given due attention as a health risk.

With the rise of the aging population, the demand for adult incontinence products keeps increasing in developing countries. The increasing market demand for adult incontinence products will inevitably drive up upstream production, leading to more resources and energy consumption, carbon emissions, and heavier environmental pollution. It is imperative to explore the environmental impact of those products and seek opportunities to reduce the environmental impact, which is insufficient. This study aims to fill the gap in research on comparative analysis of energy consumption, carbon emissions, and the environmental impact of adult incontinence products from a life cycle perspective under different energy saving and emission reduction scenarios in the context of aging in China. Based on empirical data from a top papermaking manufacturer in China, this study applies Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method to analyze the impact of adult incontinence products from cradle to grave. Then different scenarios in the future are set to explore the potential of and the possible pathways for energy-saving and emission-reduction of adult incontinence products from the perspective of the whole life cycle. The results indicate that the energy and materials inputs are the environmental hotspots of adult incontinence products. Under the future trend of the aging population, the predictable optimization of energy structure, optimization of material composition, and final disposal methods are far from being able to cope with the enormous environmental burden brought by the increase in the consumption of adult incontinence products, especially in 2060 which shows 3.33 to 18.40 times the annual environmental burden under the optimal energy saving and emission reduction scenario, compared to the base year 2020. Research on new environmentally friendly materials and recycling technology should be the focus of the technological development of adult incontinence products., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Phthalic acid esters are widely used as components of industrial and consumer products including paper and cardboard packaging materials in contact with food or human skin. Being endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phthalic acid esters have a negative effect on human health and must be controlled in pulp and paper products. In the present study, supercritical fluid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in combination with pressurized liquid extraction was proposed for phthalic acid esters determination in such objects. Octadecyl stationary phase with non-endcapped silanol groups ensured rapid (4 min) separation of the 10 priority phthalic acid esters in isocratic elution mode and allowed for effective elimination of interferences from the trace impurities of phthalic acid esters in the mobile phase. The attained limits of quantitation are in the range of 0.7-10 μg/L in extracts and 0.02-0.3 μg/g in paper and cardboard samples. The developed method is distinguished by analysis rapidity, easy sample preparation procedure, high selectivity, low susceptibility to mobile phase contamination with analytes, low cost, and environmental friendliness due to the use of carbon dioxide as a main component of the mobile phase. The method was successfully tested on real samples of toilet paper and food packaging paper and cardboard in which eight analytes were found at the levels of 0.03-43.5 μg/g., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Cellulose-based materials have gained increasing attention for the development of low-cost, eco-friendly technologies, and more recently, as functional materials in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, the low output performance of cellulose-based TENGs severely restricts their versatility and employment in emerging smart building and smart city applications. Here, we report a high output performance of a commercial cellulosic material-based energy harvesting floor (CEHF). Benefiting from the significant difference in the triboelectric properties between weighing and nitrocellulose papers, high surface roughness achieved by a newly developed mechanical exfoliation method, and large overall contact area via a multilayered device structure, the CEHF (25 cm × 15 cm × 1.2 cm) exhibits excellent output performance with a maximum output voltage, current, and power peak values of 360 V, 250 μA, and 5 mW, respectively. It can be directly installed or integrated with regular flooring products to effectively convert human body movements into electricity and shows good durability and stability. Moreover, a wireless transmission sensing system that can produce a 1:1 footstep-to-signal (transmitted and received) ratio is instantaneously powered by a TENG based entirely on cellulosic materials for the first time. This work provides a feasible and effective way to utilize commercial cellulosic materials to construct self-powered wireless transmission systems for real-time sensing applications.

Paper documents and products are very susceptible to microbial contamination and damage. Fungi are mainly responsible for those biodeterioration processes. Traditional microbicidal strategies constitute a serious health risk even when microbes are dead. Ideal methods should not be toxic to humans and should have no adverse effects on paper, but should own a broad spectrum, good chemical stability and low cost. In this work, we utilize an advanced antimicrobial strategy of surface stereochemistry by applying a coating of a shallow layer of polyborneolacrylate (PBA), resulting in the desired antifungal performance. The PBA-coated paper is challenged with the most common air-borne fungi growing on paper, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium sp. Ten percent by weight of the coating concentration or a 19-μm infiltration of PBA is sufficient to keep the paper spotless. The PBA coating also exhibits significant inhibition of spores' germination. After PBA coating, both physicochemical properties (paper whiteness, pH, mechanical strength) and inking performance display only slight changes, which are acceptable for general utilization. This PBA coating method is nontoxic, rapid and cost-effective, thus demonstrating great potential for applications in paper products., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

The objective of this study was to measure the anaerobic biodegradation of different types of paper products in laboratory-scale landfill reactors. The study included (a) measurement of the loss of cellulose, hemicellulose, organic carbon, and (b) measurement of the methane yields for each paper product. The test materials included two samples each of newsprint (NP), copy paper (CP), and magazine paper (MG), and one sample of diaper (DP). The methane yields, carbon storage factors and the extent of cellulose and hemicellulose decomposition all consistently show that papers made from mechanical pulps (e.g., NPs) are less degradable than those made from chemical pulps where essentially all lignin was chemically removed (e.g., CPs). The diaper, which is not only made from chemical pulp but also contains some gel and plastic, exhibited limited biodegradability. The extent of biogenic carbon conversion varied from 21 to 96% among papers, which contrasts with the uniform assumption of 50% by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for all degradable materials discarded in landfills. Biochemical methane potential tests also showed that the solids to liquid ratio used in the test can influence the results., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Parabens (alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid) are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and foodstuffs. Although parabens have been reported to be used as antimicrobials in certain types of papers (e.g., wet sanitary or hygiene wipes), little is known about the occurrence of these compounds in paper products. In this study, we determined the concentrations of six paraben analogs, methyl (MeP), ethyl (EtP), propyl (PrP), butyl (BuP), benzyl (BzP), and heptyl parabens (HepP), in 253 paper products divided into 18 categories, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). At least one of the six parabens was detected in almost all (detection rate: 98%) paper samples, and the total concentrations (∑PBs; sum of six parabens) ranged from 1.85 to 3,220,000 ng/g (geometric mean (GM): 103; median: 55.1 ng/g). Sanitary wipes contained very high concentrations of ∑PBs (GM: 8300 ng/g). Paper currencies, tickets, business cards, food cartons, flyers, and newspapers contained notable concentrations of ∑PBs, and the GM concentrations in these paper categories were on the order of a few tens to thousands of nanograms per gram. One source of parabens in paper products is the use of these chemicals as antifungal agents. MeP and PrP were the predominant analogs, accounting for approximately 62% and 16% of the total concentrations of parabens, respectively. On the basis of measured concentrations and frequency of handling of paper products, we estimated the daily intake (EDI) of parabens through dermal absorption. The GM and 95th percentile EDI values were 6.31 and 2050 ng/day, respectively, for the general population. Among the paper categories analyzed, sanitary wipes contributed to the majority (>90%) of the exposures., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microscopic trace evidence includes particles from many sources such as biologicals, soil, building materials, metals, explosives, gunshot residues, and cosmetics. The particles are identified by morphological analysis, microscopy, and chemical analysis. Their identity is confirmed by comparison with reference materials or other comparison samples. The probative value of particles of forensic interest depends on their nature and the circumstances of their presence., (Copyright © 2006 Central Police University.)