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In this work, a simple and cost-effective integrated electrode system consisting of aptamermodified inkjet-printed (IJP) gold working electrode and unmodified IJP gold as counter electrode (both printed on polyethylene naphthalate substrate) has been developed for low-cost detection of cadmium (II) ion in water. The technique uses a Cd2+ (Cd-4) aptamer, a singlestranded DNA with 31 nucleotides trapped on the working electrode using the self-assembly monolayer (SAM) technique. The electrochemical detection of Cd2+ is based on the change in redox peaks of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- as a redox probe in cyclic voltammetry. The change in peak current is caused by a difference in electron transfer rate before and after binding the aptamer with the target ion (Cd2+). The electrochemical properties were further characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under optimal conditions, revealing changes in the charge transfer resistance upon binding the Cd2+ ion with the aptamer on gold. Detection by CV, the anodic peak currents (Ipa) varied linearly with Cd2+ concentration from 0.1-10 ng/mL. Saturation of the working electrode's active surface area was achieved with 10 ng/mL. The regression coefficient was 0.9977, whereas for the Cd2+ aptasensor, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5 ng/mL. The developed electrochemical aptasensor showed good sensitivity with a value of 1.94 μA/ng/mL and was partially selective in the presence of interfering divalent ions (Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+). The RSD within the linear detection range (0.1-10 ppb) is 0.28%. The IJP aptasensor has simple and cost-effective compositions, consuming only 0.5 mg of Au loading of ink during the inkjet-printing process. Minimal chemical waste is also produced because the sample volume requirement for the analysis is only 50 μL. The IJP aptasensor has promising potential for rapid and on-site detection of Cd2+ in water samples using a portable CV system. Keywords: aptamer, cadmium ions, field-ready, gold electrode, inkjet-printed, voltammetric detectionIn this work, a simple and cost-effective integrated electrode system consisting of aptamermodified inkjet-printed (IJP) gold working electrode and unmodified IJP gold as counter electrode (both printed on polyethylene naphthalate substrate) has been developed for low-cost detection of cadmium (II) ion in water. The technique uses a Cd2+ (Cd-4) aptamer, a singlestranded DNA with 31 nucleotides trapped on the working electrode using the self-assembly monolayer (SAM) technique. The electrochemical detection of Cd2+ is based on the change in redox peaks of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- as a redox probe in cyclic voltammetry. The change in peak current is caused by a difference in electron transfer rate before and after binding the aptamer with the target ion (Cd2+). The electrochemical properties were further characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under optimal conditions, revealing changes in the charge transfer resistance upon binding the Cd2+ ion with the aptamer on gold. Detection by CV, the anodic peak currents (Ipa) varied linearly with Cd2+ concentration from 0.1-10 ng/mL. Saturation of the working electrode's active surface area was achieved with 10 ng/mL. The regression coefficient was 0.9977, whereas for the Cd2+ aptasensor, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5 ng/mL. The developed electrochemical aptasensor showed good sensitivity with a value of 1.94 μA/ng/mL and was partially selective in the presence of interfering divalent ions (Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+). The RSD within the linear detection range (0.1-10 ppb) is 0.28%. The IJP aptasensor has simple and cost-effective compositions, consuming only 0.5 mg of Au loading of ink during the inkjet-printing process. Minimal chemical waste is also produced because the sample volume requirement for the analysis is only 50 μL. The IJP aptasensor has promising potential for rapid and on-site detection of Cd2+ in water samples using a portable CV system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (or MPs; < 5 mm in size) pollution is largely unstudied in the Philippines. From an environmental sustainability standpoint, it is important to understand the characteristics, abundance, and environmental fate of plastic debris of various sizes, and these include MPs that are not more easily and readily detected. In this study, we assessed the extent of MPs contamination in the sediments, waters, oysters, and selected fishes found in the rivers and coastal areas of Ticalan, Batangas, which were identified from water quality parameters as Class C and CS, respectively. The MPs were extracted from these samples by chemical digestion of the matrix, series of filtration, and separation by flotation through a density gradient to finally isolate the MPs which were not dissolved by chemical digestion. The isolated samples were imaged by optical microscopy and characterized based on their descriptive attributes. The results showed the presence of microplastics in all the samples tested, which were found mostly in the form of filaments, fragments, films, and pellets – with most showing weathered, degraded, or angular and irregular surfaces. Identification was done through spectral matching of the Fourier transform infrared spectra of isolated fragments with that of known plastics, although identification in some cases is made uncertain by possibility of degradation of the plastics in the environment. The majority of the isolates showed signature absorption bands of the C-H stretching vibrations of polyethylene-based plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]