Monitoring emerging contaminants (ECs) e.g. pharmaceuticals, pesticides, microplastics and PFAs is a rapidly growing concern for environmental health and safety due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. Reducing the release of emerging contaminants from materials at source is crucial. One way is to minimize their human exposure by finding a better substitute through a toxicity assessment and an understanding of their mechanism of action. This contributes not only towards evaluation of their potential long term health hazards but also allows us to tune the material formulation with a less hazardous alternative, based on structure activity relationship (SAR) data, following the SSbD framework.

This presentation highlights the use of an electrochemical membrane-on-chip coupled with the innovative mini release accelerator (MRA) for screening biomembrane affinity and disruption of release products from plastic and PFAs-free coatings following the safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) approach. Leachates from these plastic coatings and other coating materials are subjected to membrane-on-chip screening to investigate the biomembrane affinity disruption properties of these material leachates The biomembrane sensor utilizes a layer of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) on a fabricated Hg-on-Pt chip electrode to generate characteristic rapid cyclic voltammograms (RCV). These RCVs contain current peaks due to underlying phase transitions in response to applied electric field. Changes in the RCV scan and associated capacitance peaks such as peak suppression in the presence of (bio)membrane active substances are related to membrane affinity and disruption detailing the nature and extent of the interactions. This unique advanced material screening technology, and the results from the screening of plastic and other coatings and emerging contaminants/pharmaceuticals and, their analysis will be presented at this conference.

Acknowledgements: UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee Fund 10056199 and HE Bio-SUSHY programme GA number 101091464.