Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Fig. 6 Co m parison of concentrations of identified co m pounds in waste office paper and office paper (OP) extracted in CH 3 COOH ( a ); decrease in concentrations of hazardous and not identified co m pounds after extraction in CH 3 COOH ( b )
Fig. 7 Cellulose fibres before ( a ) and after extraction ( b ) with CH 3 COOH and washing with distilled water in the scanning electron m icroscope
Conclusion Following acetic acid (CH ၸ COOH) treat m ent, 31 of the original 138 co m pounds identified in waste office paper re m ained e m bedded in the cellulose fibres. The purpose of this study was to docu m ent the presence of natural organic substances derived fro m virgin wood that persist despite conventional paper m anufacturing processes. These co m - pounds constitute up to 40.4 ± 5.8% of the total organic
content in office paper. Notably, approxi m ately 39% of virgin wood-derived co m pounds were classified as “stick- ies”, which can interfere with paper recycling operations. The extraction procedure using CH ၸ COOH, followed by thorough washing, resulted in a 92% reduction in co m - pounds classified as health hazards (HH). This includes the effective re m oval of persistent organic pollutants such as di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), bisphenol A (BPA), and benzophenone. Additionally, co m pounds categorized as environ m ental hazards (EH) were reduced by 92.6%,
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