Journal article 1950 views 370 downloads
Identification and Quantification of Microplastics in Wastewater Using Focal Plane Array-Based Reflectance Micro-FT-IR Imaging
Alexander S. Tagg,
Melanie Sapp,
Jesse P. Harrison,
Jesus J. Ojeda,
Jesus Ojeda Ledo 
Analytical Chemistry, Volume: 87, Issue: 12, Pages: 6032 - 6040
Swansea University Author:
Jesus Ojeda Ledo
-
PDF | Version of Record
Download (3.15MB)
DOI (Published version): 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b00495
Abstract
Microplastics (<5 mm) have been documented in environmental samples on a global scale. While these pollutants may enter aquatic environments via wastewater treatment facilities, the abundance of microplastics in these matrices has not been investigated. Although efficient methods for the analysis...
| Published in: | Analytical Chemistry |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0003-2700 1520-6882 |
| Published: |
2015
|
| Online Access: |
Check full text
|
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa24436 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Abstract: |
Microplastics (<5 mm) have been documented in environmental samples on a global scale. While these pollutants may enter aquatic environments via wastewater treatment facilities, the abundance of microplastics in these matrices has not been investigated. Although efficient methods for the analysis of microplastics in sediment samples and marine organisms have been published, no methods have been developed for detecting these pollutants within organic-rich wastewater samples. In addition, there is no standardized method for analyzing microplastics isolated from environmental samples. In many cases, part of the identification protocol relies on visual selection before analysis, which is open to bias. In order to address this, a new method for the analysis of microplastics in wastewater was developed. A pretreatment step using 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was employed to remove biogenic material, and focal plane array (FPA)-based reflectance micro-Fourier-transform (FT-IR) imaging was shown to successfully image and identify different microplastic types (polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon-6, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene). Microplastic-spiked wastewater samples were used to validate the methodology, resulting in a robust protocol which was nonselective and reproducible (the overall success identification rate was 98.33%). The use of FPA-based micro-FT-IR spectroscopy also provides a considerable reduction in analysis time compared with previous methods, since samples that could take several days to be mapped using a single-element detector can now be imaged in less than 9 h (circular filter with a diameter of 47 mm). This method for identifying and quantifying microplastics in wastewater is likely to provide an essential tool for further research into the pathways by which microplastics enter the environment. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: |
CS AuthorChoice - This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Issue: |
12 |
| Start Page: |
6032 |
| End Page: |
6040 |