The measurement technique for finding the concentration of microplastics in the water resources are evolving. What are the efficient measurement methods to detect microplastics up to the micron size and determine shape of particles? I am interested to know any application of non-intrusive measurement method like image processing technique to characterize microplastics in water.
Check https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328837220_Methods_for_sampling_and_detection_of_microplastics_in_water_and_sediment_A_critical_review
The floating solids are separated from the denser undigested mineral components using a density separator. The floating plastic debris is collected in the density separator using a custom 0.3-mm filter, air-dried, and plastic material is removed and weighed to determine the microplastics concentration. https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/publications-files/noaa_microplastics_methods_manual.pdf
@Chianaza Godswill Awuchi, I have a question? Can this separation process be applied to microplastics smaller than 0.1 mm? Does shape matter in any of the measurement methods?
If the water sample contains organic wastes, digestion of that sample is preferable to destroy them. Hydrogenperoxide (30%) may be used for the digestion. Then filtration with (0.45 micron filter paper). Remaing microplastics on the filter paper may be detected by FTIR analysis.
Many reviews are now available about microplastics detection. You can find in them protocols with detail. Furthermore, the answer of Mr. @Shourove is good and practical.
Thank you, Dr. Jahid hasan Shourove! I would be interested to see some results from the process that you outlined. Are you working on it?
Article Quantification is more than counting: Actions required to ac...
kindly check this
Thanks for forwarding this paper, Dr. Nazila Oladzadabbasabadi. This is a very good paper!
Dear Rajat, we have been working with a staining dye (Nile Red) and microplastics, using grab samplings. It is cheap and simple to apply. You can find the papers on method development as well as environmental sampling on my project:
https://www.researchgate.net/project/From-micro-to-nano-development-of-analytical-methodologies-and-toxicity-testing-of-microplastics-METOXPLAS
Thanks a lot, Dr. Joana Correia Prata! You seem to be very active on the sampling and analysis of MP contamination. I have to go through all your MP related articles. I hope you have link for most of the articles so that I could download and keep it for my reference. I would be looking for (1) what tests an urban center need to do to manage MP pollution; how effective are the tests (any comparison between tests?); what size of MPs will be tracked; (2) what are the health impacts if those MPs from a watershed would mix with a water source; and (3) is there any data on the MPs in sludge and leaching. Thank you!
Dear Rajat, those are some tough questions. Currently there is no standard sampling strategy and microplastics can come from multiple sources. One of those sources are wastewater, even after treatment. So effluent release areas are generally hotspots, but diffuse sources can also exist, such as fragmentation of littered items. To sample beaches, you can follow OSPAR's guidelines, which are the ones being adopted by the EU for marine litter monitoring (https://www.ospar.org/work-areas/eiha/marine-litter/assessment-of-marine-litter/beach-litter). The tracking will depend on the method adopted. In the case of the methods I have been developing, we are able to detect down to 1-2 micrometers, which is pretty low. The impacts of microplastics are not yet understood, especially when it comes to ecosystems. Regarding human health, I suggest you read a recent review of the literature conducted by EU experts (https://www.sapea.info/topics/microplastics/), which states there is currently no evidence for human health threat while recognizing the numerous knowledge gaps. For wastewater, sludge, and landfill leachates, you can find reviews on my list of published papers. Indeed, they can act as sources of microplastics, but as I said, many other diffuse sources exist as well. I hope this helps! Best regards, Joana
Thanks a lot, Joana. Your response is helpful. In spite of so much attention particularly in the last few years for MP research, I see there are so many unanswered questions. I am aware of the document prepared by the EU experts. I will consult your research on MP contamination on sludges and landfills. I guess there is some possibility of forming floc from 1-2 um MPs in the water distribution system if the surface charge condition and divalent cations are favorable. Do you think so?
Dear Rajat, generally they get removed in the primary treatment, so it is possible. However, I recommend checking the manuscripts for the smaller particle size detected, because I do not recall if they went as low as 1 um.
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