I would be interested to know if anyone has worked with e.g. spectroscopy to determine small plastic particles.
I have been using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy to identify small (
Thank you for the answer and ref. Do you know if it would it be possible to use Raman spectroscopy as well?
I'm interested in knowing why microscopic plastic particles should be of interest, but further i want to ask whether your interest discriminates between thermosets and thermoplast fragments?
Dear Kristian
In the most recent studies, plastic particles were qualitatively determined as a specific plastic polymer by the use of FTIR (Fourier Transformation Infra Red Spectrometry) combined with a microscope.
An interesting article:
Thompson, R. C., Y. Olsen, R. P. Mitchell, A. Davis, S. J. Rowland, A. W. G. John, D. McGonigle, and A. E. Russell. 2004. Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic? Science 304:838.
Best
Dola
Thank you for the reference Dola. Azubuike, microplastics in the ocean is interesting in terms of finding out the distribution and amount in the sea and furthermore what the potential effects on marine organisms are. I would not (at least initially) discriminate between thermosets and thermoplast fragments.
I'm really sorry for being too inquisitive, but are the plastic fragments themselves more of an environmental concern than the phthalates leaching out of them over time, and their bioavailability to living organisms?
Perhaps not, but relativly little is know about the potential effects of microscopic plastic debris to my understanding.
Another name for microplastics is 'nurdles', they were featured on BBC 1's 'Bang Goes the Theory' S07E01. Also in the documentary 'Plastic Planet' (2009).
@Kristian, do you intend to retrieve these micro-plastics from organism samples or from sediment samples?
I'm in the throes of gathering information for a dissertation on plastic pollution and the pollutants they aggregate. Hidalgo- Ruz at ftp://lakeerie.ohiodnr.com/Wildlife/Fairport_Fish/gorman/Plastics/Hidalgo-Ruz_ea_2012_MethodsID.pdf
is a useful starting point for those wishing to look at different methods. Looks like a subject in need of some pretty in depth analysis !!!
Hi Kristian,
In case you are going to detect microparticles in the sediments, I may recommend to look at the paper from our current research project (see the attachment).
Another paper on a detection of microplastics in the Baltic marine water, is in preparation. I can send you few papers that deal with the same task in other parts of the world ocean.
We are very interested in collaboration in a field of the occurrence of microplastics and its influence to the marine organisms.
Article Microplastics in Baltic bottom sediments: Quantification pro...
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