icroplastics - ideals
TRANSCRIPT
ISTC: John Scott, Lee Green and Linduo Zhao
INHS: Joseph Parkos and Dave Soucek
2021 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment
April 27-28, 2021
microplastics
Source- Geyer, Roland, Jenna R. Jambeck, and Kara Lavender Law. "Production, use,
and fate of all plastics ever made." Science advances 3, no. 7 (2017): e1700782.
Living in the Age of Plastics
Creator Credit: Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni
http://www.grida.no/resources/6923
• Estimated that 8.3 billion metric tons of
plastic produced to date.
• Cumulative plastic waste generated is 6.3
billion metric tons..
Recycled9%
Incinerated12%
Acumulated79%
Current Microplastics Activities• Polymer Identification by Mass Spectrometry and Infrared
• Additives & Contaminants in Plastics
• Adsorption of Environmental Pollutants
• Weathering and Degradation of Plastic
• Development of Microplastic Analysis Methods
• Occurrence of Microplastics in Environmental Samples
Analysis of Microplastics
Wet sieve> 0.3 mm
fractionEnvironmental Sample
Wet Peroxide
Oxidation
Density
Separation
Microscope
Examination
Final Collection
on Filter
Currently 20 m X 20 m by our
method
NOAA Method ~1.2 g/cm3
Currently 1.8 g/cm3 by our
method
Scott, John, and Lee Green. "Development and Demonstration of a Superior Method for Microplastics Analysis: Improved Size Detection
Limits, Greater Density Limits, and More Informative Reporting." TR Series (Illinois Sustainable Technology Center); TR-078 (2020).
Reporting of Microplastics
1 – Particle 500 mm
10 – Particle 50 mm
Fragment Estimated Mass: 0.93 mg
Past Reporting of Microplastics is #/L or #/kg
Materials Very Weathered and Most Likely Breaking Down
during Sample Handling
This Style of Reporting Makes Use of Data and Comparisons
Impossible
Our Approach is to Estimate the Mass of Microplastics Detected
Microplastics in Fish Larvae
- Can analyze ~1000 critters in a single
composite
- Fish Larvae are more sensitive to
environmental contaminants than later
life-stages of fish
- Particle feeders
- Have high metabolism and high prey
consumption rates during their
development stages
- Access to Illinois Natural History Survey
(INHS) archived larvae fish collection (in
collaboration with Joseph Parkos and
Dave Soucek)
Preliminary Results - 1
Preliminary Results - 2
