About This Project

Microplastic analysis is a very time-consuming procedure while smaller-sized plastics (<300 microns) can mostly not be detected with the methodology applied such as FTIR. To speed up the data analysis and detect microplastics down to a size of 20 microns we aim with this project to provide an open-science laboratory protocol suited for high throughput microplastic analysis with a Laser Directed Infrared Imaging system (LDIR).

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What is the context of this research?

Today, we have very little knowledge about smaller-sized microplastics (<300 microns) and their impact on the environment. Current data analysis for small microplastics is very time-consuming, sometimes taking months to observe using (FTIR). With high throughput LDIR analysis, which will observe particles down to 20 microns, it will be possible to collect data on microplastics in a matter of hours. In addition, it will also allow us to perform a complete analysis of the collected samples and not only a partial analysis which has been the standard used by most researchers due to time constraints.

What is the significance of this project?

The analysis of smaller-sized plastics is very time-consuming and can mostly not be detected with the methodology applied such as FTIR. With the LDIR system, we will be able to analyze microplastics with sizes down to 20 microns, in a high-throughput fashion (up to about 750 particles can be measured within hours instead of weeks!). With this approach, we avoid the problem that data is always published much too late (years later!) and we are lagging behind with numbers that are being needed now! To do so, an open-source laboratory protocol will be developed to provide the scientific community with new methods to work with the LDIR system for smaller-sized microplastics.

What are the goals of the project?

The goal of the project is to elaborate a new open-source high-throughput laboratory protocol for the LDIR system, based on existing LDIR protocols for plastic analysis by testing different parameters for the organic material digestion (e.g. peroxide, base/acid, or enzymes) and different LDIR settings to analyze particles from 5mm-20 microns at once. This will speed up the study and will allow complete analysis of the collected samples. as opposed to normal analysis using FTIR, which takes up to months, with only about 10-20% of the collected samples being analyzed. The protocol will be published in a scientific journal and on our website to make it available to everyone.