The prevalence of microplastics (MPs), defined as particulates between 1 μm and 5 mm, in our environment has gained increasing public attention in recent years. MPs are either directly manufactured and enter the environment through wastewater plant effluents, or produced <i>in-situ</i> via mechanical and photodegradation modes. Although the direct impacts of MPs on human health are not yet well known, their persistence in the environment likely demands more attention and systematic removal efforts. Currently, it is known that coagulation and sedimentation help to reduce the load of microplastic particles in wastewater treatment plants, but there are no standardized schemes to assess microplastic capture performance. We will present our evaluation of the potential of the adhesive poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) as a MP-capturing agent in aqueous environments, as well as our efforts to develop an observational and graphical method for characterizing the MP-capturing ability of adhesives. We expose adhesive-coated glass substrates in microplastic-filled aqueous dispersions ranging between 0.01 and 5 mg/mL. Dispersed particles included PE, PS, and nylon particles; scout studies with PET fibers were also conducted. After between 1 and 10 min of exposure, the substrates were imaged using optical microscopy and analyzed using open-source software, ImageJ, to yield data on particle count and cumulative coverage area. We will report parametric assessments from this method regarding the dependence of capture on particle concentration in solution and on interactions with other plastic species in competitive assays. Challenges with our adhesive-coated substrates and nuances of the ImageJ analysis will also be discussed.

Test method development as an objective gauge of microplastic capture using microscopic observation

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.