SPECIALLY COLLECTED PAPERS
for Applications in Microplastics Analysis
Shimadzu Review 79[1・2] (2022)
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are fragments of any type of plastic between several micrometers and 5 mm in length. Due to concerns over MP pollution of marine environments and the effects of MPs on ecological systems, numerous studies are investigating the prevalence of MPs and their potentially harmful effects. The FTIR spectrometer is the most commonly used analytical instrument in these studies, though pyrolysis GC/MS (Py-GC/MS) is also reported to be effective for distinguishing between multiple types of MP in a single sample. Py-GC/MS identifies individual polymers in a mixture of MPs by detecting pyrolysis products unique to each polymer in the sample. This article reports on using Py-GC/MS to accurately identify each polymer in a mixed sample by detecting the pyrolysis products unique to each polymer. The mixed polymer sample was prepared from four types of polymer to mimic an MP sample that contains a mixture of polymers. This method could be adapted to identify and quantify an even wider range of polymers and promises to be an effective technique for MP analysis.
1Green Solution Unit, Solutions Center of Excellence, Analytical & Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan
2MS Business Unit, Life Science Business Department, Analytical & Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan
3Environmental Business Unit, Analytical & Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan
*The information contained in Shimadzu Review has not been modified since the original publication date. Please be aware that in some cases, products mentioned within the articles are no longer available.