Abstract
Separating microplastics from particulate organic matter (POM) is
challenging, particularly for polyethylene and polypropylene, which are
buoyant like POM. It is often done using a time-consuming procedure,
often with hazardous waste generation. We developed a method using a
binary solvent mixture (ethanol-water) followed by water solvation to
separate microplastics from estuarine POM and water. The isolated
microplastics were quantified and characterized using µFT-IR and SEM,
with particle sizes ranging from 30-2500 µm and percentage mass from
2.62-21.3% w/w in POM and 0.04-0.42%w/v for surface water respectively.
Different polymer types, colors, and shapes were observed. Method
recovery assessed using spiking yielded 89-93.1% and the method was
validated by visual sorting with dye staining. This simple method aligns
with Green Chemistry approaches by using ethanol, making it accessible
to researchers throughout regions of the world where plastic debris is a
major challenge but resources to study the problem are limited.