How We Measure Plastics in the Environment
We understand the need to prevent spurious contamination with exogenous microplastics.
Contamination prevention practices are inherent in what we do.
One of the co-founders of the company is the Director of the OU Clean Room facility where ultra-clean protocols are routinely implemented.
We have access to facilities that are ideally suited for microplastic analysis…
including The Raman laboratory, which consists of a Renishaw Invia Raman Microscopic spectroscopy system, a research-grade optical microscope coupled to a high-performance Raman spectrometer. Its resolution is 1 cm-1 and the spatial resolution is 1-2 µm. The imaging function allows the system to collect spatial Raman information with 250 nm step resolution across a large cm range. The cleanroom facility contains a Joel 6060 Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) imaging system capable of reaching an imaging resolution down to 50 nm. It is an ideal tool for imaging samples in micro or sub-micron sizes, particularly useful for determining the width of microplastic fibers to deduce their origin. The separate Electron Microscope Laboratory maintains a high-resolution field emission SEM system which is a powerful tool having exceptional resolution down to 1 nm level. Almost all environmental samples that are on a nanometer scale can be recorded clearly using this system. Additional Infrared tools include a Bruker Invenio Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy system. This is the newest research-grade system released from Bruker in 2018. It has the capability of scanning the wavelength range covering visible, near-infrared, infrared, and mid-infrared spectrum with a resolution as high as 0.1 cm-1. The functions include transmission, reflection, absorption, and ATR measurements.
(1) Julie Masura, Joel Baker, Gregory Foster, and Courtney Arthur, “Laboratory Methods for the Analysis of Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Recommendations for quantifying synthetic particles in waters and sediments” NOAA Marine Debris Program National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce Technical Memorandum NOS-OR&R-48, July 2015
(2) Silva, P.M. and Nanny, M.A. “Impact of Microplastic Fibers from the Degradation of Nonwoven Synthetic Textiles to the Magdalena River Water Column and River Sediments by the City of Neiva, Huila (Colombia)” Water 2020, 12, 1210; doi:10.3390/w12041210