Analysis of Microplastics using a Novel Microscopy Technique

Description:
Pollution of rivers and oceans by microplastics is spreading on a global scale, and there are concerns about the impact on living organisms. In recent years, monitoring surveys and research have been actively conducted in order to obtain scientific knowledge such as the distribution of microplastics in countries around the world. Plastics discharged into the environment become microplastics as they become brittle due to exposure to ultraviolet rays, wind and rain, and physical friction (the microplastics mentioned above are called secondary microplastics). In general, evaluation items for microplastics include observation of appearance, measurement of the number and size of microplastics, and identification of materials. Among these evaluation items, identification of materials is one of the most important items for identifying the origin of microplastics. A choice is required. Microscopic Raman spectroscopy has a smaller measurable size than microscopic infrared spectroscopy, and analysis is easier than pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The infrared Raman microscope AIRsight introduced this time is a new microscope that can perform infrared analysis and Raman analysis, which were previously performed with separate devices, by incorporating a Raman unit inside the infrared microscope. . This time, we will introduce an example of evaluating microplastics in the environment using AIRsight.