As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series, Jacob de Boer, Professor Emeritus, Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, Vrije University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, will present: Microplastics in the environment and pitfalls in their analysis.
This
event
will
be
offered
in
person
on
the
University
of
Waterloo
campus
in
DC
1302
followed
by
a
reception
from
3:30-5:00p.m.
During
the
last
decade,
the
presence
of
plastics
in
the
environment
has
received
a
lot
of
attention.
There
is
a
steep
increase
in
the
number
of
scientific
papers
on
plastics
in
the
environment
and
on
microplastics
(MP)
in
particular.
In
Europe
research
funding
from
the
EU
but
also
from
industry
has
been
redirected
to
the
topic
of
(micro)plastics.
Although
data
on
microplastics
are
rapidly
coming
available,
there
is
often
serious
doubt
on
the
quality
of
hose
data.
Different
from
the
analysis
of
chemical
contaminants,
there
is
also
a
physical
component
in
the
MP
analysis.
That
enables
e.g.,
the
option
of
counting
particles.
However,
it
also
causes
a
wide
variety
of
methods
being
used,
of
which
the
mutual
comparability
is
uncertain.
One
important
aspect
in
the
harmonization
of
MP
analysis
is
homogeneity.
This
is
a
problem
in
the
preparation
of
(certified)
matrix
reference
materials
for
MPs,
but
also
in
sampling.
Insufficient
attention
to
proper
sampling
can
lead
to
severe
over-
or
underestimations
of
MP
concentrations.
Other
pitfalls
are
in
specific
methods
used
for
MP
analysis
such
as
pyrolysis-GC/MS.
Although
offering
accurate
MP
concentration
data
together
with
the
identification
of
many
polymer
species,
chemical
reactions
during
the
analysis
can
seriously
confound
the
final
output.
International
interlaboratory
studies
are
currently
ongoing,
as
well
as
several
harmonization
projects,
which
will
hopefully
lead
to
a
better
comparability
of
MP
data.
In
addition
to
the
analytical
difficulties,
MP
data
in
several
European
surface
waters
will
be
shown
and
discussed.