A new approach in separating microplastics from environmental samples based on their electrostatic behavior

Felsing, Stefanie; Kochleus, Christian; Buchinger, Sebastian; Brennholt, Nicole; Stock, Friederike; Reifferscheid, Georg

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.013

Cited by 203 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Moreover, for large sediment samples, the use of an electrostatic separator is proposed to separate the nonpolymeric matrix by up to 90% [165]. Particles are transported through an electric field (up to 30 kV) and polymers, which present low electrical conductivity, separate from the conductive matrix.…”

Section: Separation Of Mps From the Inorganic Matrixmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Environments: A Review, Focusing on Interactions with Sediments and Benthic Organisms

et al. 2020

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Plastic is one of the most commonly produced and used materials in the world due to its outstanding features. However, the worldwide use of plastics and poor waste management have led to negative impacts on ecosystems. Plastic degradation in the environment leads to the generation of plastic particles with a size of <5 mm, which are defined as microplastics (MPs). These represent a global concern due to their wide dispersion in water environments and unclear potential ecotoxicological effects. Different studies have been performed with the aim of evaluating the presence and impacts of MPs in the marine environment. However, the presence of MPs in freshwater systems is still poorly investigated, making data retrieval a difficult task. The purpose of this review is to identify the main aspects concerning MPs pollution sources in lakes and rivers, with a focus on freshwater sediments as a site of accumulation and as the habitat of benthic organisms, which are key components of food webs and play a fundamental role in energy/contaminant transfer processes, but are still poorly considered. Through this review, the sources and fate of MPs in freshwater are analysed, ecotoxicological studies focused on sediments and benthic fauna are exposed, the most frequently used sampling and analysis strategies are reported, and future trends of MPs analysis in this field are proposed.

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Section: Separation Of Mps From the Inorganic Matrixmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Environments: A Review, Focusing on Interactions with Sediments and Benthic Organisms

et al. 2020

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“…Once samples are collected, separation of the plastic fraction from the non-plastic fraction is needed. These methods use the differences between plastics and materials common in the environment to separate microplastic from aqueous, sedimentary, or mixed samples [19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Sampling Of Microplastic Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Microplastic Pollution in the Environment and Emerging Recycling Solutions

Reimonn¹,

Lu²,

Gandhi³

et al. 2019

Journal of Renewable Materials

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Microplastic pollution represents a side-effect stemming from a global plastic waste mismanagement problem and includes degraded particles or mass produced plastic particles less than 5 mm in largest dimension. The small nature of microplastics gives this area of pollution different environmental concerns than general plastic waste in the environment. The biological toxicity of particles, their internal components, and their surface level changes all present opportunities for these particles to adversely affect the environment around them. Thus, it is necessary to review the current literature surrounding this topic and identify areas where the study of microplastic can be pushed forward. Here we present current methods in studying microplastics, some of the ways by which microplastics affect the environment and attempt to shed light on how this research can continue. In addition, we review current recycling methods developing for the processing of mixed-plastic waste. These methods, including hydrothermal processing and solvent extraction, provide a unique opportunity to separate plastic waste and improve the viability of the plastics recycling industry.

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“…Current limitations in the field of microplastics (MP) extraction from complex matrices foster the development of, and search for, new approaches. Electrostatic separation is one of the techniques that has recently been proposed by Felsing et al (2018) for MP purification of different sample matrices, ranging from beach sand to more complex matrices like freshwater suspended particulate matter and freshwater sediments. In their study, a set of six different commodity polymers were tested at four different size ranges (2-5 mm, 0.63-2 mm, 200-630 µm and 63-200 µm) using a Korona-Walzen-Scheider (KWS-XS, Hamos GmbH) and yielded recovery rates of 90-100%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Electrostatic Separation of Microplastics From Mineral-Rich Environmental Samples

Enders

Tagg

Labrenz

2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Reliable, easy, cost-effective and reproducible ways of extracting microplastics (MP) from environmental samples remain important requirements for MP research. In this context, electrostatic separation is a new proposition, especially for extracting MP from mineral-rich samples and large sample volumes. However, there is little research evaluating the reliability of the technique. This study has evaluated the effectiveness of the Korona-Walzen-Scheider (KWS) system; a small-scale version of larger machines designed to sort recycling materials. Recovery rates of a variety of sizes of MP, spiked in beach sediments, were found to be highly dependent on the MP size. MP ≥ 2 mm achieved 99-100% recovery (with the exception of fibers: ∼80%), MP of 63-450 µm achieved ∼60-95% recovery and MP of 20 µm achieved ∼45% recovery. For particle-based analysis, additional density separation is still inevitable for the analysis of small MP after KWS separation and further reduces the overall recovery rates. Mass reduction rates of beach and commercial reference sand greatly differed, 93 and 17%, respectively. Mineral analysis using SEM-EDX suggested that lower reduction rates found in commercial sand was due to high presence of small (<50 µm) calcite particles. Tests based on environmental soil samples revealed comparatively low mass reduction rates (∼1%), suggesting that KWS treatment was inefficient for soils due to high levels of fine particulates. Sieving to remove fine particles improved mass reduction, though only to ∼15%. To specifically test for influence of fine particulates, recovery rates were determined for sand samples spiked with a defined amount of silicate dust, resulting in a reduction of certain MP recovery rates, especially medium-sized (450 µm) MP. Conclusively, several key influential parameters were identified, such as mineral composition and grain size, that can negatively effect sediment mass reduction as well as MP recovery rates. Given the variability in recovery rates, the use of internal standards is recommended when using the KWS, particularly for smaller MP (<500 µm). For largevolume (beach) sand samples, where interest is mainly in MP > 450 µm, electrostatic separation is a reliable and fast approach for MP extraction from the environment.

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A new approach in separating microplastics from environmental samples based on their electrostatic behavior

Cited by 203 publications

References 34 publications

Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Environments: A Review, Focusing on Interactions with Sediments and Benthic Organisms

Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Environments: A Review, Focusing on Interactions with Sediments and Benthic Organisms

Review of Microplastic Pollution in the Environment and Emerging Recycling Solutions

Evaluation of Electrostatic Separation of Microplastics From Mineral-Rich Environmental Samples

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