Sensing the interaction of living organisms with microplastics by microscopy methods

Abstract

Environmental pollution by microplastics (MPs) represents a serious burden of the 21 st century. Sensing the interactions of photosynthetic organisms with MPs is based on the study of their endogenous fluorescence derived from chlorophylls. Fluorescently labelled custom-made MPs were tested. We also recorded endogenous fluorescence of the moss in the presence of "naturally-occurring" MPs (polyethylene content of 2 mg/g, non fluorescent) in suspended matter (SM) from the river Rhine. Performed experiments evaluated the distribution of the MPs, as well as the sensitivity of endogenous fluorescence of chlorophylls to their presence. Understanding the interaction of living organisms with MPs will help to assess the impact of this environmental pollution and eventually to propose new approaches for its removal from water sources.