SIM-QPla: Quantum leap in microplastics analysis

We encounter plastics in numerous areas of our lives and are often making use of their positive properties. One example is medicine, where plastics are used because of their high sterility. However, we also increasingly encounter plastics in problematic contexts, namely whenever plastic waste ends up in the environment. Plastic is very durable under normal environmental conditions and decomposes through chemical-physical or microbiological processes into smaller and smaller particles: microplastics. According to the current state of research, the effects on flora and fauna, and on humans, are not yet foreseeable. Initial studies show that effects on living organisms are size-dependent and that it is the smallest particles of <10µm that can be absorbed. In addition, the quantities of microplastics in the environment, especially for the size range of 1-10 µm, have not been recorded so far. It is assumed that compared to large particles, the smaller particles occur most frequently. The sources of microplastics entering the environment also include industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants, which cannot filter out the particles completely.

The SIM-QPla research project therefore focuses on treated wastewater that is discharged into the environment.

Currently, the detection and analysis of microplastic particles in water is mainly based on MIR spectroscopy. Here, the absorption of light in the mid-infrared range (MIR) by plastic particles is used to detect and classify the small particles. The problem is that the measuring devices required for this are too large and not robust enough to be mobile and used on a large scale. As a result, sampling and analysis are comparatively costly.