Analysis of microplastics in the environment

Thanks to their outstanding properties, plastics accompany us in our daily lives, whether as a toothbrush in the bathroom in the morning, in the train or car on the way to work, or when shopping in a supermarket. The most widely used types of plastic include polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), for example.

However, plastics also return to the environment – as tyre wear or thoughtlessly discarded rubbish (littering). Plastic is therefore becoming an increasingly major problem for man and nature: in the environment, the ocean and rivers, plastics break down to form microplastics, particles or plastic particulates measuring one micrometre to five millimetres in size. They contaminate the environment; their effects on flora and fauna are largely unexplored. Microplastics can also enter the food chain, and in consumer products, such as food, microplastic particles occur as foreign bodies, for example through the abrasion of packaging material.