Many analytical techniques are capable of quantifying microplastics and those larger than 20µm can be analysed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy on a count-based method.
It is impossible to analyse microplastics smaller than 20µm using these optical methods. Pyrolysis GCMS however can be used for these smaller sample sizes as it has no size limit and has the advantage that it can analyse multiple microplastics in a single analysis under 40 minutes.
A CDS application note describing the analysis of six of the most commonly found microplastics using the CDS 6000 series pyrolyser is available from Analytix. Four types of shellfish were analysed along with six microplastic standards. Quantification of the microplastics found that the shellfish contained polyethylene and polypropylene exceeding 80% of the total microplastic amount with ranges from 1µg/g to 15µg/g.
For further information or a copy of the application note call +44 (0) 191 519 4504 or click below.
For more information, click here.
