We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
A novel simplified method for extraction of microplastic particles from face scrub and laundry wastewater
Summary
Researchers developed a simplified extraction method for collecting microplastics from face scrubs and laundry wastewater, achieving about 94% recovery efficiency while being faster and less resource-intensive than existing approaches. Applied to 12 commercial face scrubs, the method confirmed the presence of microplastic beads and microfibers in personal care product wastewater.
Microplastic pollution in different environmental matrices is a serious concern in the recent times. Personal care products and washing of synthetic fabrics are some of the main sources of microplastic pollution. In this work, a novel simplified, effective and sustainable method for extraction of microplastic particles from face scrub and laundry wastewater was developed. Different parameters affecting the extraction were analysed and the extraction process was optimised. The extraction efficiency of the proposed method was found to be ~ 94.1 ± 1.65%, which was slightly better than the previously available method with an advantage of ease in extraction and lesser time and resource consuming. The developed method was used to demonstrate the extraction of microplastic particles from 12 face scrub samples with different brands. It was found that the samples contained microplastic particles of varying size. The physical and chemical structure intactness of microplastic particles during the extraction was also analysed and found to be acceptable. The developed extraction method was also applied for the extraction of microfibers from the laundry wastewater. It was found that this proposed method is suitable to make the cleaner extracted samples for an easy and more effective qualitative and quantitative analysis of MPs.