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Impact of weathering on the chemical identification of microplastics from usual packaging polymers in the marine environment

Analytica Chimica Acta 2020 135 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Verónica Fernández‐González, J.M. Andrade, Verónica Fernández‐González, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Verónica Fernández‐González, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Verónica Fernández‐González, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Verónica Fernández‐González, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Verónica Fernández‐González, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Verónica Fernández‐González, Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Purificación López‐Mahía, J.M. Andrade, Purificación López‐Mahía, Verónica Fernández‐González, Verónica Fernández‐González, Verónica Fernández‐González, Verónica Fernández‐González, Verónica Fernández‐González, Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo J.M. Andrade, Verónica Fernández‐González, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Purificación López‐Mahía, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo Verónica Fernández‐González, J.M. Andrade, Soledad Muniategui‐Lorenzo

Summary

The impact of environmental weathering on the chemical identification of common microplastics was investigated, examining how UV radiation, mechanical abrasion, and microbial activity alter the spectroscopic signatures used for polymer identification. Weathered plastics were harder to correctly identify than pristine ones, highlighting the need for reference libraries that include aged material.

Polymers

HDPE LDPE PET PP PS

Most of the plastics produced worldwide are finally disposed into the environment, most of them being one-use plastic packaging. Once released, plastics may undergone degradation through several agents, such as solar radiation, mechanical forces, and microbial action. Weathered plastics and microplastics (MPs) collected from the marine environment show considerable physical and chemical differences regarding their pristine counterparts; most notably on their surface, where spectrometric measurements are done. Hence, it is crucial to consider aging for their correct identification and quantification in environmental monitoring. Five of the most common polymers employed worldwide for packaging (LDPE, HDPE, PS, PP and PET) were weathered in a pilot-scale system simulating dry and marine conditions for more than 10 weeks. Aliquots were withdrawn periodically to monitor their weathering processes by means of infrared spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy; their spectra were compared and band ratios calculated. Results showed that an individual study of each polymer is necessary since degradation pathways and products depend on the polymer type. Moreover, including spectra of weathered polymers in the spectral libraries to obtain reliable identifications in microplastics pollution studies was critical.

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