Microplastics in the New Zealand Environment

Processes

Heon E. Park¹  Nur Atifah Mazlan¹  Lilian Lin¹ 

[1] Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand;

关键词: microplastics;    mussel;    pollution;    New Zealand environment;    marine environment;    tissue digestion;   

DOI  :  10.3390/pr10020265

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

It is a concern that microplastics have been discovered in the food sources and water that we consume. This research was to evaluate the methods to isolate microplastics from organisms and how much of the environment of New Zealand (NZ), which is one of the least polluted countries, is contaminated by microplastics. New Zealand green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) are considered to be an important product in the NZ food industry. For this reason, the existence of microplastics in these were investigated. Tarakihi fish (Nemadactylusmacropterus) consume food near the bottom of ocean, so this fish can be an indicator of the contamination of microplastics denser than water. In addition, bottled water, tap water and sea salt samples were also investigated. To isolate solid particles in an animal body, its tissues were chemically digested. It was found that 10% (w/w) potassium hydroxide (KOH) was a practical digestive protocol on biological tissues since polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) are relatively resistant to KOH. Thus, treating tissues with KOH can be considered a viable method to remove tissues and isolate microplastics. Nile red was used to stain the plastic particles from the samples for visual inspection. Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) was performed to identify the particles. It was evaluated that all those samples had traces of microplastics.

【 授权许可】

Unknown