Microplastics

Summary

Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, food packaging, and industrial processes. The term macroplastics is used to differentiate microplastics from larger plastic waste, such as plastic bottles or bigger pieces of plastics. Two classifications of microplastics are currently recognized. Primary microplastics include any plastic fragments or particles that are already 5.0 mm in size or less before entering the environment. These include microfibers from clothing, microbeads, and plastic pellets (also known as nurdles). Secondary microplastics arise from the degradation (breakdown) of larger plastic products through natural weathering processes after entering the environment. Such sources of sec

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics

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Identification and characterization of microplastics in the Lake Geneva environment

Charlotte Thérèse Bondaz

This project is set in a context of raising awareness concerning the accumulation of plastics in oceans. As opposed to the marine environment, there is a real gap of knowledge on microplastics pollution in freshwaters. In this project, the Lake Geneva environment is investigated, concentrating on the Venoge River, the lake water surface, and the “déversoir du Capelard” – a storm overflow in Lausanne. In order to get a rapid and complete method to characterize microplastics in the Lake Geneva environment, some polymer analysis tools are suggested and tested. The goals of the study are to identify the plastic debris and to characterize the oxidation state of five different polyethylene samples. The Fourier Transform Spectroscopy appears to be an acceptable solution despite some limits. DSC would require some more researches and microscopy needs a long analysis time for little information.

2015

Origine des microplastiques en eau douce

Aïdatou Sakho

Microplastics in freshwater are becoming of emerging concerns. In Switzerland, some recent studies reveals the microplastics pollution of Swiss lakes and rivers. The aim of the present study is to improve the understanding of the origins of this pollution. The process used was a reviewing of litterature, a field work on the riversides of the Venoge and an analysis of some body care products. Plastics found on the riversides were analysed by infrared spectroscopy FT-IR. The analysis of the body care products permits to evaluate how much quantity of PE they reject in the environment. Actually, PE is the main plastic found in cosmetics. The majority of the plastics found were PP, PS and PE which are also the main components of food wrappers and food containers. Therefore, the consumers seems to be the main responsibles of the pollution. Waste waters are the second most important source of microplastics in freshwaters

2015

2018