- Title
- Collecting microplastics in gardens: case study (ii) from ropes
- Creator
- Sobhani, Zahra; Luo, Yunlong; Gibson, Christopher T.; Tang, Youhong; Naidu, Ravi; Fang, Cheng
- Relation
- Environmental Technology & Innovation Vol. 26, no. 102322
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2022.102322
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- The characterisation of microplastics is still a challenge. To avoid the “false” characterisation and to increase the signal-noise ratio, we employ Raman imaging to scan the sample surface and generate a Raman spectrum matrix. We then simultaneously map several characteristic peaks to generate several images in parallel, akin to image at multi-channels, to cross-check and visualise the microplastics, via a logic-based algorithm. For comparison, we also employ a principal component analysis (PCA)-based algorithm to automatically decode the Raman spectrum matrix to map an image, not from the individual peaks, but from whole set of the PCA spectrum, meaning a much higher signal-noise ratio and image certainty. Due to the increased signal-noise ratio, we are able to apply this characterisation protocol to directly capture and identify microplastics in our gardens, such as from the plastic ropes used to hang a swing or a ladder for children to play, without any sample preparation. We estimate that at least 6280 microplastics have been released from a nylon rope in 10 years, due to ageing and weathering. We recommend to use polypropylene (PP) rope, rather than nylon rope, and to change the plastic ropes within 10 years.
- Subject
- Microplastics; Raman imaging; Logic-based algorithm; PCA-based algorithm; Garden; Rope
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1458965
- Identifier
- uon:45549
- Identifier
- ISSN:2352-1864
- Rights
- © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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