Comparison of Laboratory Analytical Techniques for the Rapid Identification of Marine Plastics

Here we present a laboratory study that compares a range of approaches for plastics identification: XRF (X-ray fluorescence), ATR-FTIR (attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), NIR (near-infrared) reflectance spectroscopy, and LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) as a key step in developing field-going plastics sensors for studying marine debris and microplastics.

I. Introduction

Questions exist about the amount of macro and microplastics in the ocean, as well as where these plastics are located spatially (surface waters, mid-water, and/or sediments) and globally (coastal and/or deep ocean environments) [1]. Advanced sensors are needed for the rapid identification of plastics in the ocean [2]. The development of sensors capable of identifying plastics is a clearly needed step in order to move towards answering questions about the impact of marine plastics on ecosystem health [3]. A critical first step is to identify the technology or technologies that will best enable the identification of the varying types of plastic in the ocean, noting that the techniques may have advantages and disadvantages for different marine applications and environments.