Analysis of Microplastics in Synthetic Fibers Through FT-IR Microscope

Recently, microplastics have been reported to cause increasing harm to human health through marine environmental pollution. Because microplastics are small plastic particles having a size of <5 mm, they cannot be filtered from sewage treatment facilities and, thus, are introduced into the oceans and rivers, ultimately reaching the food chain. Synthetic fibers is the primary source of recently occurring microplastic pollution. In this study, the most commonly used polyester fiber was selected, and paper, liquid, and solid detergents were used for microplastic analysis and detergent comparison. The shapes of the fibers and detergents were confirmed through optical microscope (OM). After washing, the samples were sieved through a mesh filter (47 mm), and characterized by through fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) with microscope. Many fine plastics were generated in laundry using solid and paper detergents, whereas fewer microplastics were generated using liquid detergents. Key Words: Microplastics, Polyester, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy