TY - JOUR A1 - Eisentraut, Paul A1 - Dümichen, Erik A1 - Ruhl, A. A1 - Jekel, M. A1 - Albrecht, M. A1 - Gehde, M. A1 - Braun, Ulrike T1 - Two Birds with One Stone-Fast and Simultaneous Analysis of Microplastics: Microparticles Derived from Thermoplastics and Tire Wear JF - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS N2 - Analysis of microplastic particles (MP) in environmental samples needs sophisticated techniques and is time intensive due to sample preparation and detection. An alternative to the most common (micro ) spectroscopic techniques, FTIR or Raman spectroscopy, are the thermoanalytical methods, where specific decomposition products can be analyzed as marker compounds for different kind of plastics types and mass contents. Thermal extraction desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TED-GC-MS) allows the fast identification and quantification of MP in environmental samples without sample preparation. Whereas up to now only the analysis of thermoplastic polymers was realized, this is the first time that even the analysis of tire wear (TW) content in environmental samples is possible. Various marker compounds for TW were identified. They include characteristic decomposition products of elastomers, antioxidants and vulcanization agents. Advantages and drawbacks of these marker substances were evaluated. Environmental samples from street run off were exemplarily investigated and presented. KW - TED-GC-MS KW - Microplastic KW - Tire wear PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00446 VL - 5 IS - 10 SP - 608 EP - 613 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-46460 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Goedecke, C. A1 - Eisentraut, Paul A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Elert, Anna Maria A1 - Bannick, C. G. A1 - Ricking, M. A1 - Obermaier, N. A1 - Barthel, A.-K. A1 - Schmitt, T. A1 - Jekel, M. A1 - Braun, U. T1 - Development of a routine screening method for the microplastic mass content in a wastewater treatment plant effluent JF - Frontiers in environmental chemistry N2 - An investigation of microplastic (MP) occurrence in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent with tertiary treatment was carried out. Representative sample volumes of 1 m3 were taken by applying a fractionated filtration method (500, 100, and 50 µm mesh sizes). The detection of MP mass fractions by thermal extraction desorption–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) was achieved without the previously required additional sample pretreatment for the first time. Different types of quantification methods for the evaluation of TED-GC/MS data were tested, and their accuracy and feasibility have been proven for real samples. Polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene were identified in effluent samples. The polymer mass content varied significantly between 5 and 50 mg m−3. A correlation between the MP load and the quantity of suspended matter in the WWTP effluents, particle size distribution, particle type, and operation day (i.e., weekday, season, and capacity) was not found. It can be concluded that a meaningful assessment of WWTPs requires a comprehensive sampling campaign with varying operation conditions. KW - Microplastic KW - Waste water treatment KW - Thermoanalytics PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550862 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvc.2022.844633 SN - 2673-4486 VL - 3 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-55086 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eitzen, L. A1 - Paul, S. A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Jekel, M. A1 - Ruhl, A. T1 - The challenge in preparing particle suspensions for aquatic microplastic research JF - Environmental research N2 - The occurrence of small particles consisting of organic polymers, so-called microplastic (MP), in aquatic Environments attracts increasing interest in both public and science. Recent sampling campaigns in surface Waters revealed substantial numbers of particles in the size range from a few micrometers to a few millimeters. In order to validate sample preparation, identification and quantification and to investigate the behavior of MP particles and potential toxic effects on organisms, defined MP model particles are needed. Many studies use spherical compounds that probably behave differently compared to irregularly shaped MP found in environmental samples. However, preparation and handling of MP particles are challenging tasks and have been systematically investigated in the present study. Polystyrene (PS) as a commonly found polymer with a density slightly above that of water was selected as polymer type for milling and fractionation studies. A cryogenic ball mill proved to be practical and effective to produce particles in the size range from 1 to 200 μm. The yield of small particles increased with increasing pre-cooling and milling durations. Depending on the concentration and the size, PS particles do not completely disperse in water and particles partly creep vertically up along glass walls. Stabilized MP suspensions without use of surfactants that might harm organisms are needed for toxicological studies. The stabilization of PS particle suspensions with ozone treatment reduced the wall effect and increased the number of dispersed PS particles but increased the dissolved organic carbon concentration and changed the size Distribution of the particles. KW - Reference material KW - Microplastic PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.09.008 SN - 0013-9351 SN - 1096-0953 VL - 168 SP - 490 EP - 495 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-46462 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -