Plastic Pieces Research Articles

SEM/EDS and optical microscopy analyses of microplastics in ocean trawl and fish guts

Microplastic particles from Atlantic and Pacific Ocean trawls, lab-fed fish guts and ocean fish guts have been characterized using optical microscopy and SEM/EDS in terms of size, morphology, and chemistry. We assessed whether these measurements could serve as a rapid screening process for subsequent identification of the likely microplastic candidates by micro-spectroscopy. Optical microscopy enabled morphological classification of the types of particles or fibers present in the sample, as well as the quantification of particle size ranges and fiber lengths. SEM/EDS analysis was used to rule out non-plastic particles and screen the prepared samples for potential microplastic, based on their element signatures and surface characteristics. Chlorinated plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) could be easily identified with SEM/EDS due to their unique elemental signatures including chlorine, as could mineral species that are falsely identified as plastics by optical microscopy. Particle morphology determined by optical microscopy and SEM suggests the fish ingested particles contained both degradation fragments from larger plastic pieces and also manufactured microplastics. SEM images of microplastic particle surfaces revealed characteristic cracks consistent with environmental exposure, as well as pigment particles consistent with manufactured materials. Most of the microplastic surfaces in the fish guts and ocean trawls were covered with biofilms, radiolarians, and crustaceans. Many of the fish stomachs contained micro-shell pieces which visually resembled microplastics.

Beach litter sourcing: A trawl along the Northern Ireland coastline

Fourteen non-recreational coastal locations in Northern Ireland were investigated as to whether beach litter deposition was related to seasonal or site specific factors. Litter items were counted in 100m width transects and 1km strand-line surveys over a five-season period (autumn to autumn). Survey sites comprised fishing ports; estuarine areas, north (high energy) and east coast (low energy) beaches. Fishing ports accumulated the most litter. In the 100m beach surveys, plastics, string and cord, bottle caps, food items, rope, and drink containers dominated. In strand-line surveys, large plastic pieces were dominant, followed by rope, string and cord, strapping bands (absent on beach surveys), cloth, wood (mainly pallets, fish boxes) and metal items. Multivariate analyses revealed major litter category differences between the ports and all other sites, with a lesser distinction between exposed and estuarine sites. There was no simple coastline trend and no apparent effect of seasonality between samples.

Through the sands of time: Beach litter trends from nine cleaned north cornish beaches

Marine litter and its accumulation on beaches is an issue of major current concern due to its significant environmental and economic impacts. Yet our understanding of spatio-temporal trends in beach litter and the drivers of these trends are currently limited by the availability of robust long term data sets. Here we present a unique data set collected systematically once a month, every month over a six year period for nine beaches along the North Coast of Cornwall, U.K. to investigate the key drivers of beach litter in the Bude, Padstow and Porthcothan areas. Overall, an average of 0.02 litter items m−2 per month were collected during the six year study, with Bude beaches (Summerleaze, Crooklets and Widemouth) the most impacted (0.03 ± 0.004 litter items m−2 per month). The amount of litter collected each month decreased by 18% and 71% respectively for Padstow (Polzeath, Trevone and Harlyn) and Bude areas over the 6 years, possibly related to the regular cleaning, however litter increased by 120% despite this monthly cleaning effort on the Padstow area beaches. Importantly, at all nine beaches the litter was dominated by small, fragmented plastic pieces and rope fibres, which account for 32% and 17% of all litter items collected, respectively. The weathered nature of these plastics indicates they have been in the marine environment for an extended period of time. So, whilst classifying the original source of these plastics is not possible, it can be concluded they are not the result of recent public littering. This data highlights both the extent of the marine litter problem and that current efforts to reduce littering by beach users will only tackle a fraction of this litter. Such information is vital for developing effective management strategies for beach and marine litter at both regional and global levels.

Know your ocean. Love your ocean.

I was woken in the middle of the night by a thud on the hull of our boat. We rushed up on deck to find we were surrounded by pieces of plastic floating in the ocean. It didn’t make any sense. We were over 1000 miles from land. The closest people to us were in the International Space Station, in orbit above our heads. And yet here was evidence of human life, and waste, all around us in one of the most remote parts of our planet.

3D-Printed Beam Splitter for Polar Neutral Molecules

We describe a macroscopic beam splitter for polar neutral molecules. A complex electrode structure is required for the beam splitter which would be very difficult to produce with traditional manufacturing methods. Instead, we make use of a nascent manufacturing technique: 3D printing of a plastic piece, followed by electroplating. This fabrication method opens a plethora of avenues for research, since 3D printing imposes practically no limitations on possible shapes, and the plating produces chemically robust, conductive construction elements with an almost free choice of surface material; it has the added advantage of dramatically reduced production cost and time. Our beam splitter is an electrostatic hexapole guide that smoothly transforms into two bent quadrupoles. We demonstrate the correct functioning of this device by separating a supersonic molecular beam of ND3 into two correlated fractions. It is shown that this device can be used to implement experiments with differential detection wherein one of the fractions serves as a probe and the other as a reference. Reverse operation would allow to merging of two beams of neutral polar molecules.

Biodegration of BPA and HHCB from Waste Water by Multi-Stage Biofilm Processes

The removal of bisphenol A and 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethylcyclopenta[γ]2-benzopyran (HHCB), which both are widely used chemicals and known endocrine disrupters, was studied applying two biofilm processes. One of the processes was a rotating bed biofilm process (RBBR) in which waste water and small plastic pieces were rotated in cylindrical reactors by air supply. The plastic pieces served as a carrier material for biofilm as the other process, fixed bed reactor (FBR) applied wood chips. RBBR was fed with municipal waste water and FBR with artificial gray water. Preliminary results show that both experiment setups remove efficiently BOD, COD and suspended solids from waste water. BPA and HHCB were added to municipal waste water and artificial gray water to study their removal in RBBR and FBR. In RBBR, BPA removal was 10 – 29 % in the first stage and 68 – 83 % in the second stage. HHCB was removed 3 – 4 % in the first stage and 70 – 79 % in the second stage of RBBR. In FBR, the first stage removed 31 – 97 % of BPA and the second stage 80 – 100 %. 84 – 95 % and 96 – 99 % of HHCB was removed in the first and second stage, respectively. However, the percentage of removed BPA and HHCB decreased over the course of time, which refers to adsorption and saturation of BPA and HHCB to wood chips at the beginning of BPA and HHCB addition. The experiments will be continued and adaptation of microbial is expected in the latter stages of the setups. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis is applied to study differences in bacteria and fungi diversities in different steps of the multi-stage RBBR and FBR. In future, also 454 pyrosequencing will be applied.

Simple and convenient analytical method for the direct determination of chlorine species by ETV-ICP-AES using tungsten boat furnace vaporiser and exchangeable small sample cuvettes

A tungsten boat furnace vaporiser and an exchangeable sample cuvette system were applied for the direct determination of chlorine in plastic samples by electrothermal vaporisation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Each piece of plastic samples was moulded into a thin film, and weighed into small sample cuvettes. An ethanolic solution of the modifier potassium hydroxide and an organic solvent were added to each sample cuvette. The contents including the plastic piece were spread over the bottom of each sample cuvette by warming on a hotplate. After the preparation, one of the cuvettes was placed in the tungsten boat furnace equipped with the electrothermal vaporiser. The temperature was gradually elevated. At the flash vaporisation step of 1800 °C, the analyte was vaporised and introduced into the ICP to measure an atomic emission assignable to Cl I 134.724 nm. A widely spread thin layer of the plastic facilitated its rapid evaporation and introduction into an ICP atomic emission spectrometer. Since all the chlorine species were on-furnace decomposed to form potassium chloride during the pretreatment, the solid samples were analysed using a calibration curve prepared from the aqueous standard solutions. By using this system, a detection limit of 1.5 μg g−1 of chlorine in solid plastic samples was established when a sample amount taken of 2 mg was studied. The exchangeable sample cuvette technique makes it possible to measure a number of sample sequentially by preparing a lot of sample cuvettes prior to analysis. Approximately 20 batches could be vaporised per hour. Analytical results of some plastic samples that were analysed by this technique are given in this report.

Plastic in Cassin's Auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) from the 2014 stranding on the Northeast Pacific Coast

Oceanic plastic debris found in the digestive tracts of seabirds includes industrial plastic pellets and post-consumer user plastics. We examined whether the amount and type of plastic ingested by Cassin's Auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) is changing by surveying the stomach contents of 171 Cassin's Auklets stranded along the Washington and Oregon coasts in 2014. We found that 41.5% of the birds contained plastic in their ventriculi, similar to values from the North Subarctic Pacific reported in the 1980s. Industrial pellets were found in 22.8% of our samples, and accounted for 28.1% of all the plastic pieces found. Industrial pellets tended to be larger than pieces of user plastic and accounted for 40.2% of total plastic weight. These industrial pellets were significantly smaller than those found in other species, suggesting either that Cassin's Auklets selected smaller plastic particles or that plastic was retained in ventriculi and worn down.

Size and dynamics of microplastic in gastrointestinal tracts of Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) and Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna grisea)

We found microplastic in 89.5% of 143 Northern Fulmars from 2008 to 2013 and 64% of 25 Sooty Shearwaters in 2011–2012 that were found dead or stranded on Oregon and Washington beaches. Average plastic loads were 19.5 pieces and 0.461g for fulmars and 13.3 pieces and 0.335g for shearwaters. Pre-manufactured plastic pellets accounted for 8.5% of fulmar and 33% of shearwater plastic pieces. In both species, plastic in proventriculi averaged 2–3mm larger in greatest dimension than in ventriculi. Intestinal plastic in fulmars averaged 1mm less in greatest dimension than ventricular plastic. There was no significant reduction in pieces or mass of plastic in 33 fulmars held for a median of seven days in a plastic-free environment. Three fulmars that survived to be released from rehabilitation regurgitated plastic, which provided an alternative outlet for elimination of plastic and requires reassessment of the dynamics of plastic in seabird gastrointestinal tracts.

Evaluation of Some Attractive Materials and Application Control Methods on the Efficacy of Certain Pesticides Against Monacha cartusiana Snail Under Field Conditions in Sharkia Governorate.

The effect of attractive materials and several application control methods of poisonous baits on the efficacy of Agrinate and Gastrotox against Monacha cartusiana snail were studied under field conditions. Results revealed that sugarcane syrup had the upper hand in increasing reduction percentages of M. cartusiana followed by (mixture of sugarcane syrup with yeast) and Birell syrup (barley syrup) while the yeast alone had the lowest reduction percentage. Regarding to the evaluation of three application control methods of poisonous baits for (Gastrotox and Agrinate) it gave different results. The hand sowing of Gastrotox is the best method followed by stack under plant while application on plastic pieces has the lowest reduction percentages. Conversely, application of Agrinate on plastic pieces gave the highest reduction percentage while hand sowing was the lowest one. Finally it cloud be recommended that application of Agrinate (prepared bait) on plastic pieces and hand sowing of Gastrotox (ready baits)were the best methods for controlling land snail under field conditions.

Microplastics in the Southern Ocean

A field survey to collect microplastics with sizes <5mm was conducted in the Southern Ocean in 2016. We performed five net-tows and collected 44 pieces of plastic. Total particle counts of the entire water column, which is free of vertical mixing, were computed using the surface concentration (particle count per unit seawater volume) of microplastics, wind speed, and significant wave height during the observation period. Total particle counts at two stations near Antarctica were estimated to be in the order of 100,000pieceskm−2.

The cotton buds beach: Marine litter assessment along the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy following the marine strategy framework directive criteria

We assessed the annual accumulation rates of beach litter on the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy, providing the characterization of litter following European standardized guidelines. Three different sites of a beach were sampled seasonally from spring 2014 to winter 2015. A total of 31,739 items were removed and classified into 103 categories. Plastic represented the majority (94.4%) of the collected items. We detected temporal and spatial differences in the abundance and composition of litter between seasons and between sites. Furthermore, we found that plastic cotton bud sticks composed >30% of the total amount of litter and, together with plastic and polystyrene pieces, made up >70% of the total items. Finally, our results led us to propose that the most effective strategy to reduce litter pollution is to devise specific management procedures focusing on the most abundant items.

Presence of plastic particles in waterbirds faeces collected in Spanish lakes

Plastic intake by marine vertebrates has been widely reported, but information about its presence in continental waterfowl is scarce. Here we analyzed faeces of waterbirds species (European coot, Fulica atra, mallard, Anas platyrhynchos and shelduck, Tadorna tadorna) for plastic debris in five wetlands in Central Spain. We collected 89 faeces of shelduck distributed in four lakes, 43.8% of them presented plastic remnants. Sixty percent of 10 faeces of European coot and 45% of 40 faeces of mallard contained plastic debris. Plastic debris found was of two types, threads and fragments, and were identified as remnants of plastic objects used in agricultural fields surrounding the lakes. Differences in prevalence of plastic in faeces, number of plastic pieces per excrement and size of the plastic pieces were not statistically significant between waterfowl species. Thus, our results suggest that plastic may also be frequently ingested by waterfowl in continental waters, at least in our study area. Future studies should address this potential problem for waterbird conservation in other wetlands to evaluate the real impact of this pollutant on waterbirds living in inland water.

Evaluating gonio-appearance in advanced printing materials with quality control procedures and instrumentation used for automotive coatings

The future and current digital economy and society is based on the perceptual choice by the consumer of many real objects (cards, cosmetics, toys, etc.), but increasingly from digital simulations with a great photorealism. Due to the existence on the market of new and sophisticated gonio-apparent pigments, with aesthetic and physic-chemical aspects changing according to the illumination and observation directions, nowadays, it is a current great challenge the simulation on digital media (displays, virtual reality, printing technologies), of objects, with different shape and size, with the maximum perceptual realism. Regarding printing technologies, above all multi-channel and 3D printing technologies, needs to be checked the actual and future capacities to be used in the automotive sector in order to get more colored plastic pieces (add-on parts for the car body) with the same or better aesthetic and physic-chemical features. In this contribution, we will provide a general overview of a recent funded Spanish project called ADIREVGAO (Advanced DIgital REproduction of Visual Gonio-Appearance of Objects) for three years. One of the main goals of this project is to go into detail about the reproduction capabilities of the gonio-appearance on several printing technologies, above all on multichannel inkjet and 3D printing (additive manufacturing, FDM technology). Only the interplay of concepts and terminology (gonio-appearance, measurement geometries, etc.), in addition to available commercial instruments, color &amp; texture quality control by models, and the characterization techniques, and guidelines for testing gonio-apparent 3D printed materials, will be shown in this work.

Changes in the Floating Plastic Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea in Relation to the Distance to Land.

The composition, size distribution, and abundance of floating plastic debris in surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea were analyzed in relation to distance to land. We combined data from previously published reports with an intensive sampling in inshore waters of the Northwestern Mediterranean. The highest plastic concentrations were found in regions distant from from land as well as in the first kilometer adjacent to the coastline. In this nearshore water strip, plastic concentrations were significantly correlated with the nearness to a coastal human population, with local areas close to large human settlements showing hundreds of thousands of plastic pieces per km2. The ratio of plastic to plankton abundance reached particularly high values for the coastal surface waters. Polyethylene, polypropylene and polyamides were the predominant plastic polymers at all distances from coast (86 to 97% of total items), although the diversity of polymers was higher in the 1-km coastal water strip due to a higher frequency of polystyrene or polyacrylic fibers. The plastic size distributions showed a gradual increase in abundance toward small sizes indicating an efficient removal of small plastics from the surface. Nevertheless, the relative abundance of small fragments (< 2 mm) was higher within the 1-km coastal water strip, suggesting a rapid fragmentation down along the shoreline, likely related with the washing ashore on the beaches. This study constitutes a first attempt to determine the impact of plastic debris in areas closest to Mediterranean coast. The presence of a high concentration of plastic including tiny plastic items could have significant environmental, health and economic impacts.

A new hybrid method for demoldability analysis of discrete geometries

In this paper, a new method for demoldability automatic analysis of parts to be manufactured in plastic injection is presented. The algorithm analysis is based on the geometry of the plastic part, which is discretized by a triangular mesh, posing a hybrid discrete demoldability analysis of both the mesh nodes and facets. A first preprocessing phase classifies mesh nodes according to their vertical dimension, assigning each node a plane perpendicular to the given parting direction. By selective projection of facets, closed contours which serve as the basis for calculating the demoldability of the nodes are created. The facets are then cataloged according to demoldability nodes that comprise demoldable, non-demoldable and semi-demoldable facets. Those facets listed as semi-demoldable are fragmented into demoldable and non-demoldable polygonal regions, causing a redefinition of the original mesh as a new virtual geometry. Finally, non-demoldable areas are studied by redirecting the mesh in the direction of the sliding side, and again applying the processing algorithm and cataloging nodes and facets. Resoluble areas of the piece through mobile devices in the mold are obtained. The hybrid analysis model (nodes and facets) takes advantage of working with a discrete model of the plastic part (nodes), supplemented by creating a new virtual geometry (new nodes and facets) that complements the original mesh, providing the designer not only with information about the geometry of the plastic piece but also information on their manufacture, exactly like a CAE tool. The geometry of the part is stored in arrays with information about their manufacture for use in downstream applications.

Utilization of Waste Plastic Materials in Road Construction

Plastics are user friendly but not eco-friendly as they are non biodegradable. Generally it is disposed by way of land filling or incineration of materials which is extremely risky. This waste plastic can be partially mixed with material use for road construction. In conventional road making process bitumen is used as binder. Such bitumen can be modified with waste plastic pieces. This waste plastic modified bitumen mix shows better binding property, stability, density and more resistant to water. Worldwide use of waste material in road construction is being increasingly encouraged so as to reduce environmental impact. The use of this innovative technology will strengthen the road construction and increase the road life as well as will help to utilization of waste plastic material. Plastic roads would be a blessing for hot and extremely humid climate, where temperatures normally cross 50°C and abundant rains create damage, leaving most of the roads with big potholes. The main aim of this study is to focus on using the available waste/recycled plastic materials and waste rubber tires present in abundant that can be used economically and conveniently. Using this technique for road construction proves ecofriendly, economical and use of plastic will also give strength in the sub-base course of the pavement.

PENGUKURAN PANJANG PLASTIK ROL BERBASIS MIKROKONTROLLER AT Mega 8535

The development of a microcontroller system in the control system more advanced, more and enable people to perform the control of a device automatically without a computer device. This makes the control systems in various industries increasingly easy and cheap. In this study will be made of plastic cutting machine control system roll sensor-based optocoupler. This tool uses two dc motors, one as a driver to roll up the plastic so that the plastic to form a roll (a roll), and other dc motor to move the heater (seal) and cutter. For the heating process (seals) used a wire niklin while cutting process using a saw blade. Untukmenentukan long pieces of plastic then used an optocoupler sensor and microcontroller ATmega16 as the main control center.Kata kunci : Mikrokontroller AT Mega 8535

Contaminants in the Urban Environment: Microplastics

Plastic, plastic everywhere! We live in a world where we are surrounded by plastic: from packaging materials and cutlery to plastic appliances and medical devices. Since the mid-twentieth century, plastic has been a boon to humanity and an integral part of our modern lives. However, plastic debris is a major concern due to its abundance and persistence in the environment. Plastic contaminants not only include plastic debris characterized by large size but also small pieces of plastic in the millimeter size range; these inconspicuous “microplastics” have become a major concern because of their widespread presence in different environments and diverse organisms. This 6-page fact sheet discusses the sources of microplastics, their effects on the environment, and ways to minimize microplastics pollution and exposure. Written by Yun-Ya Yang, Ignacio A. Rodriquez, Maia McGuire, and Gurpal S. Toor, and published by the Soil and Water Science Department, December 2015. SL435/SS649: Contaminants in the Urban Environment: Microplastics (ufl.edu)

Construction of Fluorescent Cellulose Biobased Plastics and their Potential Application in Anti-Counterfeiting Banknotes

Development of natural polymer biobased materials that are light responsive is very useful for industrial production and our lives for a sustainable world. In this work, on the basis of the strong hydrogen bonding interaction between cellulose chains and conjugated dye molecules, fluorescent cellulose biobased plastics are fabricated successfully by hot-pressing rhodamine B-loaded and/or fluorescein-loaded cellulose hydrogels, which are prepared in an aqueous 4.6 wt% LiOH/15 wt% urea solution pre-cooled to –12 °C. The experimental results indicate that the fluorescent dye molecules are tightly fixed into the cellulose matrix through the capturing of cellulose to the hydroxyl and amino groups of rhodamine B and fluorescein. The fluorescent cellulose biobased plastics exhibit good thermal stability, excellent mechanical properties, and photoluminescence properties, with a significant fluorescent signal under UV fluorescent light. It is not hard to imagine that the RhB/cellulose biobased plastic (RhCBP) and fluorescein/cellulose biobased plastic (FCBP) thin belts or pieces could be easily embedded into paper during production because of the same cellulose component. Therefore, paper including a few of these fluorescent cellulose biobased plastics would be a good candidate for making anti-counterfeiting banknotes.