Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorAlexandraPorter

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Materials

Professor of Bio-imaging and Analysis
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9691a.porter

 
 
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Location

 

B341 Royal School of MinesRoyal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Ruggero:2020:10.1177/0734242X20974094,
author = {Ruggero, F and Porter, AE and Voulvoulis, N and Carretti, E and Lotti, T and Lubello, C and Gori, R},
doi = {10.1177/0734242X20974094},
journal = {Waste Management and Research},
pages = {956--965},
title = {A highly efficient multi-step methodology for the quantification of micro-(bio)plastics in sludge.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734242X20974094},
volume = {39},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - The present study develops a multi-step methodology for identification and quantification of microplastics and micro-bioplastics (together called in the current work micro-(bio)plastics) in sludge. In previous studies, different methods for the extraction of microplastics were devised for traditional plastics, while the current research tested the methodology on starch-based micro-bioplastics of 0.1-2 mm size. Compostable bioplastics are expected to enter the anaerobic or aerobic biological treatments that lead to end-products applicable in agriculture; some critical conditions of treatments (e.g. low temperature and moisture) can slow down the degradation process and be responsible for the presence of microplastics in the end-product. The methodology consists of an initial oxidation step, with hydrogen peroxide 35% concentrated to clear the sludge and remove the organic fraction, followed by a combination of flotation with sodium chloride and observation of the residues under a fluorescence microscope using a green filter. The workflow revealed an efficacy of removal from 94% to 100% and from 92% to 96% for plastic fragments, 0.5-2 mm and 0.1-0.5 mm size, respectively. The methodology was then applied to samples of food waste pulp harvested after a shredding pre-treatment in an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Italy, where polyethylene, starch-based Mater-Bi® and cellophane microplastics were recovered in amounts of 9 ± 1.3/10 g <2 mm and 4.8 ± 1.2/10 g 2 mm. The study highlights the need to lower the threshold size for the quantification of plastics in organic fertilizers, which is currently set by legislations at 2 mm, by improving the background knowledge about the fate of the micro-(bio)plastics in biological treatments for the organic waste.
AU  - Ruggero,F
AU  - Porter,AE
AU  - Voulvoulis,N
AU  - Carretti,E
AU  - Lotti,T
AU  - Lubello,C
AU  - Gori,R
DO  - 10.1177/0734242X20974094
EP  - 965
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 0734-242X
SP  - 956
TI  - A highly efficient multi-step methodology for the quantification of micro-(bio)plastics in sludge.
T2  - Waste Management and Research
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734242X20974094
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33250042
UR  - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0734242X20974094
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/84649
VL  - 39
ER  -
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