Collaborators

• Brett Howard
  American Chemistry Council
  (Washington, DC, US)
• John Norman
  American Chemistry Council
  (Washington, DC, US)
• Jennifer M. Lynch
  National Institute of Standards and Technology & Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)
• Kellie Teague
  Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)
• Chase Thompson
  National Institute of Standards and Technology
  (Maryland, US)
• Meredith Seeley
  National Institute of Standards and Technology
  (Maryland, US)
• Katherine Shaw
  National Institute of Standards and Technology
  (Maryland, US)

Timeline

Donated materials were received in December 2022. Two LDPE powders will be ready to market in 2024.

Additional information

Two polyethylene microplastic materials were well-characterized to provide researchers with standardized materials for microplastic research. Analysis of materials included use of various polymer identification methods, including attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), uFTIR in reflectance mode, uRaman, py-GCMS, and HT-SEC.

Professional Presentations

N/A

Published Papers

N/A

Collaborators

• Brett Howard
  American Chemistry Council
  (Washington, DC, US)
• Jennifer M. Lynch
  National Institute of Standards and Technology & Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)
• Kellie Teague
  Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)
• Raquel Corniuk
  Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)

Timeline

Funding and polymers were received in June 2020; Polymer Kit 1.0 was completed and launched onto the market in November 2020.

Additional information

https://www.hpu.edu/cncs/cmdr/img/polymerkit1.0_marketingbrochure.pdf

Professional Presentations

Polymer Kit 1.0 – To Harmonize Plastic Pollution Research, Pacific Northwest Consortium on Plastics (virtual)

Polymer Kit 1.0 – Usefulness of Polymer Reference Materials in Marine Debris Analyses, SETAC North America (virtual)

Usefulness of Polymer Reference Materials in Marine Debris Analyses, PacifChem (virtual)

Published Papers

N/A

Collaborators

• Katherine Shaw
  National Institute of Standards and Technology
  (Hawaii, US)
• Rachel Sandquist
  Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)
• Cameron Fairclough
  CoastalOceanVision
  (Massachusetts, US)
• Scott Gallager
  CoastalOceanVision
  (Massachusetts, US)
• Jennifer M. Lynch
  National Institute of Standards and Technology and Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research
  (Hawaii, US)

Timeline

Estimated publication date of study findings, March 2023.

Additional Information

Professional Presentations

A Novel Method for the Extraction of Microplastics from Marine Sediment, PacifiChem (virtual)

Effective microplastic extraction from deep sea sediment with an affordable and easily accessible density separation device, 7th International Marine Debris Conference (IMDC; Busan, Republic of Korea), September 18-23, 2022

Published Papers

Separation of microplastics from deep-sea sediment using an affordable, simple to use, and easily accessible density separation device, in review

Collaborators

• Christie Sayes, Taiwo Ayorinde & Joaquin Lugo
  Baylor University and CS Consulting
  (Texas, US)

Timeline

Q3 2024

Additional information

Professional Presentations

N/A

Published Papers

N/A

Researchers / Institutional Affiliations

Co-principal Investigators

• Dr. Samantha Romanick
  Postdoctoral Fellow
  University of Rochester
  River Campus
  Department of Biomedical Engineering
  (US)
• Dr. James McGrath
  Professor
  University of Rochester
  River Campus
  Department of Biomedical Engineering
  (US)

Collaborators

• Dr. Greg Madejski
  Nano Laboratory Engineer
  University of Rochester
  River Campus
  Department of Biomedical Engineering
  (Rochester, NY, US)
• Dr. Alison Elder
  Professor
  University of Rochester Medical Center
  Department of Environmental Medicine
  (Rochester, NY, US)
• Dr. Stavros Demos
  Distinguished Scientist
  University of Rochester
  Laboratory of Laster Energetics
  (Rochester, NY, US)
• Nathan Eddingsaas
  Associate Professor of Chemistry
  Rochester Institute of Technology
  School of Chemistry and Materials Science
  (Rochester, NY, US)

Timeline

Project is expected to be completed by September 2024 with publication of findings to follow in late 2024 or early 2025.

Additional information

Microplastics are found in natural waters and in foods and drinks derived from these waters; microplastics are thus ingested and inhaled by humans and found in human tissues. Research on microplastics is challenging due to the labor-intensive protocols associated with isolating them from the environment and biological tissues, particularly at the size scales most relevant to human health (<20μm). Due to lack of well characterized commercial reference MPs, toxicity researchers often resort to commercially available polystyrene spheres, which are a poor model for the environmental microplastics that are most relevant to human health. As novel time-saving protocols, silicon nanomembrane analyses pipelines (SNAPs) are being used with reference and environmental microplastics. In these methods, raw samples are added to nanomembranes housed in filtration devices. The samples are serially processed here until ready for imaging or spectroscopic analysis. The SNAP protocols are reproducible and rigorous and will be used in future studies to characterize environmental microplastics.

The grant title for this project is, ‘Characterization of Highly Referenced Commercial Monodispersed Microplastics Test Materials.’

Professional Presentations

N/A

Published Papers

N/A