Determination of Micro Plastics in the Environment Using Total Flow Nebulization and Triple Quadrupole ICP-MSAnalyzing Microplastics in the Environment
Oral Presentation
Prepared by C. Jones
Agilent Technologies, Inc., 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, CA, 95051, United States
Contact Information: [email protected]; 408-203-8677
ABSTRACT
As plastic products enter the environment, they degrade into micro-plastic pollution causing a growing concern on a global basis. However, the current understanding of micro-plastic pollution in the environment is limited partly due to the need for robust methods for detecting and quantifying micro-plastics.
Single particle (sp)ICP-MS has the ability to perform a particle-based counting method. The high sensitivity of ICP-QQQ, along with fast scan rates and single mass resolution in MS/MS mode, allow for the size distribution and mass concentration of microplastics to be obtained.
By using a total consumption nebulizer, this allows for greater transport efficiency. This sample introduction model includes a low flow nebulizer which makes the analysis time consuming due to slow uptake times. Incorporation of a simple syringe pump along with a loop and valve system minimizes the analysis time greatly and allows for more rapid determination and characterization of micro plastics for multiple samples.
As there are presently automated systems that may be attached to the instrument, they can be costly. In this presentation we will discuss this simple instrumental configuration and associated data analysis to demonstrate how sp-ICP-QQQ may be a helpful screening tool for detecting microplastics in the environment.
