Denise gives keynote lecture at European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectroscopy

European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectroscopy, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Title: Measuring microplastics and nanoplastics: from analytical method development to environmental impacts

Abstract

Understanding how human activities influence physical, chemical and biological cycles is a central component of modern geosciences. The natural environment is experiencing ever-increasing pressures from anthropogenic stressors, including the release of anthropogenic particles. The term anthropogenic particles covers a wide range of materials, including those which are manufactured at the nano-scale (e.g., engineered nanomaterials), generated incidentally (e.g., soot), or originate from the degradation of larger materials such as plastics, which form microplastics and nanoplastics (MnPs). Understanding the fate, transport, biological interactions and environmental impacts of MnPs requires the development of new analytical techniques for characterization and quantification as well as fit-for-purpose experimental approaches to elucidate their behavior and impacts across all environmental compartments. While some methodologies and approaches can be adapted from years of studying inorganic materials in a similar size range, there are particular challenges with measuring carbon-based materials. Increasing the complexity of the problem, MnPs is a catch-all name for a very heterogeneous suite of materials which include different polymer chemistries, sizes, and morphologies – all of which need to be characterized and could influence environmental impacts – but currently no standardized materials or analytical methods exist. To highlight some of the approaches we have developed related to atomic spectroscopy, in this seminar I will discuss 1) nanometrology developments, such as single particle ICP-MS, 2) how I turned the challenge of assessing environmental impacts of MnPs on its head by developing a platform to measure these materials by synthesizing metal-doped plastics to still take advantage of the capabilities of atomic spectroscopy, 3) moving beyond doped plastics to measure microplastics directly by carbon analysis and 4) perspectives on the most challenging hurdles to overcome in the field of plastics pollution to assess environmental impacts. Beyond the laboratory, I am keen to develop links between academic scientists, industry, policy makers and the public to understand how to use plastics in a sustainable way to reduce their negative impacts on the environment. In particular, I am to place MnPs in the context of global plastic pollution while also assessing (and improving) plastics regulation.