Freshwater Colloquium: Microplastics, Not a Micro Problem: Isolation and Analysis of Micro and Nanoplastics in Complex Environmental and Biological Matrices
The School of Freshwater Sciences’ Freshwater Colloquium creates a platform for students, faculty and scientists to discuss their research and emergent issues related to freshwater resources. Presentations are open to the public.
All events will take place on Mondays from 3:30-4:20 p.m. in-person in the GLRF Ballroom.
The School of Freshwater Sciences Great Lakes Research Facility, is located at 600 E. Greenfield Ave.
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are a contaminant of emerging concern and have been found in everything from the air we breathe to personal care products, food and drinking water. They are even present in medical supplies like intravenous fluids. Due to their ubiquity, this area of research has been growing rapidly over the past several years. However, a key limitation in many studies is the inability to include smaller MNPs because of analytical limitations. This is especially concerning as these smaller particles have the highest potential to cross cellular barriers and accumulate in the body. To address this gap, we developed a method to isolate and analyze smaller MNPs from complex environmental and biological matrices. This method prepared the MNPs for analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the size, shape, and number of the particles, and optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (O-PTIR) to identify polymer types. The method was validated using a known concentration of polystyrene nanoparticles in river water and in human blood, with recovery efficiencies of 81% and 82%, respectively, demonstrating its effectiveness in the applied matrices. The application of this method allowed for the analysis of MNPs in natural freshwater systems (Lake Erie), engineered environments (drinking water treatment), consumer products (bottled water), as well as human tissue samples (bone marrow) leading to an overall improvement in our understanding of their presence, transport, and exposure pathways.
Megan is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the P&G Digital Accelerator at the University of Cincinnati where she works as part of the Global Product Stewardship-Environmental Fate Team working to improve the methods used to evaluate the biodegradability of down the drain chemicals in freshwater systems. She recently completed my Ph.D. in Environmental Science at Ohio State University where her research focused on isolating and analyzing micro and nanoplastics from aqueous and biological samples and evaluating their fate and transport in drinking water treatment systems. Megan completed her M.S. in chemistry and B.S. in environmental science at Oakland University, where she worked to improve microbial source tracking methods to identify the sources of fecal contamination as part of a recreational water quality monitoring program.