Great Plains Microplastic Floatation: A Novel Method to Analyze and Remove Microplastics

Overview

Microplastics are a growing environmental crisis, microplastic pollution was initially identified in 2004 as an issue that originated in the 1960’s. Microplastics are defined as plastics that are five millimeters or less in size. I created a method to optimize quantification of microplastics in sand. In addition, I created a technique to effectively remove microplastics from sand. Through the use of Nile Red staining and ImageJ, I was able to quantify microplastics from various locations. My analysis of five independent samples from two locations revealed several key findings, including the observation that sand from Galveston, Texas contained the highest amount of contamination with an average of 415 microplastic per 5 grams of sand. In contrast, the location with the lowest particles per gram of sand was in Asbury Park, New Jersey with an average of 226 microplastics per 5 grams was observed. I removed microplastics from sand and had a removal percentage of 71% for Asbury Park and 98% for Galveston. This data reveals that all sand samples have microplastic contamination and I am able to remove microplastics. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of using beach sand as a measure of microplastic contamination from regions that have previously remained unstudied.

Competition history

• JSHS 2024 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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