Surface Biofilm and Spectral Analyses of Eight Common Plastic Materials Exposed to Different Environmental Conditions Using Basic Spectrophotometry and Advanced Microscopy

Overview

Microplastics are an environmental pollutant and an emerging threat. This experiment’s purpose was to determine if it is possible to differentiate microplastics degraded in four distinct environments: water, soil, ultraviolet light exposed, and a control. This project proposes a method for microplastic polymer identification. The hypotheses suggest it is possible to differentiate degraded microplastic polymers by their absorbance of light and fluorescence emissions spectra. If successful, this technique will most certainly be useful in further investigations and experimentation dealing with identification and removal of microplastics from our environment. This experiment encompassed the analysis of eight distinct polymers, each exposed to four separate conditions. This experiment featured the use of advanced microscopies: fluorescence microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. These imaging techniques were utilized to further analyze the accumulation of biofilm on microplastic surfaces and the possible limitations it may cause on the validity and functionality of the proposed identification method. In addition to advanced microscopy basic spectrophotometry was also incorporated to test the efficacy of a simple spectrophotometer (SpectroVis), and its use in differentiating microplastic polymers by citizen scientists in the near future. SpectroVis graph data was collected and sorted into spreadsheets which were then interpreted using statistical analyses, ANOVA, and the T-Test. Results from T-Tests and ANOVA tests provided significant statistical support in declining the null. Therefore, based on statistical evidence and visual representation by imaging microscopies, the conclusion was made to reject the null hypotheses and support the validity of the hypotheses.

Competition history

• JSHS 2022 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.