All black: a microplastic extraction combined with colour-based analysis allows identification and characterisation of tire wear particles (TWP) in soils.

ABSTRACT: While tire wear particles (TWP) have been estimated to represent more than 90% of the total microplastic (MP) emitted in European countries and may have environmental health effects, only few data about TWP concentrations and characteristics are available today. The lack of data stems from the fact that no standardized, cost efficient or accessible extraction and identification method is available yet. We present a method allowing the extraction of TWP from soil, performing analysis with a conventional optical microscope and a machine learning approach to identify TWP in soil based on their colour. The lowest size of TWP which could be measured reliably with an acceptable recovery using our experimental set-up was 35 µm. Further improvements would be possible given more advanced technical

SUBMITTER: Foetisch A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11525289 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature