Polymer types ingested by northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) and southern hemisphere relatives.

ABSTRACT: Although ingestion of plastic by tubenosed seabirds has been documented regularly, identification of the polymer composition of these plastics has rarely been described. Polymer assessment may assist in identifying sources and may indicate risks from additives occurring in specific types of polymers. Using known test materials, two identification methods Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and near infrared spectroscopy (FTIR and NIR) were compared. Although both methods were found to be similarly suitable for identification of plastic polymers, a significant difference was observed in identification of natural materials. FTIR frequently misclassified natural materials as being a synthetic polymer. Within our results, an 80% match score threshold functioned best to distinguish between

SUBMITTER: Kuhn S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7785538 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature