Microplastics and Flame Retardants

Microplastics and flame retardants are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that can accumulate in the environment, and are potential human exposures via air, water, and ingestion of food and dust. Microplastics result from either the deliberate addition of manufactured microbeads into consumer products, or via degradation of larger plastics as they age in the environment. Flame retardants are added to plastics and other consumer products to delay the onset of ignition in potential fire situations, and are often required by government flammability regulations. Microplastics and flame retardants have been shown to be potentially toxic to humans and animals, though more study is needed.

AQS is conducting several studies with collaborators to help advance and standardize the science of microplastic and flame retardant measurements, and develop methods to identify their sources.

AQS microplastic and flame retardant projects:

• Fiberglass and Other Flame-Resistant Fibers in Mattress Covers (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022)
• A new method for microplastic extraction from fish guts assisted by chemical dissolution (Analytical Methods, 2020)
  
• Microplastic fragment and fiber contamination of beach sediments from selected sites in Virginia and North Carolina, USA (Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2019)
• Nondestructive Extraction and Identification of Microplastics from Freshwater Sport Fish Stomachs (Environmental Science & Technology, 2019)
  
• Molecular identification of polymers and anthropogenic particles extracted from oceanic water and fish stomach – A Raman micro-spectroscopy study (Environmental Pollution, 2018)
  
• SEM/EDS and optical microscopy analyses of microplastics in ocean trawl and fish guts (Science of the Total Environment, 2017)
  
• Novel method for the extraction and identification of microplastics in ocean trawl and fish gut matrices (Analytical Methods, 2017)
  
• Raman spectroscopy based identification of flame retardants in consumer products using an acquired reference spectral library (Talanta, 2015)
• Raman micro-spectroscopy page with online spectral database
• Microplastics in Four Estuarine Rivers in the Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A. (Environmental Science & Technology, 2014)(PDF)
• Correlated Raman micro-spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses of flame retardants in environmental samples (Analyst, 2013)
• Morphology, spatial distribution, and concentration of flame retardants in consumer products and environmental dusts using scanning electron microscopy and Raman micro-spectroscopy (Environment International, 2013)
  

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