Anuar Sabiqah Tuan, Altarawnah Raad Shaher, Mohd Ali Ahmad Ammarluddin, Lee Bai Qin, Khalik Wan Mohd Afiq Wan Mohd, Yusof Ku Mohd Kalkausar Ku, Ibrahim Yusof Shuaib
Microplastic Research Interest Group (MRIG), Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jul 28;14(15):3054. doi: 10.3390/polym14153054.
Microplastics (the term for plastics at sizes of <5 mm) might be introduced into the environment from domestic or agricultural activities or from the breakdown of plastic pieces, particles, and debris that are bigger in size. Their presence in the aquatic environment has caused accumulation problems, as microplastics do not easily break down and can be digested by some aquatic organisms. This study was conducted to screen and monitor the level of microplastic pollution in polychaete worms using pyrolysis−gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The study was conducted in Setiu Wetlands, Malaysia from November 2015 to January 2017 at five-month intervals and covered all monsoon changes. Results from physical and visual analyses indicated that a total number of 371.4 ± 20.2 items/g microplastics were retrieved from polychaete for all seasons, in which, the majority comprised transparent microplastics (49.87%), followed by brown with 138.3 ± 13.6 items/g (37.24%), 21.7 ± 1.9 items/g for blue (5.84%), and 12.9 ± 1.1 items/g for black (3.47%), while the remaining were green and grey-red colors. Statistical analysis using Kruskal−Wallis showed insignificant differences (p > 0.05) between the sampling station and period for the presence of a microplastics amount. Most of the microplastics were found in fiber form (81.5%), whereas the remaining comprised fragment (18.31%) and film (0.19%) forms. Further analysis with Py-GC/MS under a selective ion monitoring mode indicated that pyrolytic products and fragment ions for a variety of polymers, such as polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, and polymethylmethacrylate, were detected. This study provides an insightful application of Py-GC/MS techniques for microplastics monitoring, especially when dealing with analytical amounts of samples.
微塑料（指尺寸小于5毫米的塑料）可能因家庭或农业活动，或因较大尺寸的塑料碎片、颗粒和残骸的分解而进入环境。它们在水生环境中的存在引发了累积问题，因为微塑料不易分解，且会被一些水生生物摄取。本研究旨在利用热解气相色谱/质谱联用仪（Py-GC/MS）筛选和监测多毛类蠕虫体内的微塑料污染水平。该研究于2015年11月至2017年1月在马来西亚Setiu湿地每隔五个月进行一次，涵盖了所有季风变化。物理和视觉分析结果表明，在所有季节的多毛类蠕虫中总共检测到371.4±20.2个/克微塑料，其中大多数为透明微塑料（49.87%），其次是棕色微塑料，含量为138.3±13.6个/克（37.24%），蓝色微塑料为21.7±1.9个/克（5.84%），黑色微塑料为12.9±1.1个/克（3.47%），其余为绿色和灰红色。使用Kruskal-Wallis进行的统计分析表明，采样站和采样时期之间微塑料数量的差异不显著（p>0.05）。大多数微塑料呈纤维状（81.5%），其余为碎片状（18.31%）和薄膜状（0.19%）。在选择性离子监测模式下用Py-GC/MS进行的进一步分析表明，检测到了多种聚合物的热解产物和碎片离子，如聚氯乙烯、聚丙烯、聚乙烯、聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯、聚酰胺和聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯。本研究为微塑料监测提供了Py-GC/MS技术的深入应用，尤其是在处理微量样品时。
