Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics
Clara Leistenschneider, Patricia Burkhardt‐Holm, Thomas Mani, Sebastian Primpke, Heidi Taubner, Gunnar Gerdts
Abstract
= 101) with similar ATR-FTIR spectra to reference paints from the research vessel and fresh paint references generated in the laboratory were further subjected to micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μXRF) to compare their elemental composition. This revealed that 45.5% of all recovered MP derived from vessel-induced contamination. However, 11% of the measured fragments could be distinguished from the reference paints via their elemental composition. This study demonstrates that differentiation based purely on visual characteristics and FTIR spectroscopy might not be sufficient for accurately determining sample contamination sources.