Analysis and Quantification of Microplastics in Galveston Bay

Abstract

Plastics and their consequent microplastics have become omnipresent throughout the globe. Microplastic pollution has been observed in the marine environment, by direct observation and by analyses of organisms. The microplastics in the ocean and their chemical composition must be analyzed in order to determine the current health of the ocean and its inhabitants. Eight sites were sampled in Galveston Bay to analyze the microplastic content of the water samples. FT-IR was performed on each microplastic found in a given sample. The IR spectra was then compared to a database to determine the chemical composition of the microplastics. Mass of microplastics in sample was determined as well. The microplastics most frequently found in the samples were polypropylene and polyethylene.