Microplastics elutriation from sandy sediments: A granulometric approach

Although relatively easy to extract in the marine environment, microplastics are very difficult to recover when they are trapped in sediments. The elutriation column is one of the best tools currently available for extracting plastics from sediment, but with a high sand recovery yield. This study ai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 107; no. 1; pp. 315 - 323
Main Authors: Kedzierski, Mikaël, Le Tilly, Véronique, Bourseau, Patrick, Bellegou, Hervé, César, Guy, Sire, Olivier, Bruzaud, Stéphane
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.06.2016
Elsevier
Subjects:
Chemical and Process Engineering
Elutriation
Engineering Sciences
Environmental Monitoring
Extraction techniques
Geologic Sediments
Granulometric classification
Marine
marine environment
Microplastics
Particle Size
plastics
Plastics - isolation & purification
sand
Sandy sediments
Water Pollutants, Chemical - isolation & purification
water pollution
Microplastics
Granulometric classification
Sandy sediments
Extraction techniques
Elutriation
ISSN:0025-326X, 1879-3363
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Although relatively easy to extract in the marine environment, microplastics are very difficult to recover when they are trapped in sediments. The elutriation column is one of the best tools currently available for extracting plastics from sediment, but with a high sand recovery yield. This study aims to address the following questions: (i) is it possible to use a sedimentological approach to limit the sand recovery? (ii) does the extraction velocity of the sand and plastic particles vary according to density and granulometry? (iii) what is the relative recovery efficiency obtained for dense polymer particles mixed with marine sand? Based on a new granulometric classification, different plastic particle-size fractions are defined. Their extraction velocities are experimentally determined on particles of sediment and different plastics (PA, PVC). The particle recovery experiments indicate that it is possible to extract >90% of dense plastic particles in cases of negligible sand recovery. •The elutriation column is one of the best tools currently available for extracting plastics.•Some methodological approaches allowed to optimize the elutriation process.•This methodology has many advantages compared to the conventional methods.•The cost, the efficiency and the time are the main advantages of this process.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.03.041
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ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.03.041