Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Accumulation and Distribution of Fluorescent Microplastics in the Early Life Stages of Zebrafish
Published on: July 4, 2021
Selective determination of poly(styrene) and polyolefin microplastics in sandy beach sediments by gel permeation
Tarita Biver1, Sabrina Bianchi1, Maria Rita Carosi1
1Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, via G. Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Abstract:
Microplastics generated by plastics waste degradation are ubiquitous in marine and freshwater basins, posing serious environmental concerns. Raman and FTIR spectroscopies, along with techniques such as pyrolysis-GC/MS, are typically used for their identification. We present a procedure based on gel permeation chromatography (GPC) coupled with fluorescence detection for semi-quantitative selective determination of the most common microplastics found in marine shoreline sediments: poly(styrene) (PS) and partially degraded polyolefins (LDPEox). By operating the detector at either 260/280 or 370/420 nm excitation/emission wavelengths PS can be distinguished from LDPEox upon GPC separation. Semi-quantitative determination of microplastics contents is also possible: dichloromethane extracts of PS and LDPEox yield linear plots of fluorescence peak area vs concentration (0-5.0 mg/mL range) and were used as reference materials for quantification of the microplastics content in sand samples collected in the winter berm and dune sectors of a Tuscany beach in Italy.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Silica Gel Column Chromatography: Overview
Polar components tend to bind strongly to the silica gel, causing them to move slowly through the column. In contrast, nonpolar compounds...
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...
Spin–Spin Coupling: Three-Bond Coupling (Vicinal Coupling)
The extent of coupling depends on the C‑C bond length, the two H‑C‑C angles, any electron-withdrawing substituents, and the dihedral angle between the involved orbitals. The...
G-protein Coupled Receptors
Spin–Spin Coupling: One-Bond Coupling
What is Natural Selection?

