Multimodal Analysis of Microplastics in Drinking Water using a Silicon Nanomembrane Analysis Pipeline

The biological impact of microplastic pollution in human food and water sources is largely unknown, and drinking water sources are not exempt from this microplastic contamination. Here, we demonstrate a streamlined approach for capturing, quantifying, and identifying microplastics in drinking water. We present an analytical workflow termed the Silicon Nanomembrane Analysis Pipeline (SNAP) that takes advantage of novel Silicon nitride nanomembranes that enable a significant "concentration factor," which consolidates suspended particles into a planarized observation area for individuated, quantifiable, and multimodal particle analysis on the same substrate. SNAP's primary advantages derive from its use of ultrathin, Silicon nitride-based membranes housed in conventionally sized filter disks, enabling the direct capture and analysis of polymeric MPs on a non-polymeric background. Drinking water samples sourced in the Rochester, NY region, were collected from residential tap sources and analyzed using SNAP. Particles in each sample were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and various identified constituents were quantified in proportion to the total captured particles.