University of Nova Gorica

1 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Environment

Extraction of Organochlorine Pesticides from Plastic Pellets and Plastic Type Analysis

Marilyne Pflieger¹, Petra Makorič¹, Manca Kovač Viršek², Špela Koren²

¹Laboratory for Environmental Research, University of Nova Gorica, ²Sector for Marine Waters, Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia

Microplastics act as vector of potentially toxic organic contaminants with unpredictable effects. This protocol describes an alternative methodology for assessing the levels of organochlorine pesticides adsorbed on plastic pellets and identifying the polymer chemical structure. The focus is on pressurized fluid extraction and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.