Castor oil-extracted foam extracts microplastics from water through microscopy. New research from Louisiana State University shows that the structure of foam can remove many types of microplastics from water. (Louisiana State University)
Bodies of water around the world face man-made problems that are invisible to the naked eye, but new research from Louisiana State University may one day help solve the problem.
Microplastics are extremely small plastic particles, about 200 times smaller than the width of a human hair. They can be spread directly throughout the environment through substances such as synthetic clothing fibers or certain soaps, or they can occur as larger plastic fragments break down over time.
“Microplastics are being found everywhere from remote mountainous areas to the depths of the ocean,” said Bhuvnesh Bharti, a chemical engineer at Louisiana State University and co-author of the new study. publish In Academic Journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
These tiny fragments of material are difficult to remove from water and can affect people and animals who eat them. Bharti has developed an eco-friendly foam using fatty acids from castor oil that can remove many types of microplastics from water.
“You can think of it like a three-dimensional spider web,” Barty said.
Barty said most methods used to remove microplastics from water use some kind of chemical agent bound to particles. This agent is great for removing plastic, like keys made for individual locks.
Bharti’s castor oil foam acts more like a master key, capable of removing multiple types of microplastics from water at the same time. In laboratory studies, it was able to filter out about half of the microplastics in water the first time, and up to 85% after multiple filtrations.
The foam is also environmentally friendly, with fatty acids degrading easily and naturally in the environment. Other removal methods, such as using various salt compounds to remove microplastics, are effective but can be harmful to the environment and humans, causing skin irritation and burns.
Barty said research into microplastics and how to address them is still very new. How much of an impact these tiny pieces of plastic have on human health remains a mystery.
Marcus Garcia, a pharmaceutical researcher at the University of New Mexico, focuses his research on how emerging contaminants such as microplastics affect humans. He said these particles are present in water and food sources that humans rely on for survival.
“Should this be something we all care about? Absolutely,” Garcia said, adding that his current work seeks to understand the accumulation of microplastics in the human brain, heart and kidneys and whether it is linked to health conditions such as plaque buildup in arteries and neurodegenerative diseases.
“The amount of accumulation we’re seeing in the environment is the same accumulation or time frame that we see a lot of these health conditions emerge,” he said.
Garcia added that research advances in removing microplastics from water will ultimately reduce these potential health problems.
Although Batty’s research at LSU was promising, his foam faced challenges. The product is expensive, costing $1 to $1.50 per liter of water, while other methods cost next to nothing, he said.
It has also not been tested in environments containing a variety of contaminants, such as heavy metals and Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS or “Forever Chemicals.”
“When we actually have these large bodies of water with different kinds of pollutants, not just microplastics…how are they going to interact with these fatty acid molecules? Can they form foam?” Barty asked. “We don’t know yet.”
This first-step study demonstrates the possibilities of physically filtering microplastics and areas where further research is needed.
“It’s still in the very early stages,” Bhatti said, adding that more time and more research is needed to see if it can be used on a larger scale to help tackle plastic pollution.
