EVALUATION OF GLYCERIN AS AN EXTRACTION SOLVENT FOR MICROPLASTICS IN
SEDIMENTS: A SIMULATED STUDY ON THE RECOVERY OF POLYESTER GLITTER
Microplastics, Glycerin, Polyester glitter, Microplastic extraction, Microplastic analysis.
The rise of plastic pollution, driven by increased consumption of plastic materials over the last few decades, has led to the emergence of a silent and harmful
problem: microplastics, particulate materials smaller than 5 mm that deposit in different ecosystems and may exhibit varied and unknown mechanisms of
waste adsorption and accumulation, affecting agricultural soils, bacterial cultures, biological systems, and the balance of fauna and flora. With the aim of
evaluating new methodologies for the extraction of microplastics, specifically in sedimentary matrices, which present complexity due to their varied structure
and potential for additional organic content, this study seeks to investigate the potential of glycerin as a liquid for the extraction of microplastics in this
matrix through a simulated flotation system involving sediment, glycerin, and polyester glitter as the target microplastic of the research, performing
comparative analyses between different media, such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and cooking oil, as well as comparisons of temperature
and the method of obtaining glycerin, enabling the evaluation of the liquid’s behavior and interaction with the studied microplastic, for which
characterizations were performed using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography and
mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), and recovery indices in the sedimentary matrix. This study allowed us to examine the potential of glycerin as a non-toxic,
low-cost liquid that does not cause significant side reactions that affect the instrumental detection limits used in the analysis, highlighting the potential for
applying glycerin—whether commercial or a byproduct of biofuel synthesis—as a promising liquid for the extraction of microplastics from sedimentary
matrices.