Microplastics as a Habitat

Microplastics can concentrate organic pollutants such as pesticides on the biofilms that build up on their surface. These pollutants are consumed by marine organisms, causing them harm, and are then passed up the food chain to our dinner tables. Chromatography and mass spectrometry allow identification and measurement of these pollutants, and automation of sample preparation steps, such as solid-phase extraction (SPE), can make the whole process more efficient. What is more, genomic techniques such as next-generation sequencing can be used to characterize bacteria attracted to the biofilm.

Typical applications include:

• Contamination analysis
• Identification and measurement of organic pollutants such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other additives by GC/MS and LC/MS
• Gene sequencing, including DNA fragment size quality control (QC) of bacterial genomes; automated library preparation of bacterial genomes; and automated nucleic acid extraction

For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedure.