Preliminary study to characterize plastic polymers using elemental analyser/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA/IRMS).

Abstract Plasticwaste is a growing global environmental problem, particularly in the marine ecosystems, in consideration of its persistence. The monitoring of the plasticwaste has become a global issue, as reported by several surveillance guidelines proposed by Regional Sea Conventions (OSPAR, UNEP) and appointed by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Policy responses to plasticwaste vary at many levels, ranging from beach clean-up to bans on the commercialization of plastic bagsand to Regional Plansfor waste management and recycling. Moreover, in recent years, the production of plant-derived biodegradable plasticpolymers has assumed increasing importance. This study reports the first preliminary characterization of carbon stable isotopes (δ 13 C) of different plasticpolymers (petroleum- and plant-derived) in order to increase the dataset of isotopic values as a tool for further investigation in different fields of polymers research as well as in the marine environment surveillance. The δ 13 C valuesdetermined in different packaging for food uses reflect the plant origin of “BIO” materials, whereas the recycled plasticmaterials displayed a δ 13 C signatures between plant- and petroleum-derived polymers source. In a preliminary estimation, the different colours of plasticdid not affect the variability of δ 13 C values, whereas the abiotic and biotic degradation processes that occurred in the plasticmaterials collected on beaches and in seawater, showed less negative δ 13 C values. A preliminary experimental field test confirmed these results. The advantages offered by isotope ratio mass spectrometrywith respect to other analytical methods used to characterize the composition of plasticpolymers are: high sensitivity, small amount of material required, rapidity of analysis, low cost and no limitation in black/dark samples compared with spectroscopic analysis.