Environmental Countermeasures

Plastic pollution from fishing gear is a global problem that harms the environment. Recycling of damaged or abandoned fishing gear is one way of mitigating the issue, however the exact nature of the polymer must be known in order to identify the correct recycling stream. In this paper, the MacroRAM benchtop Raman spectrometer with remote BallProbe® is used to quickly identify plastics used in various gillnet samples. Raman spectroscopy is demonstrated to be an excellent technique for identifying not only different types of polymers, but also different variants within a polymer class and additives including pigments.

A new concern for human health is now raised by sub-23 nm particles emitted by on-road motor vehicles. Beyond measuring particle number and mass, it is also critical to determine the surface chemical composition of the nanoparticles to understand the potential reactivity with the environment.

Monitoring of Sulfur in petroleum products is an important topic in the current environmental protection context. Indeed, during combustion, Sulfur will cause acid rains and particles emissions that induce environmental and health problems. If industries and vehicles emissions have been the main target of Sulfur emission control since few tens of year, the new target is the maritime navigation. In this domain, now, the level of Sulfur is regulated by the MARPOL (International convention) Annex VI. For this specific regulation, the technique and measuring range of our SLFA series is perfectly suitable to allow the fast and accurate determination of Sulfur in Marine oil. Our compact SLFA-60 can be used on board and the SLFA-6800, with its autosampler (eight positions), will enhance the productivity of the control laboratories.

The assessment of microplastics in a marine environment is a multi-step process (sampling, extraction, detection and quantification of microplastics), in which each step is time consuming. Analyzing the chemical composition and morphology of microplastics represents a real challenge for answering crucial questions about the sources and fate of microplastics in aquatic environments. In this application note, we present a reproducible and time-effective method for fast and thorough morphological and chemical characterization of microplastics using a semi-automated scanning of particles coupled to micro-Raman spectroscopy. The rapid analysis of large number of collected particles allows for an exhaustive assessment of both large sample sizes and small subsamples.

During the period of rapid economic growth, Japan was burdened with various types of pollution such as water contamination and air pollution. The first step to regain the glow of the sky and the purity of water was analysis. HORIBA's measuring instruments play an active part in various fields to determine, for example, whether established regulations are complied with or whether the air and water are purified properly. The beautiful environment is the world's asset. Going forward, HORIBA will continue contributing to preserving the global environment through measurement.