Merin Lukose

Atmospheric microplastic analysis in the forest area

My master thesis investigates microplastics in snow samples collected from the Vogelsberg low mountain region, with a particular focus on assessing potential contamination using field blank samples. The project involves the extraction and analysis of microplastics from snow filtered through 10 µm stainless-steel filters. Microplastics are quantified and morphologically classified using chemical imaging, while microscopy and µFTIR analysis are used for qualitative identification. Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures, including blank sample analysis, are implemented to ensure the reliability of the results.

Supervisor: Dr. Collin J. Weber & Prof. Dr. Moritz Bigalke