On September 9, 2019, the Australian Government announced a new method to detect microplastics in the ground. Researchers from CRC Care publish news of “a new method to detect microplastics [PET, PVC, polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene particles as small as one micrometer in size] in the ground using infrared light and powerful visualisation software”. They further state that the method is: “non-destructive, simpler than other similar methods, and can work for soil, sand, water, and even biosolids”.
The research relates to microplastics in the ground, which “fills an important knowledge gap as most research on microplastic detection has focused on the marine environment”. The method was developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), a unit of the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science.