Is the sound an ally against microplastics?
Lucía Royo Asa & Ainara San Miguel Rodríguez
Colegio Luis Amigó - Spain
Mentor: Javier Elizalde Razquin
ABSTRACT
The presence of small plastic particles, also known as microplastics, in freshwater is a current issue that poses a significant environmental problem, and detecting them effectively would be an important step towards finding a solution. Various methods have been used so far to detect them, such as spectrophotometry, chelating agents, etc., but no one has dtected them through sound. Using river water collected from different points in Pamplona: in Olloki (before entering the city), in Club Natación Pamplona (through the city center) and in Ororbia (after the city); with a speaker, a tuner, and some laboratory instruments, a simple and useful procedure has been created to find microplastics in the water, not without conducting several controls to ensure that plastic is truly being measured and that the research is not influenced by other agents such as mud, stones, biodiversity, salt or bottle materials.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We extend our gratitude to our mentors, classmates and Colegio Luis Amigó for their invaluable support and resources. Special thanks to Planeta STEM and Elhuyar for organizing the peer meeting and connecting us with expert advisors. We also acknowledge the jury of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize Spain for their valuable input. Lastly, we appreciate the assistance of Ismael Pérez Mata and Eva Asa Olivares for their contributions to our research project.
INTRODUCTION
Microplastics represent an actual issue for the enviroment. With this project we are triying to find a new method that can allow people to detect them in an effective way in rivers.
WHAT ARE MICROPLASTICS?
Microplastics, introduced in 2004 by marine biologist Richard Thompson, are ubiquitous, found in various locations including oceans, poles, and even everyday food. Comprising 60-80% of marine debris, these small plastic fragments with a diameter smaller than 5 mm take over 500 years to decompose, posing long-term environmental challenges (Greenpeace, n.d.).
SOUND IN THE WATER
Microplastic contamination extends beyond saltwater, reaching freshwater environments. These habitats, teeming with diverse marine species, rely on sound waves for communication. With sound traveling faster in water than in air, marine creatures like dolphins emit whistles and chirps at frequencies around 300 KHz (Bazúa-Durán, 2010). Understanding the impact of microplastics on these acoustic ecosystems is crucial for ecological preservation.
ARGA RIVER
The Arga River, the main river of Pamplona in Navarra, Spain, originates in the Quinto Real mountains and is regulated by the Eugui reservoir. As it enters the city, the river follows a meandering course with a floodplain spanning 500 to 1500 meters and experiences notable floods. Despite human alterations, the river's course can be considered fixed due to the presence of infrastructure and urban uses. Data provided by Ismael Pérez Mata, from the Department of Rural Development and Environment, reveal that the water from the Arga River is moderately hard with light mineralization and calcium bicarbonate content. Furthermore, between the two flow measurement stations in the city (located 8.2 km apart) with a flow rate of 14.38 m3/s, the travel time of the same peak between them was 130 minutes for the same peak between April 22 and April 24, 2023. These data will be utilized to calculate river velocity and waiting time between selected sampling points for this study.
Clasificación_aguas.pdfPamplona.pdfMUSIC NOTES
In this research, a digital keyboard will be used to play four different notes (C, D, E and G) from the pentatonic scale of C major. The pentatonic scale is shared between the guitar and the piano, making it suitable for interpreting the results. This scale omits the semitones of the natural scale and consists of notes separated by fifths. The experiment will start from middle C (C4) and follow a pentatonic order, also using the same notes in a higher octave (octave 5). The use of the Anglo-Saxon musical notation (C, D, E and G), based on an alphabetical base equivalent to the Latin nomenclature of notes (Do, Re, Mi and Sol), is internationally accepted.
JUSTIFICATION
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Goal number 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation)
Target 6.3: Improve water quality by reducing pollution.
Goal number 13 (Climate Action)
Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
Goal number 14 (Life Below Water)
Target 14.1: Prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds.
PERSONAL MOTIVATION
Our concern for the environment, passion for music and scientific knowledge have motivated us to undertake this project, as we believe that combining music and science can be both enjoyable and valuable in testing the presence of microplastics in freshwater.
PURPOSE
MAIN PURPOSE: Could the presence of microplastics in freshwater be detected by analyzing sound transmission?
This research aims to achieve the following SPECIFIC PURPOSES:
Perform a negative control using distilled water to verify that the tuner works correctly in the absence of any dissolved components.
Test how sound is transmitted in water through the following positive controls:
Control with macroplastics.
Control with microplastics.
Control with the metal bottle used for sampling.
Control with the salinity concentration of the Arga River based on the data provided by the Government of Navarra.
Control with organic matter from the river.
Control with sediment from the river.
Control with stones from the river.
Analyze whether the presence of microplastics in river water can be measured before, during, and after its passage through the city of Pamplona:
Samples from Olloki (before passing through the city).
Samples from the Club Natación footbridges (at its passage through the city).
Samples from Ororbia (after passing through the city).
STATE OF THE ART
The existing articles on this research topic is limited, with most articles suggesting the use of spectrophotometry to measure microplastics in water. However, due to the high cost, this option is not feasible for this study. (Labotienda, 2022) Another alternative found involves using a chelating agent to capture microplastics for quantification, but it also economically unattainable. (Biovea, 2022) However, no research project has yet explored the analysis of microplastics in water using sound as a technique.
Spanish scientists have determined that microplastics in Arctic freshwater originate from the textile industry, while also noting the presence of small particles from household products like toothpaste and exfoliants. (González-Pleiter et al., 2020)
While sound has been utilized for quantification and inactivation of microorganisms in various applications, such as acidogenic fermentation of wastewater (Sarkar et al., 2023), survival of microorganisms in food processing (Shao et al., 2023), and fungal toxin contamination in food (Hashemi-Moosavi et al., 2021), its potential application for the study of microplastics is still in its early stages, suggesting a promising avenue for future research.
MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE
SAMPLING SITES
Between Olloki and the footbridges of the Club Natación (7.99 km): 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Between the Club Natación footbridges and Ororbia (15.29 km): 4 hours and 1 minute.
MATERIALS FOR CONTROLS
280 mL of Distilled Water (C-)
2 g of Macroplastics (C+)
2 g of Microplastics (C+)
500 mL Metal Bottle (C+)
0.063 g of Ca(HCO3)2 (C+)
16.7 g of Organic Matter (C+)
21.1 g of Sediments (C+)
138.5 g of Stones (C+)
DISCUSSION
Inconclusive results for C4 and C5 in distilled water control, requiring data from negative control for reliable analysis of positive controls and samples.
Unreliable results from E5 and D4 notes due to high percentage of inconclusive measurements and inconclusive values in metal bottle and salinity control conditions.
Disregarding results of E4 and G4 notes as positive controls for microplastics and macroplastics showed no deviations.
Focus on note G5, significant deviations in controls with macroplastics and microplastics, analyzed through comparative graph.
CONCLUSIONS
Sound is an effective method for detecting microplastics in water, as seen in the G5 results. The presence of contaminants in the water is evident from samples and controls after the water passes through the city.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To address speaker limitations, future experiments should use IPX8-rated speakers capable of prolonged underwater use, despite the larger size and higher cost.
The presence of small stones in G5 sediment samples raises uncertainty about the true cause of deviation, necessitating improved sampling techniques for accurate analysis.
To ensure the results its would be useful to measure the positive samples using a spectophotometre to detect the presence or absence of microplastics.
Future studies should explore the impact of microplastics on aquatic fauna communication by establishing an equivalence between KHz and cents scales, enabling a comprehensive assessment of the effects.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bazúa-Durán, C. (2010) Sonidos en el mar: el delfín y el camarón tronador. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.revistaciencia.amc.edu.mx/images/revista/61_1/PDF/07-RuidoAmbiental_61_1.pdf
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Da Costa, P. et al. (2021) Detection and characterization of small-sized microplastics (≥ 5 µm) in milk products. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03458-7
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Hashemi-Moosavi, M. et al. (2021) A review of recent advances in the decontamination of mycotoxin and inactivation of fungi by ultrasound. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1350417721002972
Lim, X. Z. (2021) “Los riesgos de los microplásticos”, Investigación y ciencia, (540), pp. 50-57.
Sarkar, O. et al. (2023) Ultrasound-controlled acidogenic valorization of wastewater for biohydrogen and volatile fatty acids production: Microbial community profiling. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223005965
Shao, L. et al. (2023) Sublethally injured microorganisms in food processing and preservation: Quantification, formation, detection, resuscitation and adaption. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996923000819
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AUTHORS INFO
Lucía Royo Asa, a 16-year-old from Pamplona, Navarra, completed the fifth year of Secondary School at Colegio Luis Amigó. Her interests include watching series and engaging in hobbies like cooking, reading and writing. She achieved recognition as a finalist in the Inspiraciencia contest with her story "Star War" in 2019.
Ainara San Miguel Rodríguez, also 16 years old, resides in Pamplona, Navarra, and has been studying at Luis Amigó for 14 years. Currently in the fifth year of Secondary School, she focuses on the Science track while enjoying basketball and music in her free time.
Lucía and Ainara are enthusiastic researchers who joined the Robotic and Scientific Investigations Club, Curiosity, in the 2021-2022 academic year. Their project, including a video selected as a finalist in the Ciencia Clip contest, led them to attend the Awards Ceremony organized by Naukas in Bilbao. Initially a Biology final project, their research has extended beyond their school curriculum and continues to progress.
CONTACT
Ainara San Miguel
Lucía Royo
