Seeing microplastics with a microscope

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HopePressler1
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2018 12:20 pm
Occupation: Parent

Seeing microplastics with a microscope

Post by HopePressler1 »

If my daughter uses a coffee filter to pour water through could the coffee filter be observed with a microscope to see microplastics?

She wants to get samples from four lakes in our area and from the ocean.
koneill18
Expert
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:22 am
Occupation: Other Adult

Re: Seeing microplastics with a microscope

Post by koneill18 »

Hello,

Yes, any microplastics that you can't see with the naked eye should be visible with a compound microscope. I would recommend doing some research first on what microplastics look like under a microscope since it might be hard at first to distinguish them from organic matter like algae!
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