Wiesner, YosriBannick, Claus GerhardBednarz, MariusBraun, UlrikeRicking, Mathias2024-06-162024-06-162023https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-1994https://openumwelt.de/handle/123456789/1560Inputs of plastic impurities into the environment via the application of fertilizers are regulated in Germany and the EU by means of ordinances. Robust and fast analytical methods are the basis of legal regulations. Currently, only macro- and large microplastic contents (>1 mm) are measured. Microplastics, are not yet monitored. Thermal analytical methods are suitable for this purpose, which can determine the mass content and can also be operated fully automatically in routine mode. Thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) allows the identification of polymers and the determination of mass contents in solid samples from natural environments. In accordance with the German or European Commission (EC) Fertiliser Ordinance, composting plants should be monitored for microplastic particles with this method in the future. In this context a compost plant was sampled. At the end of the rotting process, the compost was sieved and separated in a coarse (>1 mm) and a fine fraction (<1 mm). The fine fraction was processed using density separation comparing NaCl and NaI as possible salt alternative and screened for microplastic masses by TED-GC/MS with additional validation and quality assurance experiments. With TED-GC/MS total microplastics mass contents of 1.1-3.0 g/mg in finished compost could be detected with polyethylene mainly. What differs much to the total mass of plastics in the coarse fraction with up to 60 ug/mg, which were visually searched, identified via ATR-FTIR and gravimetrically weighted. © 2023 Wiesner, Bednarz, Braun, Bannick, Ricking and Altmann.1 Online-Resource (12 pages)online resourceenghttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/KompostBodenDüngemittelMonitoringWissenschaftlicher Artikel