My first day looking through the compost, I found this plastic particle and made this image. I had no idea what it was, but it looked like a sequin. I pushed it around under the microscope, zoomed in to see the scratches and marks, and just marvelled at it for a while. I found myself thinking about it on my way home. I shared my discovery with my advisor, Hans Peter, and asked what he thought it was. Through our emails I was reminded I could use the FT-IR machine to trace the plastic’s “fingerprint” which would give us a better idea of what it could be. The only problem is, I put the particle back into the compost container…. and so the next day began my needle in a haystack search.
It took some time and I went a little cross eyed, BUT I am happy to say that not only did I find it again, I also found other intriguing particles along the way. Back to the microscope I went for further visual investigation.
And from the microscope, now on to the FT-IR machine and this is where things got fun. While trying to pick up the particle with the tweezers, I managed to pinch it just right, resulting in the teeny tiny piece flinging from my grip out into the universe of the room. And so began my second search of the day for this particle that I clearly had become obsessed over. Thankfully I had another set of eyes (this is collaboration working at its best!) and the researcher I was working with amazingly found it on the floor! Let me also stop to say, this is one of the many reasons why I am not a scientist I am an artist: I loose things, swear and move on to other interesting subjects. And I am pretty sure that is not how science reports are supposed to go….
So finally we got to analyse my escape-artist particle and this is what we found:
The line drawings, that look a bit like a heart monitor, represents the chemical make up of the particle. My advisor confirmed, “It is PET plastic (i.e. polyester, or the same type of plastic used to make beverage bottles)., that is all I can say about it. Likely some kind of decorative piece (e.g. a small bead on a blouse or cheap jewellery??).”
This planet mimicking particle, could have come from anywhere and been anything in the PET family. It could be a decoration from a kid’s birthday party or like Hans Peter mentions, part of jewellery. Its unknown origin offers us the option to draw our own conclusions on what we think it is and the stories it carries.
So I am curious, what do you think it is? What stories can it tell? And what have you learned on this little plastic adventure of mine?