Microplastics and fly-ash particles from Santos–Cubatão estuarine system, southeastern Brazil.

Published: 24 September 2026| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/6j3tf422bw.1
Contributors:
,
,

Description

Microplastics and fly-ash particles (inorganic ash spheres - IASs and spherical carbonaceous particles - SCPs) were sampled from a 260-cm sediment profile collected from the Morrão River, located in the Santos–Cubatão estuarine system, southeastern Brazil. The repository includes: • Visual identification and morphometric data of particles • µ-FTIR spectra for polymer identification For visual identification, particles were manually separated under a Zeiss stereomicroscope (Carl Zeiss GmbH) equipped with an Axiocam 705 digital camera. Image acquisition and measurements were performed using ZEISS ZEN 3.11 image analysis software. All visually identified particles were classified into the following categories: • Laboratory contamination • Fly-ash particles (IASs or SCPs) • Microplastics • Non-plastic particles (e.g., organic matter, mineral particles, charcoal) Particles classified as microplastics were further characterized according to: • Morphological type (fiber, fragment, film, pellet, foam) • Shape • Color (visual assessment under white light) • Size (major and minor axes) For polymer composition, microplastics were analyzed using micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (µ-FTIR). Analyses were conducted with an Agilent Cary 630 FTIR spectrometer coupled to a Cary 610 FTIR microscope equipped with an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory. Fly-ash particles were analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) with a JEOL JSM-IT500HR microscope. Analytical parameters (µ-FTIR): • Spectral range: 4000–550 cm⁻¹ • Spectral resolution: 4 cm⁻¹ • Background spectrum collected prior to measurements For questions regarding this dataset: p118405@dac.unicamp.br

Files

Steps to reproduce

This dataset contains visual identification data, µ-FTIR spectra, and SEM-EDS analyses of microplastics and fly-ash particles isolated from the Santos–Cubatão Estuarine System (Brazil). Files included: Visual_analysis.xlsx – Visual identification and morphological characterization of particles. FTIR.zip – Raw µ-FTIR spectra files. SEM-EDS.zip – Raw SEM images and EDS analyses of fly-ash particles. For questions regarding this dataset: Priscila Bassi Penteado p118405@dac.unicamp.br

Institutions

Categories

Estuary, Brazil, Contamination, Microplastics

Funders

Licence