PR0044044345_Microplastics_Sources_Sought_1.pdf

140G0126Q0283 PR0044044345 Microplastics Analysis Sampling

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

PURPOSE

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting market research to identify qualified small business laboratories capable of performing microplastics analysis in accordance with the attached Statement of Work

(SOW).

This requirement is planned as a Total Small Business Set-Aside. This notice is for market research only, is not a solicitation or Request for Quote, and does not obligate the Government to issue a solicitation or make an award.

The Government will not reimburse costs incurred in responding.

REQUIREMENT

USGS requires laboratory analysis of microplastics in environmental samples. Respondents must demonstrate the ability to:

• Measure and quantify microplastic particles per volume or mass of sample, including particle sizes down to 2 µm.

• Perform morphological and chemical characterization using optical, fluorescent, and Raman microscopy.

• Perform chemical oxidation and sequential density separation.

• Quantify all particles in the sample without subsampling.

• Process sample sizes typically 1–3 orders of magnitude larger than conventional approaches.

The attached SOW contains the complete technical requirements.

NAICS 541380 Testing Laboratories and Services

PSC B529 Special Studies/Analysis – Scientific Data

DIRECT LABORATORY PERFORMANCE

USGS is seeking responses from small business concerns that possess and will directly provide the core laboratory capability required by the SOW. Respondents shall identify the laboratory, instrumentation, and qualified personnel that will perform the work and disclose any portion proposed for subcontracting. Firms that do not possess the technical capability to perform the core analytical services and intend primarily to broker or pass through the requirement to another laboratory should not respond.

Any subcontracted portion of the work must be clearly identified in the response and must not replace the respondent's own performance of the core analytical services.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT

Responses shall be concise and directly address the following:

1. Company name, address, UEI, active SAM registration status, and small business status.

2. Location of the laboratory that will perform the work and confirmation that the core analytical services will be performed in-house.

3. Relevant experience performing microplastics analysis on water and complex environmental sample matrices.

4. Laboratory instrumentation, analytical capability, qualified personnel, and QA/QC processes applicable to the

SOW.

5. Examples of recent similar work and customer references, if available.

6. Identification of any work proposed to be subcontracted and the reason for subcontracting.

General marketing material that does not demonstrate the respondent's own capability to perform this requirement should not be submitted.

SUBMISSION

Capability statements shall not exceed five (5) pages and shall be submitted by email.

Submit to: Joel Berberena, Contracting Officer

Email: joel_berberena@ios.doi.gov mailto:joel_berberena@ios.doi.gov

Statement of Work

Part I. Introduction

Microplastics are recognized as an emerging and diverse suite of contaminants that are present in large quantities in oceans, lakes, rivers, and recently, precipitation. Additionally, microplastic particles are found to be widely distributed in soils, sediments, biosolids, plants, animals, and humans. Microplastics have a diameter less than 5 millimeters (mm) and are categorized into primary or secondary classes. Primary microplastics are those specifically manufactured at a microscale size for use in cosmetics, exfoliating scrubs, and dental paste. Secondary microplastics occur in the environment due to deterioration of plastic materials and synthetic textiles. Primary and secondary microplastics are categorized according to their size, shape, color, and polymer composition. Major sources of microplastics in the environment occur from release of municipal waste (e.g., biosolids), degradation of plastic debris and packaging, and stormwater runoff from urban landscapes. Microplastics are of emerging concern given their small size, their potential for dispersal and degradation in the environment, their effects on biota, and the potential as contaminant transport pathway from their ability to absorb hydrophobic contaminants.

Analyses of plastic microparticles are needed to meet cooperator needs for ongoing projects in the Oklahoma-Texas

Water Science Center. These projects require enhanced technology and methods not currently available in USGS or commercial laboratories and results that must include the measurement of the number of plastic microparticles per volume or mass of sample, particle size as small as 2 µm, morphological characterization, and chemical identification using optical, Raman, and fluorescent microscopy. The method needs to incorporate sample sizes that are typically 1-3 orders of magnitude larger than conventional approaches, thereby producing data that is more representative of the environment under investigation. Methods of extraction should include chemical oxidation and sequential steps of density separation. Quantification and categorization should be done by analysis of individual particles via optical microscopy for size fractions greater than 1.00 mm, Nile Red staining with digital fluorescence microscopy for size fractions smaller than 1.00 mm, and Raman microscopy for chemical characterization. All particles in the sample should be quantified (no subsampling) and measurement of microplastic particle size needs to be extended down to 2 µm.

Part II. Work Requirements

The basic requirement of the requested work is to determine the microplastic concentrations and compositions in about

20-45 samples collected annually (2026 to 2029) from agricultural fields applied with municipal waste, wastewater treatment plants, and surface waters across Oklahoma and Texas and water samples collected in Galveston Bay. The

USGS Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center personnel will collect microplastic samples on an as needed basis to meet various cooperator project objectives. Samples will then be properly preserved and shipped to OptoKhemia

Analytical for analysis.

Technical requirement 1: Quantitative characterization of microplastic particles

i) Microplastic particle extraction and isolation from environmental samples

a. Physical Separation: Materials larger than 4.78 mm will be removed from the samples using a 4-mesh sieve. Any large particles will be rinsed with filtered water to remove any attached microplastics. During this stage, internal standards consisting of a defined number of blue polyethylene microspheres (500-600 µm) and red cellulose acetate spheres (1.4 µm) will be incorporated into the sample.

b. Prefiltration of water samples: Water sample volume will be recorded and then particles will be isolated from water samples by filtering with 0.2-micron filters that are Raman inert. All solid residue captured by the filters will be chemically oxidized.

c. Weighing of slurry and solid samples: Slurry and solid phase samples are weighed on an analytical balance before transfer to chemical oxidation. Percent moisture content will be either provided by USGS or measured by OptoKhemia Analytical.

d. Chemical oxidation: The chemical oxidation procedure requires mixing the sample in filtered water then adding a solution of concentrated nitric acid and ferrous chloride. A 33% hydrogen peroxide solution will slowly be added. Samples will be allowed to react for 24 hours while stirring on an orbital shaker. This chemical oxidation step is to be repeated with a fresh addition of reagents and run for another 24 hours. An ice bath will be used if sample heating due to oxidation increases above 60 oC.

e. Density separation: The slurry from the chemical oxidation step will be filtered using a 0.2-micron filter to remove the aqueous reaction solution. Depending upon sample needs, microplastic particles in the filter residue will be extracted using a single step density extraction (typically for surface water samples) or a sequential density extraction that extracts microplastics into four or more subcategories based upon polymeric density. For a single density extraction, a concentrated sodium chloride solution (5.13 M), that has a density of 1.2 g/mL, is used. Sequential density extraction utilizes a series of extractions with concentrated sodium polytungstate solutions of increasing density to extract and separate microplastics into the following four density sets: < 1.2 g/mL, > 1.2 g/mL to < 1.3 g/mL, > 1.3 g/mL to < 1.5 g/mL, and > 1.5 g/mL. All density extraction steps place the filtered residue in a 40-mL glass vial containing a concentrated salt solution. The sample vials will be immersed in a sonication bath for 20 minutes, before being centrifuged for 30 minutes. The supernatant will be filtered with a 0.2-micron filter. The residue in the centrifugation tube will be resuspended in in the concentrated salt solution, and the sonication/centrifugation/filtration steps will be repeated three more times. The material collected on the

0.2-micron filter consists of particles within the desired density range.

f. Size fractionation of density fractions using sieves: Fractionation according to particle size in each density extract can be utilized as determined by the sample needs. The wet residue will be rinsed through a series of sieves to size-fractionate the particles. This produces four size fractions: 2.83 mm – 4.78 mm, 1 mm –

2.83 mm, 595 microns – 1 mm, and 250 microns – 595 microns.

ii) Microplastic Particle Characterization Methodology

a. Particles in the 2.83 mm – 4.78 mm and 1 mm – 2.83 mm size ranges can be handled with forceps. These will be mounted on glass slides with double-sided tape, counted, and imaged using a microscope (4x – 10x magnification) with a digital camera to assess size, morphology, and color. Chemical characterization will be performed with a Raman microscope using a 5x objective.

b. Particles less than 1 mm (e.g., those within the 595 microns – 1 mm and 250 microns – 595 microns size ranges) will be placed on a 0.2-micron Raman-neutral filter, stained with Nile Red dye, and imaged using a digital fluorescent microscope (20x or 50x objective) with an excitation wavelength of 440-460 nm and a

500 nm long pass filter. The entire 47 mm filter disc will be imaged and analyzed using Image J software to count and determine the area of each fluorescing polymeric particle. Based on the polymeric density fraction and fluorescent color, the composition can be narrowed down to specific polymers. Raman microscopy of 10% or more of the particles will confirm the microplastic composition.

iii) Quality Assurance and Quality Control

a. Internal standards consisting of a specific number of blue polyethylene microspheres (500-600 micron diameter.) and red cellulose acetate spheres (1.4 mm dia.) should be added to the sample to assess recovery.

b. The laboratory analysis should include process and method blanks at an established frequency. These samples are intended to document the potential for contamination from the analytical process (both during sample preparation and analysis).

c. Instrument calibration: The Raman microscope is calibrated prior to each use using pure silicon and its spectral signal at 520.5 cm-1. The Keyence Microscope has an internal calibration system and is also checked with an external scale with 10 m increments.

d. Laboratory atmosphere quality will be checked weekly using a filter exposed to the open laboratory atmosphere and the laminar flow hoods used for microplastic sample processing to identify potential for background contamination.

iv) Archiving of samples.

After analyses, each filter disk with microplastic particles will be stored flat in an individual, sealed glass container, that is stored in a desiccator in the dark at room temperature.

Part III. Deliverables

The USGS Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center should receive results within 120 days of sample receipt. Results will be submitted via email in electronic format (Excel and Presentation format). Each sample report shall include results on; 1) the number of microplastics (total and per unit mass/volume of sample), 2) the morphological characterization, 3) the surface area represented (if applicable), 4) the determination of microplastic polymer composition, and 5) results from associated QA/QC parameters (i.e.

reference samples, method blanks, recovery statistics. The quoted cost includes all costs associated with the scope of work described herein.

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