Microplastics in freshwater sediment: A review on methods, occurrence, and sources

Yang, Le; Zhang, Yulan; Kang, Shichang; Wang, Zhaoqing; Wu, Chenxi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141948

Cited by 279 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 139 publications

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“…During microscopy, it is advisable to determine an internal standard to scan the petri dish systematically, e.g., in circles inwards. Good practices of selecting suspicious microplastic particles have been summarized elsewhere [1] , [2] , [3] . After having sorted out all potential microplastic particles, the remaining natural organic matter can be transferred to a repository for storage to meet the requirements of good scientific practice.…”

Section: Description Of the Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sieving of sediment or soil samples is commonly performed before inorganic matter removal [3] . However, sieving after removing the mineral fraction or sieving of water samples can be reasonable in large and/or organic-rich samples.…”

Section: Background Information and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, sieving after removing the mineral fraction or sieving of water samples can be reasonable in large and/or organic-rich samples. Usually, for microscopic examination, samples are transferred to filters [3] . As filters are opaque, they prevent exploiting a microscope's full illumination: Transmitted light cannot be used although this is important to reveal cellular structures.…”

Section: Background Information and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From sieve to microscope: An efficient technique for sample transfer in the process of microplastics’ quantification

2021

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In the field of microplastics’ quantification, efficient and reproducible methodology is still needed. Procedures of sample fractionation and transfer are often insufficiently reported, although fractionating a sample in similarly sized particles is a crucial prerequisite for the subsequent detection and identification process. At the same time, fractionation is error-prone as particles can be lost during transfer between different vessels. This article presents a four-step technique of sample preparation and microscopic examination, suited for different kind of environmental samples (e.g., water, sediment, soil): The sample is size-fractionated in a sieve cascade (I), rinsed from the sieve and vacuum-filtrated onto a filter (II), rinsed from the filter into a glass petri dish with a low amount of water (III), and examined under the microscope in wet or dry condition (IV). The technique manages on standard laboratory equipment and is reliable for fragments > 300 µm: In a validation experiment with polypropylene, the average recovery was 94 ± 13.5% (arithmetic mean ± standard deviation) and 100% (median), respectively. Reliable sample transfer after wet-sieving. Concentration of the pretreated sample in a very small amount of water. Usage of transmitted light in microscopy.

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Section: Description Of the Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background Information and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background Information and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From sieve to microscope: An efficient technique for sample transfer in the process of microplastics’ quantification

2021

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“…In fresh waters, there is a lack of proposals for standardized protocols. However, recent reviews provide information on methodological aspects for water, sediments, and biota (Lu et al, 2021;O'Connor et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater wild biota exposure to microplastics: A global perspective

Cera

Scalici

2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Plastics are organic synthetic polymers that have registered steady growth since the beginning of their production in the 20th century. Indeed, global production exceeded 380×10 9 kg in 2019 (PlasticsEurope, 2020). Mismanaged plastic waste has become a growing global issue as it causes extensive soil and water contamination (Lacerda et al., 2019;Windsor et al., 2019). Plastics are a persistent pollutant, as they have a low rate of degradation: Their degradation rate is lower than their contamination rate, leading to an accumulation of mismanaged plastic waste in the environment. When plastics are exposed to environmental conditions, physical, chemical, and biological agents can break them into smaller particles by photo-oxidation, thermal, and mechanical degradation (Singh & Sharma, 2008).

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“…Sources of secondary MPs include household usage, industrial manufacturing, debris from disposed car tires, etc. (Nizzetto et al, 2016;Wu P. et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2020). It has been estimated that secondary MPs represent 70-80% of MPs released into the environment while only 15-31% are primary MPs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro and Nanoplastics Identification: Classic Methods and Innovative Detection Techniques

et al. 2021

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Micro and nanoplastics are fragments with dimensions less than a millimeter invading all terrestrial and marine environments. They have become a major global environmental issue in recent decades and, indeed, recent scientific studies have highlighted the presence of these fragments all over the world even in environments that were thought to be unspoiled. Analysis of micro/nanoplastics in isolated samples from abiotic and biotic environmental matrices has become increasingly common. Hence, the need to find valid techniques to identify these micro and nano-sized particles. In this review, we discuss the current and potential identification methods used in microplastic analyses along with their advantages and limitations. We discuss the most suitable techniques currently available, from physical to chemical ones, as well as the challenges to enhance the existing methods and develop new ones. Microscopical techniques (i.e., dissect, polarized, fluorescence, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopy) are one of the most used identification methods for micro/nanoplastics, but they have the limitation to produce incomplete results in analyses of small particles. At present, the combination with chemical analysis (i.e., spectroscopy) overcome this limit together with recently introduced alternative approaches. For example, holographic imaging in microscope configuration images microplastics directly in unfiltered water, thus discriminating microplastics from diatoms and differentiates different sizes, shapes, and plastic types. The development of new analytical instruments coupled with each other or with conventional and innovative microscopy could solve the current problems in the identification of micro/nanoplastics.

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Microplastics in freshwater sediment: A review on methods, occurrence, and sources

Cited by 279 publications

References 139 publications

From sieve to microscope: An efficient technique for sample transfer in the process of microplastics’ quantification

From sieve to microscope: An efficient technique for sample transfer in the process of microplastics’ quantification

Freshwater wild biota exposure to microplastics: A global perspective

Micro and Nanoplastics Identification: Classic Methods and Innovative Detection Techniques

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