Adaptation of a laboratory protocol to quantity microplastics contamination in estuarine waters

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2019

Authors

Rodrigues, SM (Author) Other; Marisa M R Almeida (Author) FCUP; Ramos, S (Author) Other

Journal

The Journal is awaiting validation by the Administrative Services.

Title: METHODSX

Vol. 6

Pages: 740-749

ISSN: 2215-0161

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 12 Citations

Scopus - 14 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Q-FGG

DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2019.03.027

Abstract (EN): One of the most used protocols to extract and quantify MPs is NOAA protocol in aquatic environments. However, there is still no standardized method to extract and quantify MPs in estuarine waters. The aim of this work was to adapt the NOAA protocol to quantify microplastics in estuarine water and provide all the details and changes to improve the efficiency of the method. For that, four types of plastic (PE-LD; PET; PA; PE-HD) were used in artificial samples to test all the steps of the protocol. Several criteria were tested, namely: (i) quantities of H2O2 used for organic matter degradation; (ii) temperatures of drying samples; and (iii) density separation efficacy. With the proposed modifications, the microplastics extraction were above 90%, regardless the type of plastic, with PE-LD reaching 100% of efficiency. The new adapted protocol that we propose will allow a better efficiency in extraction and quantification of microplastics in samples from estuarine environments. Four different types of plastic (PE-LD; PET; PA; PE-HD) were used to test the efficiency of the protocol Details as the ideal quantity of H2O2, temperature and exact quantity of NaCl were tested and defined during the experiments Efficiency of the microplastics extraction were above 90% (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 10