A small-scale, portable method for extracting microplastics from marine sediments
A small-scale, portable method for extracting microplastics from marine sediments
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DOI：
10.1016/j.envpol.2017.07.017
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发表时间：
2017-11-01
影响因子：
8.9
通讯作者：
Galloway, Tamara S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Coppock, Rachel L.;Cole, Matthew;Galloway, Tamara S.
微塑料（0.1 μ m- 5mm大小的塑料颗粒）是广泛存在的海洋污染物，在世界各地的底栖沉积物和海岸线中积累。为了更清楚地了解海洋生物可获得的微塑料，以及它们对底栖生物群落健康、生态过程和粮食安全构成的风险，获得海洋沉积物中微塑料丰度的准确测量非常重要。迄今为止，从海洋沉积物中提取微塑料的方法一直存在复杂、费用高、提取效率低以及与极细沉积物不相容的缺点。在这里，我们提出了一种新的，便携式的方法，从不同类型的沉积物中分离微塑料，利用密度浮动的原理。沉积物-微塑料分离（SMI）装置是一种定制的设备，可以在一个步骤中持续地从沉积物中提取微塑料，平均效率为95.8% （+/- SE 1.6%；最小70%，最大100%）。氯化锌的密度为1.5 g cm(-3)，被认为是一种有效且相对便宜的浮选介质，可以使细沉积物沉淀，同时使致密聚合物漂浮。通过在沉积物中人工添加低密度和高密度微塑料，验证了该方法的有效性，并通过从不同沉积物类型的地点提取天然沉积物样本中的塑料，进一步测试了其环境相关性；细粉砂/粘土（平均粒径10.25 +/- SD 3.02亩）到粗砂（平均粒径1493 +/- SD 49.9亩）。本文提出的方法成本低廉，可重复性好，便于携带，适用于实验室和现场。在科考船上。通过采用这种方法，可以准确估计天然沉积物中微塑料的类型、分布和丰度，并有可能进一步了解底栖生物对微塑料的可利用性。(C) 2017年作者。Elsevier Ltd.出版。
Microplastics (plastic particles, 0.1 mu m-5 mm in size) are widespread marine pollutants, accumulating in benthic sediments and shorelines the world over. To gain a clearer understanding of microplastic availability to marine life, and the risks they pose to the health of benthic communities, ecological processes and food security, it is important to obtain accurate measures of microplastic abundance in marine sediments. To date, methods for extracting microplastics from marine sediments have been disadvantaged by complexity, expense, low extraction efficiencies and incompatibility with very fine sediments.Here we present a new, portable method to separate microplastics from sediments of differing types, using the principle of density floatation. The Sediment-Microplastic Isolation (SMI) unit is a custom-built apparatus which consistently extracted microplastics from sediments in a single step, with a mean efficiency of 95.8% (+/- SE 1.6%; min 70%, max 100%). Zinc chloride, at a density of 1.5 g cm(-3), was deemed an effective and relatively inexpensive floatation media, allowing fine sediment to settle whilst simultaneously enabling floatation of dense polymers. The method was validated by artificially spiking sediment with low and high density microplastics, and its environmental relevance was further tested by extracting plastics present in natural sediment samples from sites ranging in sediment type; fine silt/clay (mean size 10.25 +/- SD 3.02 mu m) to coarse sand (mean size 1493 +/- SD 49.9 mu m). The method presented here is cheap, reproducible and is easily portable, lending itself for use in the laboratory and in the field, eg. on board research vessels. By employing this method, accurate estimates of microplastic type, distribution and abundance in natural sediments can be achieved, with the potential to further our understanding of the availability of microplastics to benthic organisms. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.