Low-cost microplastic visualization in feeding experiments using an ultraviolet light-emitting flashlight
Low-cost microplastic visualization in feeding experiments using an ultraviolet light-emitting flashlight
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DOI：
10.1111/1440-1703.12080
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发表时间：
2020-01-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Koop, Jochen H. E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ehlers, Sonja M.;Maxein, Jan;Koop, Jochen H. E.
微塑料是威胁海洋、淡水和陆地生物健康的污染物。为了分析生物体是否能够摄入微塑料，通常会给生物体喂食昂贵的荧光微珠，并将其置于荧光显微镜下进行微塑料检测。然而，许多实验室买不起这种设备。因此，我们开发了一种低成本的方法来研究水生无脊椎动物对低成本荧光塑料微粒和纤维的摄取和排泄。在我们的饲养实验中，我们暴露于人工生物膜的淡水蜗牛根balthica含有15%的微塑料碎片和纤维，分别。然后，我们使用紫外线（UV）手电筒照射微塑料。因此，我们可以直接观察食物中的微塑料，在摄入和排泄过程中以及蜗牛粪便中。因此，我们的方法使我们能够分析蜗牛的行为（在摄入和排泄过程中），蜗牛粪便中的微塑料分布以及蜗牛消化后的微塑料形状。此外，我们观察到蜗牛在摄入微塑料76小时后停止排出微塑料。然而，在微塑料暴露后6天，对蜗牛的化学消化显示，微塑料仍然存在于R。balthica，强调微塑料在动物体内的持久性。这是第一项将低成本的荧光微塑料与廉价的紫外线手电筒相结合的研究，用于在微生物摄入和排泄过程中进行微塑料检测。我们的新方法不仅具有成本效益，而且速度快，可以由广泛的研究人员进行，而无需特殊的先前培训。
Microplastics are pollutants threatening the health of marine, freshwater and terrestrial organisms. To analyze whether an organism is able to ingest microplastics, the organism is usually fed with expensive fluorescent microbeads and placed under a fluorescence microscope for microplastic detection. However, such equipment cannot be afforded by many laboratories. Therefore, we developed a low-cost method to study the ingestion and egestion of low-cost, fluorescent microplastic fragments and fibers by aquatic invertebrates. During our feeding experiments, we exposed the freshwater snail Radix balthica to artificial biofilms containing 15% microplastic fragments and fibers, respectively. We then used an ultraviolet (UV) flashlight to irradiate the microplastics. Hence, we could directly observe the microplastics in the food, during ingestion and egestion as well as in the snail feces. Our method, thereby, allowed us to analyze the snails' behavior (during ingestion and egestion), the microplastics' distribution in the snail feces and the microplastics' shape after the snails' digestion. Furthermore, we observed that the snails ceased to egest microplastics after 76 hr following microplastic ingestion. However, chemical digestion of the snails 6 days after microplastic exposure revealed that microplastics were still present in R. balthica, emphasizing the microplastics' persistence in the animals' bodies. This is the first study combining the usage of low-cost fluorescent microplastics with an inexpensive UV flashlight for microplastic detection during microplastic ingestion and egestion by living organisms. Our new method is not only cost-effective, but also fast and can be performed by a wide range of researchers without special previous training.