TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics
AU - Thornton Hampton, Leah M.
AU - De Frond, Hannah
AU - Gesulga, Kristine
AU - Kotar, Syd
AU - Lao, Wenjian
AU - Matuch, Cindy
AU - Weisberg, Stephen B.
AU - Wong, Charles S.
AU - Brander, Susanne
AU - Christansen, Silke
AU - Cook, Cayla R.
AU - Du, Fangni
AU - Ghosal, Sutapa
AU - Gray, Andrew B.
AU - Hankett, Jeanne
AU - Helm, Paul A.
AU - Ho, Kay T.
AU - Kefela, Timnit
AU - Lattin, Gwendolyn
AU - Lusher, Amy
AU - Mai, Lei
AU - McNeish, Rachel E.
AU - Mina, Odette
AU - Minor, Elizabeth C.
AU - Primpke, Sebastian
AU - Rickabaugh, Keith
AU - Renick, Violet C.
AU - Singh, Samiksha
AU - van Bavel, Bert
AU - Vollnhals, Florian
AU - Rochman, Chelsea M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Previous studies have evaluated method performance for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in clean water, but little is known about the efficacy of procedures used to extract microplastics from complex matrices. Here we provided 15 laboratories with samples representing four matrices (i.e., drinking water, fish tissue, sediment, and surface water) each spiked with a known number of microplastic particles spanning a variety of polymers, morphologies, colors, and sizes. Percent recovery (i.e., accuracy) in complex matrices was particle size dependent, with ∼60–70% recovery for particles >212 μm, but as little as 2% recovery for particles <20 μm. Extraction from sediment was most problematic, with recoveries reduced by at least one-third relative to drinking water. Though accuracy was low, the extraction procedures had no observed effect on precision or chemical identification using spectroscopy. Extraction procedures greatly increased sample processing times for all matrices with the extraction of sediment, tissue, and surface water taking approximately 16, 9, and 4 times longer than drinking water, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing accuracy and reducing sample processing times present the greatest opportunities for method improvement rather than particle identification and characterization.
AB - Previous studies have evaluated method performance for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in clean water, but little is known about the efficacy of procedures used to extract microplastics from complex matrices. Here we provided 15 laboratories with samples representing four matrices (i.e., drinking water, fish tissue, sediment, and surface water) each spiked with a known number of microplastic particles spanning a variety of polymers, morphologies, colors, and sizes. Percent recovery (i.e., accuracy) in complex matrices was particle size dependent, with ∼60–70% recovery for particles >212 μm, but as little as 2% recovery for particles <20 μm. Extraction from sediment was most problematic, with recoveries reduced by at least one-third relative to drinking water. Though accuracy was low, the extraction procedures had no observed effect on precision or chemical identification using spectroscopy. Extraction procedures greatly increased sample processing times for all matrices with the extraction of sediment, tissue, and surface water taking approximately 16, 9, and 4 times longer than drinking water, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing accuracy and reducing sample processing times present the greatest opportunities for method improvement rather than particle identification and characterization.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875
DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875
M3 - Article
C2 - 37187379
AN - SCOPUS:85160548126
SN - 0045-6535
VL - 334
JO - Chemosphere
JF - Chemosphere
M1 - 138875
ER -
