Recommended best practices for collecting, analyzing, and reporting microplastics in environmental media: Lessons learned from comprehensive monitoring of San Francisco Bay

Miller, Ezra; Sedlak, Meg; Lin, Diana; Box, Carolynn; Holleman, Christopher; Rochman, Chelsea M.; Sutton, Rebecca

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124770

Cited by 140 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…The visual identification of microplastics followed the definitions of previous studies (e.g. De Witte et al, 2014;MERI, 2017;Hurley et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2021). A particle was identified as microplastic, if (1) it had no visible organic structures even under high magnification; (2) had homogenous colour; and (3) reacted to the hot needle test.…”

Section: Laboratory Workmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Several authors highlighted the importance of contamination prevention and quality control in microplastic research (e.g. Miller et al, 2021;Pérez-Guevara et al, 2021). Throughout the sample collection and laboratory work, metal and glass equipment and non-synthetic clothing were used to avoid contamination.…”

Section: Contamination Prevention and Quality Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As far as in the analysed real samples contained 196 microplastic fibres in average, the degree of laboratory contamination is estimated to be 2.0-7.6%. Consequently, final results were not corrected by these values as it was suggested by Miller et al (2021).…”

Section: Contamination Prevention and Quality Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Spatial distribution of microplastics in the fluvial sediments of a transboundary river – A case study of the Tisza River in Central Europe

Kiss

Fórián

Szatmári

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Laboratory Workmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Contamination Prevention and Quality Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Spatial distribution of microplastics in the fluvial sediments of a transboundary river – A case study of the Tisza River in Central Europe

Kiss

Fórián

Szatmári

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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“…All microparticles included in polymer analysis were confirmed to be anthropogenic in either origin or processing (Figure 7 and Supporting Information, Table S2). Processed microparticles accounted for 80% of the subsample analyzed and included non-synthetic material (e.g., forms of cellulose that originated from a plant; Miller et al, 2021) that had been isolated and had undergone human processing including the addition of additives or dyes. Examples of cellulose categorized as processed include paper products (e.g., plastic-lined cups) or plant-based fabrics (e.g., linen, wool, and cotton).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal Variability of Microparticles Under the Seattle Aquarium, Washington State: Documenting the Global Covid‐19 Pandemic

Harris

Beur

Olsen

et al. 2021

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Anthropogenic debris including microparticles (MP; <5mm) are ubiquitous in marine environments. The Salish Sea experiences seasonal fluctuations in precipitation, river discharge, sewage overflow events, and tourism-all variables previously thought to have an impact on MP transport and concentrations. Our goals are two-fold: 1) Describe long-term MP contamination data including concentration, type, and size and 2) Determine if seasonal MP concentrations are dependent on environmental or tourism variables in Elliott Bay, Salish Sea. We sampled 100 L of seawater at depth (~9 m) at the Seattle Aquarium approximately every two weeks 2019 -2020 and used an oil extraction This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Accepted Articleprotocol to separate MP. We found MP concentrations ranged from 0 -0.64 particles L⁻¹ and fibers were the most common typ e observed. Microparticle concentration exhibited a breakpoint on April 10, 2020, where estimated slope and associated MP concentration significantly declined. Further, when considering both environmental as well as tourism variables, temporal MP concentration was best described by a mixedeffects model with tourism as the fixed effect and the person counting MP as the random effect. While monitoring efforts presented here set out to identify effects of seasonality and interannual differences in MP concentrations, it instead captured an effect of decreased tourism due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Long-term monitoring is critical to establish temporal MP concentrations and to help researchers understand if there are certain events, both seasonal and sporadic (e.g. rain events, tourism, or global pandemics), when the marine environment is more at risk from anthropogenic pollution.

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“…There is a need to standardized practices and enforce strong quality assurance and control measures to allow data to be reproducible and comparable across aquatic systems. Many authors have recommended guidelines and best practices to improve initial study design and ensure a minimum standard quality for microplastic data (Twiss 2016, Connors et al 2017, Hung et al 2020, and Miller et al 2021. Cowger et al (2020) compiled a checklist of elements for researchers to provide comparable information.…”

Section: Toward Standard Practices and Biomonitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in lakes and rivers: an issue of emerging significance to limnology

2022

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Microplastics—plastic particles in the size range of planktonic organisms—have been found in the water columns and sediments of lakes and rivers globally. The number and mass of plastic particles drifting through a river can exceed those of living organisms such as zooplankton and fish larvae. In freshwater sediments, concentrations of microplastics reach the same magnitude as in the world’s most contaminated marine sediments. Such particles are derived from a unique biogeochemical cycle that ultimately influences productivity, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, microplastics act as vectors of toxic substances to invertebrates, fishes, herpetofauna, and waterfowl. We contend that the concentration of this distinct particle component is an ecologically significant parameter of inland waterbodies because of its ubiquity, environmental persistence, and interactions with key ecological processes. No environmental field survey that has searched for microplastics has yet failed to detect their presence. Standardized limnological protocols are needed to compare spatio-temporal variation in the concentration of microplastics within and across watersheds. Data obtained from such protocols would facilitate environmental monitoring and inform policy for managing plastic waste; furthermore, they would enable more accurate modeling of contaminant cycling and the development of a global plastic budget that identifies sources, distribution and circulation pathways, reservoir size and retention times.

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Recommended best practices for collecting, analyzing, and reporting microplastics in environmental media: Lessons learned from comprehensive monitoring of San Francisco Bay

Cited by 140 publications

References 108 publications

Spatial distribution of microplastics in the fluvial sediments of a transboundary river – A case study of the Tisza River in Central Europe

Spatial distribution of microplastics in the fluvial sediments of a transboundary river – A case study of the Tisza River in Central Europe

Temporal Variability of Microparticles Under the Seattle Aquarium, Washington State: Documenting the Global Covid‐19 Pandemic

Microplastics in lakes and rivers: an issue of emerging significance to limnology

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