Validation of density separation for the rapid recovery of microplastics from sediment

Quinn, Brian; Murphy, Fionn; Ewins, Ciaran

doi:10.1039/c6ay02542k

Cited by 403 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Once samples are collected, separation of the plastic fraction from the non-plastic fraction is needed. These methods use the differences between plastics and materials common in the environment to separate microplastic from aqueous, sedimentary, or mixed samples [19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Sampling Of Microplastic Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Microplastic Pollution in the Environment and Emerging Recycling Solutions

Reimonn¹,

Lu²,

Gandhi³

et al. 2019

Journal of Renewable Materials

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Microplastic pollution represents a side-effect stemming from a global plastic waste mismanagement problem and includes degraded particles or mass produced plastic particles less than 5 mm in largest dimension. The small nature of microplastics gives this area of pollution different environmental concerns than general plastic waste in the environment. The biological toxicity of particles, their internal components, and their surface level changes all present opportunities for these particles to adversely affect the environment around them. Thus, it is necessary to review the current literature surrounding this topic and identify areas where the study of microplastic can be pushed forward. Here we present current methods in studying microplastics, some of the ways by which microplastics affect the environment and attempt to shed light on how this research can continue. In addition, we review current recycling methods developing for the processing of mixed-plastic waste. These methods, including hydrothermal processing and solvent extraction, provide a unique opportunity to separate plastic waste and improve the viability of the plastics recycling industry.

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Section: Sampling Of Microplastic Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Microplastic Pollution in the Environment and Emerging Recycling Solutions

Reimonn¹,

Lu²,

Gandhi³

et al. 2019

Journal of Renewable Materials

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“…Sodium iodide (NaI) solution was prepared by dissolving the salt in distilled water to achieve a final density of 1.6 g cm -3 . We used NaI solution in this study because it is less environmentally dangerous compared to other commonly used salt solutions such as ZnBr 2 (Quinn, Murphy & Ewins, 2017). The solution was filtered through glass fiber filters (Whatman GF/F) prior to use in order to remove any contaminants.…”

Section: Microplastic Separation From Sedimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2.6 g cm -3 ) and plastics (0.1-1.7 g cm -3 ) (Chubarenko et al, 2016). In density separation, dense solutions that have been proposed include sodium polytungstate (density: ~3.2 g cm -3 ), zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 , density: ~1.8 g cm -3 ), zinc bromide (ZnBr 2 , density: 1.7 g cm -3 ) and sodium iodide (NaI, density: ~1.8 g cm -3 ) (Corcoran, Biesinger & Grifi, 2009;Imhof et al, 2012;Liebezeit & Dubaish, 2012;Dekiff et al, 2014;Van Cauwenberghe et al, 2015b;Quinn, Murphy & Ewins, 2017;Prata et al, 2018). Due to the higher densities of these salt solutions compared to most microplastics (0.9-1.5 g cm -3 ), less dense microplastics float and separate out from the more dense, sinking, sediment materials (Quinn, Murphy & Ewins, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "A new small device made of glass for separating microplastics from marine and freshwater sediments (v0.1)"

2019

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Separating microplastics from marine and freshwater sediments is challenging, but necessary to determine their distribution, mass and ecological impacts in benthic environments. Density separation is commonly used to extract microplastics from sediments by using heavy salt solutions, such as zinc chloride and sodium iodide. However, current devices/apparatus used for density separation, including glass beakers, funnels, upside-down funnel-shaped separators with a shut-off valve, etc., possess various shortcomings in terms of recovery rate, time consumption and/or usability. In evaluating existing microplastic extraction methods using density separation, we identified the need for a device that allows rapid, simple and efficient extraction of microplastics from a range of sediment types. We have developed a small glass separator, without a valve, taking a hint from an Utermöhl chamber. This new device is easy to clean and portable, yet enables rapid separation of microplastics from sediments. With this simple device, we recovered 94-98% of <1,000 µm microplastics (polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, and polystyrene). Overall, the device is efficient for various sizes, polymer types, and sediment types. Also, microplastics collected with this glassmade device remain chemically uncontaminated, and can therefore be used for further analysis of adsorbing contaminants and additives on/to microplastics.

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“…Based on this list, the authors recommended the use of ZnBr 2 (Miller et al 2017). Nevertheless, ZnBr 2 has to date just been used by one study (Quinn et al 2017) and ZnCl 2 is not included in the list although it is suitable for the same density range, less expensive (ZnBr 2 : 165 € kg −1 , ZnCl 2 : 92.50 € kg −1 , Merck Millipore, December 2017) and more widely used. Therefore, other authors have recommended the use of ZnCl 2 as well (Löder and Gerdts 2015;Ivleva et al 2016;Primpke et al 2017a).…”

Section: Extraction Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in Aquatic Systems – Monitoring Methods and Biological Consequences

Hamm

Lorenz

Piehl

2018

YOUMARES 8 – Oceans Across Boundaries: Learning From Each Other

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Microplastic research started at the turn of the millennium and is of growing interest, as microplastics have the potential to affect a whole range of organisms, from the base of the food web to top predators, including humans. To date, most studies are initial assessments of microplastic abundances for a certain area, thereby generally distinguishing three different sampling matrices: water, sediment and biota samples. Those descriptive studies are important to get a first impression of the extent of the problem, but for a proper risk assessment of ecosystems and their inhabitants, analytical studies of microplastic fluxes, sources, sinks, and transportation pathways are of utmost importance. Moreover, to gain insight into the effects microplastics might have on biota, it is crucial to identify realistic environmental concentrations of microplastics. Thus, profound knowledge about the effects of microplastics on biota is still scarce. Effects can vary regarding habitat, functional group of the organism, and polymer type for example, making it difficult to find quick answers to the many open questions. In addition, microplastic research is accompanied by many methodological challenges that need to be overcome first to assess the impact of microplastics on aquatic systems. Thereby, a development of standardized operational protocols (SOPs) is a prerequisite for comparability among studies. Since SOPs are still lacking and new methods are developed or optimized very frequently, the aim of this chapter is to point out the most crucial challenges in microplastic research and to gather the most recent promising methods used to quantify environmental concentrations of microplastics and effect studies.

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Validation of density separation for the rapid recovery of microplastics from sediment

Abstract: Validation of the separation of secondary microplastics from sediment using numerous brine solutions in a rapid, reproducible, single stage technique.

Cited by 403 publications

References 36 publications

Review of Microplastic Pollution in the Environment and Emerging Recycling Solutions

Review of Microplastic Pollution in the Environment and Emerging Recycling Solutions

Peer Review #1 of "A new small device made of glass for separating microplastics from marine and freshwater sediments (v0.1)"

Microplastics in Aquatic Systems – Monitoring Methods and Biological Consequences

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