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Lost, but Found with Nile Red: A Novel Method for Detecting and Quantifying Small Microplastics (1 mm to 20 μm) in Environmental Samples
Environmental Science & Technology ( IF 10.8 ) Pub Date : 2017-11-20 00:00:00 , DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04512
Gabriel Erni-Cassola 1 , Matthew I. Gibson 2, 3 , Richard C. Thompson 4 , Joseph A. Christie-Oleza 1
Affiliation  

Marine plastic debris is a global environmental problem. Surveys have shown that <5 mm plastic particles, known as microplastics, are significantly more abundant in surface seawater and on shorelines than larger plastic particles are. Nevertheless, quantification of microplastics in the environment is hampered by a lack of adequate high-throughput methods for distinguishing and quantifying smaller size fractions (<1 mm), and this has probably resulted in an underestimation of actual microplastic concentrations. Here we present a protocol that allows high-throughput detection and automated quantification of small microplastic particles (20–1000 μm) using the dye Nile red, fluorescence microscopy, and image analysis software. This protocol has proven to be highly effective in the quantification of small polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and nylon-6 particles, which frequently occur in the water column. Our preliminary results from sea surface tows show a power-law increase in small microplastics (i.e., <1 mm) with a decreasing particle size. Hence, our data help to resolve speculation about the “apparent” loss of this fraction from surface waters. We consider that this method presents a step change in the ability to detect small microplastics by substituting the subjectivity of human visual sorting with a sensitive and semiautomated procedure.

中文翻译:

丢失,但被尼罗河红发现:一种检测和定量环境样品中小的微塑料(1毫米至20微米)的新颖方法

海洋塑料碎片是一个全球性的环境问题。调查显示,小于5毫米的塑料颗粒(称为微塑料)在地表海水和海岸线上的含量要比较大的塑料颗粒丰富得多。然而,由于缺乏足够的高通量方法来区分和定量较小尺寸的组分(<1 mm),因此难以对环境中的塑料进行定量分析,这可能导致实际塑料浓度的估算值被低估了。在这里,我们提出了一种协议,该协议允许使用染料尼罗红,荧光显微镜和图像分析软件对微小的塑料微粒(20–1000μm)进行高通量检测和自动定量。该方案已被证明在定量分析小型聚乙烯,聚丙烯,聚苯乙烯,和尼龙6颗粒,它们经常出现在水柱中。我们从海面拖曳获得的初步结果显示,小型微塑料(即<1 mm)的幂律增加,而粒径减小。因此,我们的数据有助于解决有关这一馏分从地表水中“明显”损失的推测。我们认为,该方法通过用敏感且半自动化的程序替代人类视觉分类的主观性,从而在检测小型微塑料的能力方面呈现出阶段性变化。
更新日期:2017-11-20
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