Development of a fast and efficient method to analyze microplastics in planktonic samples

Microplastics (MPs) affect plankton (a basis of the trophic chain) and planktivorous fish can ingest them through food confusion or by trophic transmission. Consensus to determine MPs in plankton is lacking and, so, three digestion treatments were evaluated: Alkaline (potassium hydroxide) and enzymatic (protease plus lipase) digestions, both combined with a hydrogen peroxide stage; and an oxidative method using a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate) plus hydrogen peroxide. The alkaline method using potassium hydroxide was found to damage polystyrene. MPs were identified with a stereomicroscope and characterized by reflectance infrared microscopy in semi-automatic mode (using dedicated multi-well aluminium plates). Analytical recoveries for polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyamide, polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate were higher than 75%, 82% and 83% for the alkaline, enzymatic and oxidative treatments, respectively. The enzymatic method was successfully validated in a European interlaboratory exercise and the oxidative method was demonstrated to be a reliable, fast and cheaper alternative.

Automated summary

The study evaluated three digestion methods to determine microplastics in plankton, with the alkaline method found to damage polystyrene. The enzymatic and oxidative methods showed higher analytical recoveries for various types of plastics.