Themed collection Microplastics in the environment

Paul Helm discusses the need for a more detailed level of classification to aid in identifying source contributions of microplastics, providing direction on the implementation of management activities to reduce the occurrence of microplastics in the environment and enabling monitoring of the effectiveness of those actions.

Rob Hale considers the significant analytical challenges posed through the use of plastics and the resulting small fragments they yield – microplastics – which are a major contaminant of concern for both human health and ecosystems worldwide.

Welcome to this Analytical Methods themed issue on microplastics in the environment, guest edited by Chelsea M. Rochman, Fiona Regan and Richard C. Thompson. The editors hope that this editorial will facilitate discussions that lead toward harmonized methods that are informed by hypotheses, and ultimately produce data that can be synthesized and used to inform effective local and global policies that prevent and mitigate microplastics.

The present paper illustrates the breadth of research methods in the Social and Behavioural Sciences and how these may be applied to the issue of environmental microplastics.

A summary of molecular and visualization techniques to characterize life in the Plastisphere and compare corresponding datasets through the VAMPS website.

Analytical approaches and methods applied to the chemical analysis of microplastics and plastic debris from the marine environment were reviewed.

In this review the analytical techniques for measuring microplastics in sediment have been evaluated.

Improved design of sampling microplastic waste is necessary. Important problems are identified and suggestions for improvements are made.

Microplastics have become a major global environmental issue in recent decades due to their ubiquity in the oceans, bioavailability and ability to carry toxic chemicals.

Plastic marine debris is a global problem, but due to its widespread and patchy distribution, gathering sufficient samples for scientific research is challenging with limited ship time and human resources.

Microplastic debris (<5 mm) is a prolific environmental pollutant, found worldwide in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. This review assesses the numerous different methods used to identify microplastics ingested by marine organisms.

A wastewater utility's attempt to optimize extraction and identification of microplastics underscores unique matrix-related challenges and interferences.

Understanding plastic pollution from a systems perspective requires a way of conceptualizing sources, distribution and dynamics in the environment; identifying or quantifying impacts on wildlife, humans and other assets; and identifying and evaluating potential management responses.

We present an automated approach to reduce the time demand currently needed for data analyses. We have developed a novel analysis pipeline, followed by image analysis with Python and Simple ITK image processing modules.

We present here a novel, density-independent, FTIR-compatible and inexpensive approach for extracting microplastics from aquatic sediments.

PAEs concentrations can serve as tracer of plastics ingestion by marine organisms.

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

This alternative microplastic extraction method employs ultrapure water, ultrasonication, and identification using complementary optical microscopy, SEM/EDS, FTIR, and RMS techniques.

Marine snow is a predominant form of sinking particulate carbon in the marine water column and represents a mechanism for transporting microplastics to the sea floor.

With the rapid evolution of microplastic research over several decades, there is an urgent need to compare methodologies for quantifying microplastic in aquatic environments.

Plastic pollution has become one of the largest environmental challenges we currently face, but standardized reporting is required to meet critical research needs.

Development of an effective, non-destructive enzymatic method to extract microplastics from newly sampled and archival specimen collections.

Molecular characterization of ocean plastic biofilms can shed light on the ecological implications of plastic pollution; here we provide detailed protocols and compare different DNA extraction methods applied to marine microplastics.