The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics

Leah M. Thornton Hampton; Hannah De Frond; Kristine Gesulga; Syd Kotar; Wenjian Lao; Cindy Matuch; Stephen B. Weisberg; Charles S. Wong; Susanne Brander; Silke Christansen; Cayla R. Cook; Fangni Du; Sutapa Ghosal; Andrew B. Gray; Jeanne Hankett; Paul A. Helm; Kay T. Ho; Timnit Kefela; Gwendolyn Lattin; Amy Lusher; Lei Mai; Rachel E. McNeish; Odette Mina; Elizabeth C. Minor; Sebastian Primpke; Keith Rickabaugh; Violet C. Renick; Samiksha Singh; Bert van Bavel; Florian Vollnhals; Chelsea M. Rochman

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875

The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics

Leah M. Thornton Hampton, Hannah De Frond, Kristine Gesulga, Syd Kotar, Wenjian Lao, Cindy Matuch, Stephen B. Weisberg, Charles S. Wong, Susanne Brander, Silke Christansen, Cayla R. Cook, Fangni Du, Sutapa Ghosal, Andrew B. Gray, Jeanne Hankett, Paul A. Helm, Kay T. Ho, Timnit Kefela, Gwendolyn Lattin, Amy LusherLei Mai, Rachel E. McNeish, Odette Mina, Elizabeth C. Minor, Sebastian Primpke, Keith Rickabaugh, Violet C. Renick, Samiksha Singh, Bert van Bavel, Florian Vollnhals, Chelsea M. Rochman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous studies have evaluated method performance for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in clean water, but little is known about the efficacy of procedures used to extract microplastics from complex matrices. Here we provided 15 laboratories with samples representing four matrices (i.e., drinking water, fish tissue, sediment, and surface water) each spiked with a known number of microplastic particles spanning a variety of polymers, morphologies, colors, and sizes. Percent recovery (i.e., accuracy) in complex matrices was particle size dependent, with ∼60–70% recovery for particles >212 μm, but as little as 2% recovery for particles <20 μm. Extraction from sediment was most problematic, with recoveries reduced by at least one-third relative to drinking water. Though accuracy was low, the extraction procedures had no observed effect on precision or chemical identification using spectroscopy. Extraction procedures greatly increased sample processing times for all matrices with the extraction of sediment, tissue, and surface water taking approximately 16, 9, and 4 times longer than drinking water, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing accuracy and reducing sample processing times present the greatest opportunities for method improvement rather than particle identification and characterization.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	138875
Journal	Chemosphere
Volume	334
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875
State	Published - Sep 2023
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Method
Microplastic
Microscopy
Monitoring
Spectroscopy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Thornton Hampton, L. M., De Frond, H., Gesulga, K., Kotar, S., Lao, W., Matuch, C., Weisberg, S. B., Wong, C. S., Brander, S., Christansen, S., Cook, C. R., Du, F., Ghosal, S., Gray, A. B., Hankett, J., Helm, P. A., Ho, K. T., Kefela, T., Lattin, G., ... Rochman, C. M. (2023). The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics. Chemosphere, 334, Article 138875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875

Thornton Hampton, LM, De Frond, H, Gesulga, K, Kotar, S, Lao, W, Matuch, C, Weisberg, SB, Wong, CS, Brander, S, Christansen, S, Cook, CR, Du, F, Ghosal, S, Gray, AB, Hankett, J, Helm, PA, Ho, KT, Kefela, T, Lattin, G, Lusher, A, Mai, L, McNeish, RE, Mina, O, Minor, EC, Primpke, S, Rickabaugh, K, Renick, VC, Singh, S, van Bavel, B, Vollnhals, F & Rochman, CM 2023, 'The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics', Chemosphere, vol. 334, 138875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875

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title = "The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics",

abstract = "Previous studies have evaluated method performance for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in clean water, but little is known about the efficacy of procedures used to extract microplastics from complex matrices. Here we provided 15 laboratories with samples representing four matrices (i.e., drinking water, fish tissue, sediment, and surface water) each spiked with a known number of microplastic particles spanning a variety of polymers, morphologies, colors, and sizes. Percent recovery (i.e., accuracy) in complex matrices was particle size dependent, with ∼60–70% recovery for particles >212 μm, but as little as 2% recovery for particles <20 μm. Extraction from sediment was most problematic, with recoveries reduced by at least one-third relative to drinking water. Though accuracy was low, the extraction procedures had no observed effect on precision or chemical identification using spectroscopy. Extraction procedures greatly increased sample processing times for all matrices with the extraction of sediment, tissue, and surface water taking approximately 16, 9, and 4 times longer than drinking water, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing accuracy and reducing sample processing times present the greatest opportunities for method improvement rather than particle identification and characterization.",

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note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2023",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138875",

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AU - Thornton Hampton, Leah M.

AU - De Frond, Hannah

AU - Gesulga, Kristine

AU - Kotar, Syd

AU - Lao, Wenjian

AU - Matuch, Cindy

AU - Weisberg, Stephen B.

AU - Wong, Charles S.

AU - Brander, Susanne

AU - Christansen, Silke

AU - Cook, Cayla R.

AU - Du, Fangni

AU - Ghosal, Sutapa

AU - Gray, Andrew B.

AU - Hankett, Jeanne

AU - Helm, Paul A.

AU - Ho, Kay T.

AU - Kefela, Timnit

AU - Lattin, Gwendolyn

AU - Lusher, Amy

AU - Mai, Lei

AU - McNeish, Rachel E.

AU - Mina, Odette

AU - Minor, Elizabeth C.

AU - Primpke, Sebastian

AU - Rickabaugh, Keith

AU - Renick, Violet C.

AU - Singh, Samiksha

AU - van Bavel, Bert

AU - Vollnhals, Florian

AU - Rochman, Chelsea M.

PY - 2023/9

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N2 - Previous studies have evaluated method performance for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in clean water, but little is known about the efficacy of procedures used to extract microplastics from complex matrices. Here we provided 15 laboratories with samples representing four matrices (i.e., drinking water, fish tissue, sediment, and surface water) each spiked with a known number of microplastic particles spanning a variety of polymers, morphologies, colors, and sizes. Percent recovery (i.e., accuracy) in complex matrices was particle size dependent, with ∼60–70% recovery for particles >212 μm, but as little as 2% recovery for particles <20 μm. Extraction from sediment was most problematic, with recoveries reduced by at least one-third relative to drinking water. Though accuracy was low, the extraction procedures had no observed effect on precision or chemical identification using spectroscopy. Extraction procedures greatly increased sample processing times for all matrices with the extraction of sediment, tissue, and surface water taking approximately 16, 9, and 4 times longer than drinking water, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing accuracy and reducing sample processing times present the greatest opportunities for method improvement rather than particle identification and characterization.

AB - Previous studies have evaluated method performance for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in clean water, but little is known about the efficacy of procedures used to extract microplastics from complex matrices. Here we provided 15 laboratories with samples representing four matrices (i.e., drinking water, fish tissue, sediment, and surface water) each spiked with a known number of microplastic particles spanning a variety of polymers, morphologies, colors, and sizes. Percent recovery (i.e., accuracy) in complex matrices was particle size dependent, with ∼60–70% recovery for particles >212 μm, but as little as 2% recovery for particles <20 μm. Extraction from sediment was most problematic, with recoveries reduced by at least one-third relative to drinking water. Though accuracy was low, the extraction procedures had no observed effect on precision or chemical identification using spectroscopy. Extraction procedures greatly increased sample processing times for all matrices with the extraction of sediment, tissue, and surface water taking approximately 16, 9, and 4 times longer than drinking water, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that increasing accuracy and reducing sample processing times present the greatest opportunities for method improvement rather than particle identification and characterization.

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KW - Microplastic

KW - Microscopy

KW - Monitoring

KW - Spectroscopy

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SN - 0045-6535

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JO - Chemosphere

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ER -

The influence of complex matrices on method performance in extracting and monitoring for microplastics

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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