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A simple microplastic splitter for subsampling expanded polystyrene particles
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This study developed a simple, low-cost device for accurately subsampling expanded polystyrene (EPS) microplastics from net haul samples, addressing the challenge that EPS particles adhere to conventional plankton splitters due to their high buoyancy. Accurate subsampling tools are necessary to obtain reliable microplastic abundance estimates from environmental monitoring programs.
With the high number of microplastic-like particles captured by net hauls including manta or neuston nets, it is often required to subsample in order to decrease sample volume for microplastic enumeration and analysis. Plankton splitter is commonly used to divide microplastic samples. However, current devices such as Folsom plankton splitter and Motoda box splitter have accuracy issues in separating highly buoyant microplastics, namely expanded polystyrene (EPS) as they tend to adhere to the inner walls. Inspired by an apple cutter, we have developed a simple radial splitter made of stainless steel that efficiently divides EPS microplastic samples into precise aliquots. With this simple device, we uniformly divided EPS microplastic samples from marine environments into eight aliquots with no significant differences. The device is a versatile tool to partition all buoyant microplastics including polypropylene and polyethylene microplastics.•The method developed facilitates the precise division of buoyant microplastics into equal aliquots.•The method is specifically effective in splitting expanded polystyrene particles with high buoyancy.
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.