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A review on methods for extracting and quantifying microplastic in biological tissues
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This review evaluates the methods scientists use to extract and identify microplastics from biological tissues like fish, shellfish, and animal organs. Researchers found that different extraction approaches (using acids, bases, or enzymes) yield different results, and many studies report finding plastics at sizes that may be too large to have actually crossed biological barriers. The study calls for more standardized and biologically plausible methods to improve the reliability of tissue contamination research.
Literature about the occurrence of microplastic in biological tissues has increased over the last few years. This review aims to synthesis the evidence on the preparation of biological tissues, chemical identification of microplastic and accumulation in tissues. Several microplastic's extraction approaches from biological tissues emerged (i.e., alkaline, acids, oxidizing and enzymatic). However, criteria used for the selection of the extraction method have yet to be clarified. Similarly, analytical methodologies for chemical identification often does not align with the size of particles. Furthermore, sizes of microplastics found in biological tissues are likely to be biologically implausible, due to the size of the biological barriers. From this review, it emerged that further assessment are required to determine whether microplastic particles were truly internalized, were in the vasculature serving these organs, or were an artefact of the methodological process. The importance of a standardisation of quality control/quality assurance emerged. Findings arose from this review could have a broad implication, and could be used as a basis for further investigations, to reduce artifact results and clearly assess the fate of microplastics in biological tissues.
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