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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Detection Methods
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Coumarin 6 staining method to detect microplastics
Marine Pollution Bulletin2023
16 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 45
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Researchers developed a fluorescence staining method using coumarin 6 dye to detect microplastics, offering a simpler and lower-cost detection approach compared to spectroscopic methods while maintaining adequate specificity for identifying plastic particles in environmental samples.
Study Type
Environmental
Microplastics have contaminated the ocean in large quantities and are widely distributed throughout the world. Thus, our understanding of the concentration of microplastics in various environments should be increased. However, current methods to detect microplastics require considerable effort and expensive equipment. In this study, we developed a fluorescence staining technique using coumarin 6 and examined its effectiveness. A mixture of acetone and ethanol was used as the solvent, and 10 different types of plastics were able to be stained with coumarin 6. The fluorescence peak for coumarin 6 staining was approximately 500 nm for each plastic type. The optimal immersion time and coumarin 6 concentration for staining were determined to be 60 min and 1 mg L, respectively. Using this technique, we were able to stain all of the microplastics obtained from samples collected in Tokyo Bay seawater.