We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Evaluating the Effect of Chemical Digestion Treatments on Polystyrene Microplastics: Recommended Updates to Chemical Digestion Protocols
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers evaluated how common chemical reagents used to extract microplastics from biological samples affect polystyrene particles. They found that nitric acid was the most destructive to the plastics, while alkaline and oxidative reagents caused negligible changes. The study recommends updating standard laboratory protocols to avoid accidentally damaging microplastics during extraction, which could lead to inaccurate pollution measurements.
Abstract Establishing the toxicity and exposure consequences of microplastics (MPs) on marine organisms relies on the nondestructive isolation of plastics from biological matrices. MPs are commonly extracted from these matrices by chemical digestion using alkali (e.g., potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH)), oxidative (e.g., hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 )) and/or acidic (e.g., nitric acid (HNO 3 )) reagents. Although these digestion conditions can be highly effective for MP extraction, they can also react with the plastics. This can attribute an inaccurate representation of plastic contamination by altering MP visual characteristics (size, shape, color), thereby impeding identification and potentially returning erroneous numbers of ingested particles. In this study, the degradative impacts are assessed of the routinely applied digestion reagents (i) KOH, (ii) NaOH, (iii) H 2 O 2 , and (iv) HNO 3 on polystyrene (PS) based MPs sized between 200 µm and 5 mm. Degradation of the PS MPs is evaluated using FT‐IR, gel permeation chromatography, NMR, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and microscopy. These studies reveal HNO 3 to be the most destructive for PS MPs, while the alkali and oxidative reagents result in negligible changes in plastic properties. These results are recommended to be used as a guideline to update current protocols to ensure the nondestructive treatment of MPs.
More Papers Like This
Extraction of microplastic from biota: recommended acidic digestion destroys common plastic polymers
AI summary Read the abstract
This study tested standard acidic tissue digestion protocols used to extract microplastics from marine organisms and found that the recommended nitric acid treatment destroyed certain common plastic types beyond recognition. The findings warn that protocols designed to remove biological tissue can inadvertently degrade the very microplastics researchers are trying to detect.
Development of Standardized Methods to Extract and Digest Microplastics in Environmental Samples
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers tested 72 combinations of chemical extraction and digestion methods to find approaches that accurately recover microplastics from environmental samples without damaging them. They found that different density separation solutions and digestion reagents can significantly alter the physical and chemical properties of certain plastic types, particularly PET and polystyrene. The study provides practical guidance for selecting methods that preserve microplastic integrity during laboratory analysis.
Microplastic sample purification methods - Assessing detrimental effects of purification procedures on specific plastic types
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers assessed how common microplastic purification methods affect different polymer types, finding that acidic and alkaline digestion can degrade certain plastics like polycarbonate and polyamide, potentially leading to underestimation in environmental samples.
Quantitative and qualitative impacts of nitric acid digestion on microplastic identification via FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, implications for environmental samples
AI summary Read the abstract
Nitric acid is commonly used to digest biological tissue when extracting microplastics for analysis, but this study found it severely degrades or destroys several common plastics — including nylon and polyurethane — leading to underestimated counts and misidentified polymer types. These findings are a methodological warning: results from studies using nitric acid digestion may significantly underreport actual microplastic ingestion by marine organisms.
Efficacy of chemical digestion methods to reveal undamaged microplastics from planktonic samples
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers compared several chemical methods for removing biological material from marine water samples so that microplastics associated with plankton can be accurately identified. They found that alkaline and oxidative digestion methods were the most effective at breaking down plankton while causing minimal damage to the microplastic particles themselves. The study contributes to standardizing laboratory techniques so that microplastic measurements across different research groups are more comparable and reliable.
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.