0
Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Sign in to save

Solid-Liquid-Liquid Microextraction (μSLLE) Method for Determining Persistent Pollutants in Microplastics

Water Air & Soil Pollution 2021 7 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Bárbara Abaroa-Pérez, A. E. Caballero-Martel, José Joaquín Hernández Brito, Daura Vega-Moreno

Summary

A new miniaturized solid-liquid-liquid microextraction method was developed to efficiently extract and analyze up to 27 persistent organic pollutants from marine microplastics using GC-MS. This cost-effective technique enables routine environmental monitoring of toxic chemical contamination on microplastic particles, which act as vectors concentrating pollutants in marine ecosystems.

Ongoing pollution of the marine environment requires quick and reasonably priced analytical techniques that allow routine checking of the concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found in different samples and, in particular, coastal samples. Miniaturized extraction techniques enable us to analyze samples more quickly and cheaply. These methodologies are highly effective for analysis of liquid samples, but not for solid samples, and even less so for microplastic pollutant analyses. A miniaturized solid-liquid-liquid extraction technique (μSLLE) has been developed to extract, pre-concentrate, and analyze up to 27 POPs from marine microplastics, using a quick methodology which does not require drying of the extract for its preconcentration. Target pollutants were analyzed using single quadrupole gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The method has been optimized and validated, and was applied to different marine microplastic samples collected on the islands of Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain).

Share this paper