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Trace element distribution in marine microplastics using laser ablation-ICP-MS
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Laser ablation-ICP-MS was applied to characterize trace element distributions within individual microplastic particles collected from marine environments. The technique revealed that microplastics carry and concentrate diverse trace metals on their surfaces, providing direct evidence of their capacity to transport metal contaminants in marine systems.
Due to the dramatic quantity of plastic debris released into our environment, one of the biggest challenges of the next decades is to trace and quantify microplastics (MPs) in our environments, especially to better evaluate their capacity to transport other contaminants such as trace metals. In this study, trace elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sn, Sb, Pb, and U) were analyzed in the microplastic subsurface (200 μm) using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Microplastics subjected to the marine environment were collected on beaches (Guadeloupe) exposed to the north Atlantic gyre. We established a strategy to discriminate sorbed contaminants from additives based on the metal concentration profiles in MP subsurface using qualitative and quantitative approaches. A spatiotemporal correlation of the sorption pattern was proposed to compare MPs in terms of relative exposure time and time-weighted average concentrations in the exposure media.
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Researchers applied sector-field ICP-MS to quantify 13 toxic metals—including cadmium, lead, chromium, and mercury—in microplastics collected from Caspian Sea water and beach sediments, comparing three sample preparation protocols and achieving method repeatability of 1–4% RSD, establishing a validated workflow for metal contamination assessment on environmental microplastics.
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