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Using a forensic science approach to minimize environmental contamination and to identify microfibres in marine sediments

Marine Pollution Bulletin 2015 310 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Lucy C. Woodall Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Claire Gwinnett, Claire Gwinnett, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Lucy C. Woodall Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Laura F. Robinson, Lucy C. Woodall Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Laura F. Robinson, Margaret Packer, Margaret Packer, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Gordon Paterson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Laura F. Robinson, Richard C. Thompson, Gordon Paterson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Laura F. Robinson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Gordon Paterson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Gordon Paterson, Richard C. Thompson, Claire Gwinnett, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall Lucy C. Woodall Lucy C. Woodall Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Lucy C. Woodall

Summary

This paper argued for applying forensic science standards — including rigorous chain of custody and contamination controls — to microplastic sampling and analysis to reduce false positives from lab contamination. The study found that microfibers, which are ubiquitous in lab air, are particularly likely to contaminate samples unless strict protocols are followed.

There is growing evidence of extensive pollution of the environment by microplastic, with microfibres representing a large proportion of the microplastics seen in marine sediments. Since microfibres are ubiquitous in the environment, present in the laboratory air and water, evaluating microplastic pollution is difficult. Incidental contamination is highly likely unless strict control measures are employed. Here we describe methods developed to minimize the amount of incidental post-sampling contamination when quantifying marine microfibre pollution. We show that our protocol, adapted from the field of forensic fibre examination, reduces fibre abundance by 90% and enables the quick screening of fibre populations. These methods therefore allow an accurate estimate of microplastics polluting marine sediments. In a case study from a series of samples collected on a research vessel, we use these methods to highlight the prevalence of microfibres as marine microplastics.

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