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Community Science Microplastics Monitoring Program Volunteer Manual
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Scientists in Charleston created a program that trains everyday volunteers to test local waterways for microplastics - tiny plastic particles that can contaminate our water supply. The program gives regular people the tools and training to help monitor plastic pollution in rivers and harbors that could affect drinking water and seafood safety. This approach helps fill important gaps in tracking microplastic pollution that scientists can't monitor everywhere on their own.
Charleston Waterkeeper and the College of Charleston have partnered in an academic-nonprofit partnership to develop a community science microplastic monitoring program in the Charleston Harbor watershed. The following Microplastic Monitoring Volunteer Manual was prepared in early 2023 to provide an accessible and low-cost yet rigorous methodology for community scientists in a pilot program to collect and process water samples for microplastic detection using visual/tactile criteria according to scientific practices for microplastic monitoring at the time. The work aimed to harmonize methods with those of previous studies to facilitate comparison over a regional scale, and to provide a working model to aid other researchers and community science efforts. Volunteers underwent a two-part training workshop consisting of an online presentation with general information about microplastic and environmental detection methods, followed by an in-person demonstration of field sampling and laboratory analysis protocols. This manual was a key resource for volunteers and accompanied by in-person staff support. Additional quality assurance/control was performed for this pilot program that are not detailed in this manual and are essential to validate microplastic study results. This includes advanced spectroscopy to verify polymer identity of suspected microplastics (e.g. micro-Raman spectroscopy), and a positive control test to document field and laboratory method recovery of spiked microplastic particles through sample processing steps. Community scientists participating were also surveyed throughout the pilot study to better understand motivations and incorporate their input into the program design. The full reporting of the pilot study is published open access in 2026 in the Journal of Hazardous Materials: Plastics. We are continuing to refine our sampling methods and program practices to build community, leverage partnerships and elevate the impact of community science towards filling data gaps and addressing the issue of microplastics in our waterways.
More Papers Like This
Community Science Microplastics Monitoring Program Volunteer Manual
AI summary Read the abstract
Scientists in Charleston created a program where community volunteers help monitor tiny plastic particles (called microplastics) in local waterways using simple, low-cost methods. This approach helps fill important data gaps about plastic pollution in our water systems that could affect human health. The program shows how regular citizens can contribute valuable scientific data to track environmental contamination in their communities.
Magnifying microplastics monitoring with a community science sampling and analysis program
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A community science program monitoring the Charleston Harbor Watershed found microplastic fibers in 100% of monthly water samples across 12 sites, with concentrations of 0.6-4.5 particles per liter after verification using micro-Raman spectroscopy. This study demonstrates that trained volunteers can meaningfully expand microplastic monitoring coverage, though secondary verification tools are essential for accurate counts, especially for smaller particles.
Microplastics in the marine environment: development of a new citizen science tool
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Scientists developed a simple, cheap test that lets everyday volunteers ("citizen scientists") accurately identify microplastic pollution in ocean water, using the fact that plastic melts while other debris doesn't. Tested by 39 volunteers in the Mediterranean Sea, the method proved reliable enough to match professional lab results, meaning more people worldwide could help track where microplastic pollution is worst — the same tiny plastic particles increasingly found in our food, water, and bodies.
Testing Kayakers as Citizen Scientists for monitoring microplastics in the coastal marine environment
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Researchers tested the feasibility of using kayakers as citizen scientists to monitor microplastics in coastal marine environments through the 'MicroPlastic Hunters Project' in Italy, equipping volunteers with mini-manta nets to collect nearshore surface water samples starting in March 2021. The project demonstrated that recreational water sports participants could effectively fill spatial monitoring gaps left by conventional research vessel-based methods.
Design of Microplastics Citizen Science Kit
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This study describes the design and development of a citizen science kit for microplastic sampling in rivers, enabling non-specialists to collect standardized water samples for subsequent laboratory analysis. Researchers evaluated kit usability and sample quality, finding that with basic training community members could generate data comparable to professional sampling efforts.
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