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Community Science Microplastics Monitoring Program Volunteer Manual
Summary
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.
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.