Papers

Where the rubber meets the road: Emerging environmental impacts of tire wear particles and their chemical cocktails

About 3 billion new tires are produced every year, and the particles they shed during use are one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution, especially in urban areas. Tire wear particles contain a cocktail of heavy metals, plastics, and toxic organic compounds that wash into waterways during rain. Even recycled tire products like crumb rubber fields and rubber-modified pavement continue to release pollutants, making tire pollution a complex lifecycle problem.

Dyeing to Know: Harmonizing Nile Red Staining Protocols for Microplastic Identification

Researchers systematically evaluated eight carrier solvents for Nile Red fluorescence staining to improve microplastic identification and classification. The study identified an acetone-water mixture as the optimal solvent, balancing strong fluorescence performance with minimal polymer degradation, and demonstrated that Fenton oxidation effectively eliminated false-positive fluorescence from natural organic materials.

Microplastics in Nearshore and Subtidal Sediments in the Salish Sea: Implications for Marine Habitats and Exposure

Researchers surveyed microplastic concentrations in nearshore and subtidal sediments across the Salish Sea, focusing on spawning habitats for forage fish species. They found microplastics at every sampling site, with microfibers being most abundant and significantly higher concentrations near urban areas in Puget Sound compared to the San Juan Islands. The findings indicate that forage fish and their eggs are likely exposed to microplastics in their critical nearshore habitats, with potential implications for the broader marine food web.

Evaluating exposure of northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, to microplastic pollution through fecal analysis

Fecal samples from 44 northern fur seals across their eastern Pacific range were analyzed for microplastics, with plastic fragments found in 55% and fibers in 41% of scats, and a mean of 16.6 fragments/scat among positive samples. The study documents microplastic exposure in a marine mammal species consumed by humans, raising questions about potential exposure during subsistence harvesting.

Dyeing to Know: Harmonising Nile Red Staining Protocols for Microplastic Identification

Researchers tested eight carrier solvents for Nile Red fluorescence staining of ten common microplastic polymer types to identify which combinations best distinguish MPs. Carrier solvent choice significantly affected fluorescence behavior and classification accuracy, identifying specific solvent-polymer combinations that optimize MP identification—a step toward harmonizing the widely used but unstandardized Nile Red staining protocol.

Evidence for rapid gut clearance of microplastic polyester fibers fed to Chinook salmon: A tank study

Researchers examined gut clearance of polyester microplastic fibers in Chinook salmon through a controlled tank study, finding that fish rapidly cleared ingested fibers within 48 hours under both fed and unfed conditions. The results suggest that while Chinook salmon actively ingest microplastic fibers, their guts efficiently eliminate them, raising questions about net accumulation risk.

Microplastic metrology: Current techniques, best practices, and recommendations for environmental analysis

Dyeing to Know: Optimizing Solvents for Nile Red Fluorescence in Microplastics Analysis

Researchers investigated how the choice of solvent affects Nile Red fluorescence staining for microplastic identification, optimizing solvent conditions to improve the reliability of fluorescence-based classification of microplastic polymer types in environmental samples.

Microplastics Pollution in the Marine Environment

Dyeing to Know: Optimizing Solvents for Nile Red Fluorescence in Microplastics Analysis

Researchers investigated how solvent choice influences Nile Red fluorescence staining for microplastic detection, optimizing conditions for polarity-dependent fluorescence to enable more accurate polymer classification in large-scale environmental microplastic sampling.