Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Evaluation and optimisation of sample preparation protocols suitable for the analysis of plastic particles present in seafood

Ten digestion protocols for extracting microplastics from seafood were compared across a broad range of species, evaluating their ability to fully digest tissue without damaging polymer integrity, providing a basis for selecting suitable methods for human exposure assessment.

2021 Food Control 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Quick and efficient microplastic isolation from fatty fish tissues by surfactant-enhanced alkaline digestion

Researchers developed a faster method for extracting microplastics from fish tissues using a combination of detergents and potassium hydroxide, completing digestion of 100-gram samples within 16 to 24 hours — far quicker than existing multi-day protocols. The technique reliably recovered six common plastic types down to 60-80 micrometers in fatty fish like mackerel and salmon, making routine food safety monitoring more practical.

2023 Marine Pollution Bulletin 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Improved methodology for microplastic extraction from gastrointestinal tracts of fat fish species

Researchers improved microplastic extraction from fatty fish tissues by adding a small amount of the surfactant Tween-20 to potassium hydroxide digestion protocols, which disrupts the soap layer that forms during fat digestion and significantly increases microplastic recovery rates.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Interlaboratory comparison of microplastic extraction methods from marine biota tissues: A harmonization exercise of the Plastic Busters MPAs project

An interlaboratory comparison tested two methods for extracting microplastics from fish gastrointestinal tracts and mussel tissue: 15% hydrogen peroxide digestion and 10% potassium hydroxide digestion. The exercise, conducted across four labs within the Plastic Busters MPAs project, aimed to harmonize extraction protocols for more comparable results.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Oil extraction following digestion to separate microplastics from mussels

This study compared several chemical digestion and extraction methods for isolating microplastics from mussel tissue, finding that hydrogen peroxide digestion followed by oil-based extraction achieved over 95% recovery across multiple plastic types. Optimized extraction methods are essential for accurately detecting microplastic contamination in shellfish that humans consume.

2021 Chemosphere 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Improving the efficiency of post-digestion method in extracting microplastics from gastrointestinal tract and gills of fish

Researchers compared three post-digestion techniques for separating microplastics from fish tissue samples and found sieving and zinc chloride density separation both achieved over 95% efficiency without damaging most polymer types. The study provides practical guidance for improving the accuracy of microplastic detection in marine biological samples.

2020 Chemosphere 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Food preference determines the best suitable digestion protocol for analysing microplastic ingestion by fish

Different fish species with different diets require different chemical digestion methods for accurately extracting and identifying microplastics from their digestive tracts. Choosing the right protocol for each species is essential for avoiding underestimation of microplastic ingestion, which affects the accuracy of food safety assessments.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Development and Validation of an Efficient Method for Processing Microplastics in Biota Samples

A new one-step laboratory method was developed to efficiently digest and extract microplastics from mussel and fish tissue samples. Standardized extraction methods are critical for making microplastic studies comparable across different labs and species.

2019 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the effectiveness of microplastic extraction methods on fishmeal with different properties

Researchers evaluated microplastic extraction methods across five fishmeal types varying in protein, organic, carbonate, and density composition, finding that a calcium chloride overflow with dispersant and potassium hydroxide digestion achieved the highest recovery rate (66.3% in sardine and anchovy meal) and concluding that previously reported microplastic concentrations in fishmeal are likely underestimated due to inadequate methodology.

2022 Analytical Methods 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental development of a new protocol for extraction and characterization of microplastics in fish tissues: First observations in commercial species from Adriatic Sea

Researchers developed and tested a new protocol for the extraction and characterization of microplastics from environmental samples, optimizing steps for recovery efficiency and polymer identification accuracy.

2015 Marine Environmental Research 768 citations
Article Tier 2

Development and optimization of a standard method for extraction of microplastics in mussels by enzyme digestion of soft tissues

Researchers optimized methods for digesting mussel soft tissue and extracting microplastics for analysis, finding that sodium hydroxide and enzymatic digestion both achieved high recoveries (~93%) while acid digestion damaged certain plastic types. The validated method provides a reliable protocol for monitoring microplastic contamination in commercially important bivalves.

2016 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 317 citations
Article Tier 2

Customized digestion protocols for copepods, euphausiids, chaetognaths and fish larvae facilitate the isolation of ingested microplastics

Researchers developed optimized, low-cost tissue digestion protocols using potassium hydroxide and enzymes to reliably extract ingested microplastics from tiny marine animals including copepods, krill, arrow worms, and fish larvae — organisms that are critical links in ocean food webs. The protocols achieved over 98% tissue digestion and over 91% microplastic recovery without damaging the plastic particles. Standardized methods for small zooplankton are urgently needed to understand how microplastics move up marine food chains and ultimately reach fish and seafood consumed by humans.

2024 Scientific Reports 3 citations
Article Tier 2

An assessment workflow to recover microplastics from complex biological matrices

Researchers developed an assessment workflow for recovering microplastics from complex marine biological matrices, finding that potassium hydroxide digestion was most effective across coral, sponge, sea squirt, and sea cucumber tissues while minimizing damage to plastic particles.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimization of an Analytical Protocol for the Extraction of Microplastics from Seafood Samples with Different Levels of Fat

Researchers developed and optimized an analytical extraction protocol for microplastics from seafood samples with varying fat content, testing the method on fresh and canned fish and molluscs. They found that fat-rich matrices required additional lipid removal steps to achieve reliable extraction efficiency, and validated a protocol suitable for high-fat seafood that reduces matrix interference while maintaining microplastic recovery.

2022 Molecules 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards harmonised methods for microplastic analysis in food: development and optimisation for seafood products

Researchers evaluated and optimized methods for detecting and quantifying microplastics in the edible parts of seafood products, comparing enzymatic-alkaline digestion combined with filtration and oxidative treatment against other approaches for sensitivity, precision, and practical accessibility. The study aimed to contribute to method standardization, identifying the combined digestion protocol as most suitable for routine food control analysis.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Optimization of a new multi-reagent procedure for quantitative mussel digestion in microplastic analysis

This study optimized a chemical digestion protocol for extracting microplastics from mussel tissue by testing combinations of multiple reagents, aiming to completely destroy biological material while preserving plastic particles for analysis. The optimized method improved microplastic recovery compared to single-reagent approaches. Accurate extraction methods are critical for reliably measuring microplastic contamination in mussels, a widely consumed shellfish and important food safety indicator.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Protocol for extraction and analysis of microplastics in freshwater, sediment, and fish samples

Researchers developed a standardized protocol for extracting and identifying microplastics from freshwater, sediment, and fish digestive system samples, combining chemical digestion, density separation, vacuum filtration, and Raman spectroscopy to enable reliable, reproducible analysis across aquatic sample types.

2025 STAR Protocols 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in wild mussels (Mytilus spp.) from the north coast of Spain

Mussels from two regions of northern Spain's coastline contained microplastics, with potassium hydroxide digestion recovering significantly more particles than nitric acid digestion. The choice of digestion method substantially affects the number of microplastics detected in seafood, making methodological standardization critical for food safety assessments.

2019 Scientia Marina 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimization of an Analytical Protocol for the Extraction of Microplastics from Seafood Samples with Different Levels of Fat

Researchers optimized an analytical protocol for extracting microplastics from seafood samples with varying fat content, addressing a key methodological challenge in accurately quantifying microplastic contamination in marine food sources given the ubiquitous presence of plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in marine environments.

2022 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Screening for microplastics in sediment, water, marine invertebrates and fish: Method development and microplastic accumulation

Researchers developed improved methods for extracting microplastics from biological samples and sediments, using enzymatic digestion that achieved 97% particle recovery without damaging the plastics. When applied to field samples from the North Sea and Swedish coast, they found microplastics in 8 of 9 invertebrate species tested and in 68% of brown trout. Mussel tissue contained roughly a thousand times more microplastic particles per kilogram than surrounding sediment or water.

2017 Marine Pollution Bulletin 539 citations
Article Tier 2

Nondestructive Extraction and Identification of Microplastics from Freshwater Sport Fish Stomachs

Researchers developed a nondestructive protocol for extracting and identifying microplastics from freshwater sport fish stomachs containing large amounts of biological material, enabling more accurate counts without damaging the plastics. This method improvement helps ensure that ingested microplastics in fish are not missed or damaged during laboratory processing.

2019 Environmental Science & Technology 58 citations
Article Tier 2

A new digestion approach for the extraction of microplastics from gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of the common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) from the western Mediterranean Sea

Researchers developed a novel combined KOH and nitric acid digestion protocol for extracting microplastics from the gastrointestinal tracts of marine fish, and validated it on common dolphinfish from the western Mediterranean Sea. The method improved detection of small MPs, with 65.5% of dolphinfish containing meso- and microplastic fragments and sheets predominantly composed of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 114 citations
Article Tier 2

A rapid method for extracting microplastics from oily food samples

Researchers developed a rapid method for extracting microplastics from oily food samples, addressing a key challenge for detecting plastic contamination in foods like fish that contain high fat content. Standardized extraction methods for oily food matrices are needed to accurately assess dietary microplastic exposure.

2022 Analytical Methods 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Methods of digestion, isolation and identification of microplastics present in the fish gut content

This study evaluated four digestion methods for isolating microplastics from fish gut contents, finding that a combination of nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid was most effective while preserving particle structure. Microplastic particles were found in the digestive tracts of all analyzed fish from Croatian freshwater and marine ecosystems, highlighting the widespread contamination of aquatic food sources.

2023 Repository of Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology University of Zagreb