Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Microplastics in a Marine Environment: Review of Methods for Sampling, Processing, and Analyzing Microplastics in Water, Bottom Sediments, and Coastal Deposits

  • Instruments and Methods
  • Published:
Oceanology Aims and scope

Abstract

The basic approaches, methods, and procedures for collecting and analyzing samples of microplastics in a marine environment are briefly described.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. GOST (State Standard) 15139-69: Plastics. Methods for the Determination of Density (Mass Density) (Izd. Standartov, Moscow, 1981) [in Russian].

  2. A. B. Aloy, B. M. Vallejo, Jr., and M. A. Juinio-Meñez, “Increased plastic litter cover affects the foraging activity of the sandy intertidal gastropod Nassarius pullus,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62, 1772–1779 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. K. Ashton, L. Holmes, and A. Turner, “Association of metals with plastic production pellets in the marine environment,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 60, 2050–2055 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. C. M. Boerger, G. L. Lattin, S. L. Moore, and C. J. Moore, “Plastic ingestion by planktivorous fishes in the North Pacific Central Gyre,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 60, 2275–2278 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. M. A. Browne, P. Crump, S. J. Niven, et al., “Accumulations of microplastic on shorelines worldwide: sources and sinks,” Environ. Sci. Technol. 45, 9175–9179 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. E. J. Carpenter, S. J. Anderson, G. R. Harvey, et al., “Polystyrene spherules in coastal waters,” Science 17, 749–750 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. E. J. Carpenter and K. L. Smith, “Plastics on the Sargasso Sea surface,” Science 175, 1240–1241 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. I. Chubarenko, A. Bagaiev, M. Zobkov, and E. Esiukova, “On some physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles in marine environment,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 108, 105–112 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. M. Cole, H. Webb, P. K. Lindeque, et al., “Isolation of microplastics in biota-rich seawater samples and marine organisms,” Sci. Rep. 4 (4528), (2014). doi doi 10.1038/srep04528

    Google Scholar 

  10. A. Collignon, J.-H. Hecq, F. Glagani, et al., “Neustonicmicroplastic and zooplankton in the North Western Mediterranean Sea,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 64, 861–864 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. M. H. Depledge, F. Galgani, C. Panti, et al., “Plastic litter in the sea,” Mar. Environ. Res. 92, 279–281 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. S. Endo, R. Takizawa, K. Okuda, et al., “Concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in beached resin pellets: variability among individual particles and regional differences,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 50, 1103–1114 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. M. Eriksen, N. Maximenko, M. Thiel, et al., “Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 68 (1–2), 71–76 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. P. Farrell and K. Nelson, “Trophic level transfer of microplastic: Mytilusedulis (L.) to Carcinusmaenas (L.),” Environ. Pollut. 177, 1–3 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. L. S. Fendall and M. A. Sewell, “Contributing to marine pollution by washing your face: microplastic in facial cleansers,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 58, 1255–1228 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. E. M. Foekema, C. De Gruijter, M. T. Mergia, et al., “Plastic in North Sea fish,” Environ. Sci. Technol. 47 (15), 8818–8824 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. J. P. G. L. Frias, P. Sobral, and A. M. Ferreira, “Organic pollutants in microplastics from two beaches of the Portuguese coast,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 60, 1988–1992 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sources, Fate and Effects of Microplastics in the Marine Environment: A Global Assessment, Ed. by P. J. Kershaw (International Maritime Organization, London, 2015), No.90.

  19. E. Graham and J. Thompson, “Deposit-and suspension-feeding sea cucumbers (Echinodermata) ingest plastic fragments,” J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 368, 22–29 (2009.

  20. V. Hidalgo-Ruz, L. Gutow, R. C. Thompson, and M. Thiel, “Microplastics in the marine environment: a review of the methods used for identification and quantification,” Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 3060–3075 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. H. K. Imhof, J. Schmid, R. Niessner, et al., “A novel, highly efficient method for the separation and quantification of plastic particles in sediments of aquatic environments,” Limnol. Oceanogr.: Methods 10, 524–537 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. ISO 1183–1:2012: Plastics—Methods for Determining the Density of Non-Cellular Plastics. Part 1: Immersion Method, Liquid Pyknometer Method and Titration Method (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 2012)

  23. ISO 4611:1999: Plastics—Determination of the Effects of Exposure to Damp Heat, Water Spray and Salt Mist (Association Francaise de Normalisation, La Plaine Saint-Denis, 1999).

  24. ISO 4611:1987: Plastics—Determination of the Effects of Exposure to Damp Heat, Water Spray and Salt Mist (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1987).

  25. J. A. Ivar do Sul and M. F. Costa, “The present and future of microplastic pollution in the marine environment,” Environ. Pollut. 185, 352–364 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. J. R. Jambeck, R. Geyer, C. Wilcox, et al., “Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean,” Science 347 (6223), 768–771 (2015). doi 10.1126/science.1260352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. H. K. Karapanagioti and I. Klontza, “Testing phenanthrene distribution properties of virgin plastic pellets and plastic eroded pellets found on Lesvos Island beaches (Greece),” Mar. Environ. Res. 65, 283–290 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sources, Fate & Effects of Micro-Plastics in the Marine Environment—A Global Assessment: Report of the Inception Meeting, March 13–15, 2012, Ed. by P. J. Kershaw and H. Leslie (UNESCO, Paris, 2012).

  29. A. A. Koelmans, “ET&C perspectives,” Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 33, 5–10 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. K. E. Kolb and D. K. Kolb, “Method for separating or identifying plastics,” J. Chem. Educ. 68, 348 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. G. L. Lattin, C. J. Moore, A. F. Zellers, et al., “A comparison of neustonic plastic and zooplankton at different depths near the southern California shore,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 49, 291–294 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Marine Anthropogenic Litter, Ed. by M. Bergmann, (Springer-Verlag, New York, 2015). ISBN 978-3-319-16509-7. doi 10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3

  33. J. Masura, J. Baker, G. Foster, C. Arthur, and C. Herring, Laboratory Methods for the Analysis of Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Recommendations for Quantifying Synthetic Particles in Waters and Sediments NOAA Technical Memorandum, NOS-OR&R-48 (NMFS Scientific Publications Office, Seattle, WA, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  34. S. Morét-Ferguson, K. L. Law, G. Proskurowski, et al., “The size, mass, and composition of plastic debris in the western North Atlantic Ocean,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 60, 1873–1878 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. F. Murray and P. R. Cowie, “Plastic contamination in the decapod crustacean Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758),” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62, 1207–1217 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. F. Norén, Small Plastic Particles in Coastal Swedish Waters, KIMO Report (Lysekil, 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  37. M. C. Rilling, “Microplastic in terrestrial ecosystems and the soil?” Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 6453–6454 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. L. M. Rios, P. R. Jones, C. Moore, and U. V. Narayan, “Quantitation of persistent organic pollutants adsorbed on plastic debris from the Northern Pacific Gyre’s “eastern garbage patch,” J. Environ. Monit. 12, 2226–2236 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. T. Rocha-Santos and A. C. Duarte, “A critical overview of the analytical approaches to the occurrence, the fate and the behavior of microplastics in the environment,” Trends Anal. Chem. 65, 47–53 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. C. M. Rochman, M. A. Browne, B. S. Halpern, et al., “Policy: classify plastic waste as hazardous,” Nature 494, 169–171 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Y. K. Song, S. H. Hong, M. Jang, et al., “A comparison of microscopic and spectroscopic identification methods for analysis of microplastic in environmental samples,” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 93 (1–2), 202–209 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Y. K. Song, S. H. Hong, M. Jang, et al., “Large accumulation of micro-sized synthetic polymer particles in the sea surface microlayer,” Environ. Sci. Technol. 48, 9014–9021 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. R. C. Thompson, Y. Olsen, R. P. Mitchell, et al., “Lost at sea: where is all the plastic?” Science 304, 838 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Plastic in Cosmetics (United Nations Environment Program, Nairobi, 2015). ISBN: 978-92-807-3466-9.

  45. S. L. Wright, R. C. Thompson, and T. S. Galloway, “The physical impacts of microplastics on marine organisms: a review,” Environ. Pollut. 178, 483–492 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    M. B. Zobkov & E. E. Esiukova

Authors
  1. M. B. Zobkov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. E. Esiukova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. B. Zobkov.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © M.B. Zobkov, E.E. Esiukova, 2018, published in Okeanologiya, 2018, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 149–157.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zobkov, M.B., Esiukova, E.E. Microplastics in a Marine Environment: Review of Methods for Sampling, Processing, and Analyzing Microplastics in Water, Bottom Sediments, and Coastal Deposits. Oceanology 58, 137–143 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437017060169

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437017060169

Search

Navigation