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Cited by 348

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Identifying a quick and efficient method of removing organic matter without damaging microplastic samples

Open access
Prata, Joana C., da Costa, João P., Girão, Ana V., Lopes, Isabel, Duarte, Armando C., Rocha-Santos, Teresa·2019·Science of The Total Environment

Abstract

Natural organic matter may confound the detection of microplastics, requiring a removal step. However, most available protocols are long and lack information on removal efficiency and polymer degradation. Thus, we have determined the digestion efficiency (%) for a pool of organic matter (algae, driftwood, feathers, fish muscle, paraffin, palm oil) for five digestion solutions, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydrogen peroxide with iron catalyst (H2O2 + Fe), potassium hydroxide (KOH), nitric acid (HNO3), and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), under two temperatures (room temperature at 25 °C, 50 °C) and two periods (1, 6 h). H2O2 + Fe and KOH at 50 °C for 1 h had the highest digestion efficiencies, of 65.9% and 58.3% respectively (mostly limited by driftwood and paraffin). Further testing revealed that H2O2 + Fe is more appropriate for plant material and KOH for animal tissue. Weight loss (%), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and carbonyl index of 9 virgin and 6 weathered polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, cellulose acetate, nylon) revealed that only identification of cellulose acetate was hindered. Filters were also tested revealing that quartz and glass fibre filters are resistant to these protocols. Thus, a digestion protocol based on H2O2 + Fe or KOH at 50 °C for 1 h may be used on microplastic samples.

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Metadata

Authors
Prata, J. C., da Costa, J. P., Girão, A. V., Lopes, I., Duarte, A. C., & Rocha-Santos, T.
Venue
Science of The Total Environment
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-10
Volume
686
Pages
131-139
ISSN
0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2948954228
Cited by
348
References
39
FWCI
8.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Identifying a quick and efficient method of removing organic matter without damaging microplastic samples. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.456
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Prata, J. C., da Costa, J. P., Girão, A. V., Lopes, I., Duarte, A. C., & Rocha-Santos, T. (2019). Identifying a quick and efficient method of removing organic matter without damaging microplastic samples. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.456

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