Exploring the Efficacy of Nile Red in Microplastic Quantification: A Costaining Approach
Open accessAbstract
The presence of microplastic particles (<5 mm) in the environment has generated considerable concern across public, political, and scientific platforms. However, the diversity of microplastics that persist in the environment poses complex analytical challenges for our understanding of their prevalence. The use of the dye Nile red to quantify microplastics is increasingly common. However, its use in microplastic analysis rarely accounts for its affinity with the breadth of particles that occur in environmental samples. Here, we examine Nile red’s ability to stain a variety of microplastic particles and common natural and anthropogenic particles found in environmental samples. To better constrain microplastic estimates using Nile red, we test the coapplication of a second stain that binds to biological material, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). We test the potential inflation of microplastic estimates using Nile red alone by applying this costaining approach to samples of drinking water and freshwater. The use of Nile red dye alone resulted in a maximum 100% overestimation of microplastic particles. These findings are of particular significance for the public dissemination of findings from an emotive field of study.
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If all detected organic particles originate from plastics, the micro-nano plastic concentration could be as high as 10^6 particles per liter.
“In this sense, if we assume all detected organic particles originate from plastics [the same assumption entailed by the quantitative result from SEM-EDX or Nile Red staining (19, 74)], the micro-nano plastic concentration could be as high as 106 particles per liter.”
From Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy (2024) · cites this paper as [74]
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Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy
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- Authors
- Stanton, T., Johnson, M., Nathanail, P., Gomes, R. L., Needham, T., & Burson, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Land Quality Management Ltd, University of Nottingham Innovation Park, NG7 2TU Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Corresponding author
- Stanton, Thomas
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2019-09-19
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 606-611
- ISSN
- 2328-8930 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2973536280
- Cited by
- 187
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 12
- FWCI
- 4.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters (publishedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Nottingham
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Analytical Chemistry › Analytical chemistry methods development
- Keywords
- microplastics, Nile Red, DAPI, microplastic quantification, drinking water, freshwater, natural particles, anthropogenic particles, fluorescent staining
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