Testing

For Marine and River Plastics

SEDIMENT-MICROPLASTIC ISOLATION UNIT (SMI)

Unit was developed by a team from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the University of Exeter, as a “cheap, reproducible and easily portable” single-step density flotation testing method for microplastics in natural sediments.

Mean Efficiency: 95.8%

Cost: ~$130

Testable Sediment: Clay/Silt (fine), Silt (medium), Coarse Sand (coarse)

Flotation Medium: Saturated Sodium Chloride at a maximum density of 1.2 g/cm3

Read more here about this paradigm-shifting method that allows testing to move out of the laboratory and into the field, at a price that facilitates large-scale data collection:

"A small-scale, portable method for extracting microplastics from marine sediments": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117310576

For Airborne Microplastics

PRECIPITATION AND PARTICULATE FALLOUT COLLECTORS

The two units above - a precipitation collector (left) and a particulate fallout collector (right) were both developed by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU). They and similar systems have been used for at least the last three years to test microplastics in areas as wide-ranging as China, Turkey and France. In the latter country - France - researchers installed a catchment system in a remote part of the Pyrennes, and over five months found nearly 400 microplastic fragments, films and fibers deposited daily.

Standards Fulfillment: considered by ISO (International Standardization Organization) for adoption as an international reference collector for particulate fallout.

Cost: <$250

Testable Mediums: both wet and dry sampling can be gathered (using both devices)

Microplastic Sizes and Shapes: fibers, fragments, films and foams 25 - 4500 μm

Read more about testing of airborne microplastics in this review of the latest science: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-019-7842-0

And follow this link to NILU’s write-up of their simple but elegant collectors: https://innovationnilu.com/Portals/6/Documents/Particulate_Collector.pdf