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Resources to Support Microplastics Research

Microplastics in the Environment

The above image was created by a  talented UGA undergraduate, Diane Klement.

Enhancing Reproducibility and Summary of Current Methods in Microplastics Research
One of the great challenges in microplastics research is a lack of accepted, standardized methods. These two resources represent recent efforts to address this challenge:
Current State of Microplastics Research and Considerations about Quality Control 
If you are interested in learning more about an amazing project to assess microplastic pollution in a river system in the southeastern US, an overview of microplastics research, sampling and study design concerns, and considerations about quality control, please consider viewing this video. The content was created as part of a Microplastics Workshop that was organized by the Tennessee Aquarium, the River Basin Center at UGA, and the Capps Lab. Learn more about the workshop here. Brief biographies for the plenary speakers (Drs. Andreas Fath, Jeremy Conkle, and Rae McNeish) can be found here.
Microplastic Extraction, Identification, and Characterization
For folks looking for guidance in microplastic ID, consider using and citing this resource created by members of the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto.  I have posted it with permission, but request that if you use this resource in your work, please make sure to give credit and cite the document appropriately. 
Other Useful References
Coppock, R. L., Cole, M., Lindeque, P. K., Queirós, A. M., & Galloway, T. S. (2017). A small-scale, portable method for extracting microplastics from marine sediments. Environmental Pollution, 230, 829-837.
Hoellein, T. J., McCormick, A. R., Hittie, J., London, M. G., Scott, J. W., & Kelly, J. J. (2017). Longitudinal patterns of microplastic concentration and bacterial assemblages in surface and benthic habitats of an urban river. Freshwater Science, 36(3), 491-507.
Hoellein, T. J., Shogren, A. J., Tank, J. L., Risteca, P., & Kelly, J. J. (2019). Microplastic deposition velocity in streams follows patterns for naturally occurring allochthonous particles. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-11.
Karakolis, E. G., Nguyen, B., You, J. B., Rochman, C. M., & Sinton, D. (2019). Fluorescent dyes for visualizing microplastic particles and fibers in laboratory-based studies. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 6(6), 334-340.
Lusher, A. L., Welden, N. A., Sobral, P., & Cole, M. (2017). Sampling, isolating and identifying microplastics ingested by fish and invertebrates. Analytical Methods, 9(9), 1346-1360.
Rochman, C. M., Tahir, A., Williams, S. L., Baxa, D. V., Lam, R., Miller, J. T., … & Teh, S. J. (2015). Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption. Scientific reports, 5, 14340.
Wiggin, K. J., & Holland, E. B. (2019). Validation and application of cost and time effective methods for the detection of 3–500 μm sized microplastics in the urban marine and estuarine environments surrounding Long Beach, California. Marine pollution bulletin, 143, 152-162.
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