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An effective method for evaluation of microplastic contaminant in gastropod from Taihu Lake, China

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Abstract

Microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment. The isolation and characterization of microplastics can change, enabling science to elucidate the fate of microplastics in organisms. The main objective of the present study was to develop a rapid and effective method for the isolation, characterization, and quantification of microplastics from gastropod, and then evaluate the microplastic pollution in wild freshwater snails using the developed method. The whole tissue of gastropod Bellamya aeruginosa was spiked with microplastics derived from cosmetic products to optimize the tissue digestion and microplastic identification process. Optimum digestion of soft tissue was performed using a mixture of Tris-HCl, proteinase K, and KOH. Recovery of microplastics from the tissue digests, as determined by microscopy and infrared spectroscopy, was 89 ± 5%. The entire procedure could be completed within 30 h. Application of the procedure to wild freshwater snail B. aeruginosa collected from Taihu Lake revealed that 90~100% of the sampled snails accumulated 1 to 4 types of microplastics including poly(vinyl acetate), polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, and polyamides. In summary, a quick method was developed for the isolation and identification of microplastics from gastropod tissues, and the application of the method revealed the presence of microplastics in snails inhabiting Taihu Lake, China.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41673122 & 21577137) and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (8162041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Global Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China

    Qiujin Xu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Qiujin Xu, Ting Deng & Lihui An

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA

    Gerald A. LeBlanc

Authors
  1. Qiujin Xu
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  2. Ting Deng
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  3. Gerald A. LeBlanc
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  4. Lihui An
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Correspondence to Lihui An.

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Resposible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Xu, Q., Deng, T., LeBlanc, G.A. et al. An effective method for evaluation of microplastic contaminant in gastropod from Taihu Lake, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 22878–22887 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08747-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08747-8

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