"I have treated adult zebrafish with 8-micron polystyrene microplastic and want to study the bioaccumulation in different organs. Can this be done using hydrogen peroxide digestion followed by NaCl phase separation, final filtration or centrifugation, and counting them under the microscope?"
I am not an expert in this field, but I am very interested and have researched to find an answer. I received some assistance from tlooto.com for this response. Could you please review the response below to see if it is correct?
Quantifying polystyrene microplastic (8 micron) bioaccumulation in fish tissue can be effectively achieved using hydrogen peroxide digestion, NaCl phase separation, final filtration or centrifugation, and microscopic counting. Hydrogen peroxide digestion breaks down organic material, facilitating the isolation of microplastics [2]. NaCl phase separation then isolates these microplastics from the digested tissue. Following this, either filtration or centrifugation is utilized to collect the microplastics. Finally, counting the isolated microplastics under a microscope allows for accurate quantification. This method aligns with existing protocols for microplastic detection in biological tissues, ensuring reliable assessment of bioaccumulation in different organs [1][2].
Reference
[1] Guerrera, M., Aragona, M., Porcino, C., Fazio, F., Laurá, R., Levanti, M., Montalbano, G., Germanà, G., Abbate, F., & Germanà, A. (2021). Micro and Nano Plastics Distribution in Fish as Model Organisms: Histopathology, Blood Response and Bioaccumulation in Different Organs. Applied Sciences.
[2] Tolls, J., Samperi, R., & Corcia, A. D. (2003). Bioaccumulation of LAS in feral fish studied by a novel LC-MS/MS method.. Environmental science & technology, 37 2, 314-20 .
Hi! If you want to quantify in terms of grams, you can check our last paper. We optimize a quantification method for PS using NMR. It focused on marine sediments, but I believe that the methodology can be applied to fish tissues too.
If you only want to count the particles under the microscope, to use the fluorescent particles is the best option.
- Badges
- Science topic