http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140331/srep04528/full/srep04528.html

Matthew Cole, Hannah Webb, Pennie K. Lindeque, Elaine S. Fileman,
Claudia Halsband & Tamara S. Galloway
Isolation of microplastics in biota-rich seawater samples and marine
organisms
Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 4528, doi:10.1038/srep04528

Abstract
Microplastic litter is a pervasive pollutant present in aquatic systems
across the globe. A range of marine organisms have the capacity to
ingest microplastics, resulting in adverse health effects. Developing
methods to accurately quantify microplastics in productive marine
waters, and those internalized by marine organisms, is of growing
importance. Here we investigate the efficacy of using acid, alkaline and
enzymatic digestion techniques in mineralizing biological material from
marine surface trawls to reveal any microplastics present. Our optimized
enzymatic protocol can digest >97% (by weight) of the material present
in plankton-rich seawater samples without destroying any microplastic
debris present. In applying the method to replicate marine samples from
the western English Channel, we identified 0.27 microplastics m?3. The
protocol was further used to extract microplastics ingested by marine
zooplankton under laboratory conditions. Our findings illustrate that
enzymatic digestion can aid the detection of microplastic debris within
seawater samples and marine biota.

http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140331/srep04528/pdf/srep04528.pdf

http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140331/srep04528/extref/srep04528-s1.doc