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What you net depends on if you grab: A meta-analysis of sampling method's impact on measured aquatic microplastic concentration

What you net depends on if you grab: A meta-analysis of sampling method's impact on measured aquatic microplastic concentration

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03019. This is version 2 of this Preprint.

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Authors

Lisa Watkins , Patrick J. Sullivan, M. Todd Walter

Abstract

Microplastic pollution is measured with a variety of sampling methods. Field experiments indicate that commonly used sampling methods, including net, pump and grab samples, do not always result in equivalent measured concentration. We investigate the comparability of these methods through a meta-analysis of over one hundred surface water microplastic studies. We find systematic relationships between measured concentration and sampled volume, method of collection, mesh size used for filtration, and water body sampled. Most significantly, a strong log-linear relationship exists between sample volume and measured concentration, with small-volume...  more

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/X51314

Subjects

Design of Experiments and Sample Surveys, Environmental Monitoring, Fresh Water Studies, Hydrology, Other Environmental Sciences

Keywords

contamination, methods, surface water, net, grab, pump, mesh size

Dates

Published: 2021-05-09 00:15

Last Updated: 2021-11-24 15:17

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License

CC0 1.0 Universal - Public Domain Dedication

Additional Metadata

Conflict of interest statement:
None

Data Availability (Reason not available):
All data included in this study will be made publically available upon peer-reviewed publication of this work.