Project
Advancing high-throughput laboratory methods for quantifying and characterizing the exposure landscape of microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes
Microplastics are ubiquitous across our Great Lakes, and concentrations have crossed thresholds for risk. The quantity of microplastics in Great Lakes fish are among the highest globally. As a consequence, our IJC work group recommended monitoring and risk assessments for microplastics in the Great Lakes. For this, high-throughput automated methods are necessary for quantifying an characterizing environmental microplastics. We propose to develop a high-throughput accessible method and show proof-of-concept on ambient water collected using Standard Operating Procedures developed by our IJC work group. This work will advance our ability to monitor the exposure landscape of microplastics and assess risk. Specifically, we will:\\r\\n1. Develop an automated workflow to quantify and characterize environmental microplastics (20µm – 5000µm). \\r\\n2. Optimize sample extraction and cleanup procedures for automated analysis (e.g., ambient water and fish). \\r\\n3. Confirm the accuracy, precision, and feasibility of the automated method using spiked clean samples and ambient water samples collected from Lake Ontario using sampling methods developed by the IJC microplastics work group. \\r\\n