The good, the bad, and the ugly of biomonitoring of atmospheric microplastics
(1) School of Environment, Trent University, Canada, (2) Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Italy
It is well established that microplastics (plastic particles <5 mm) can travel via the atmosphere before being deposited into receiving ecosystems, potentially far from their emissions sources. While there is growing interest in the assessment of atmospheric microplastics, globally there is limited monitoring infrastructure, and procedures can be labor intensive. In contrast, biomonitoring may provide a simple and reliable approach to assess the role of atmospheric transport in distributing microplastics at regional and transboundary scales. Here we describe the use of moss as a biomonitor of atmospheric microplastics, focusing on laboratory extraction, identification, and polymer confirmation. Further, we highlight methodological and quality control considerations towards a standardised protocol for the biomonitoring of atmospheric microplastics based on visual identification. These methods are currently being used in the MADAME pilot project (Microplastic Atmospheric Deposition Assessment using Moss in Europe), which will assess the abundance and type of microplastics across Europe and evaluate the reproducibility of results across different methods.
Keywords: MADAME, moss, lichen, digestion, density separation, microscopy, vibrational spectroscopy
