The authors compared procedures for digestion of mussel soft tissues and extraction of microplastics. Complete tissue digestion was achieved with 1M NaOH, 35% HNO3, and protease at 9.6 UHb/mL (unit hemoglobin per mL); but use of HNO3 caused unacceptable destruction of some microplastics. Recovery of microplastics spiked into mussels was similar (93 ± 10%) for NaOH and enzyme digestions. The authors recommend use of industrial enzymes based on digestion efficiency, microplastic recovery, and avoidance of caustic chemicals. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:947–951.
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Catarino et al. (2016) studied this question.
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