Microplastics in Latin America and the Caribbean: On the adoption of reporting standards and quality assurance and quality control protocols

Abstract

We reviewed the current status of microplastic research in Latin America and the Caribbean based on a sample of 193 papers that analyzed environmental microplastic concentration in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Most of the reviewed papers were published from researchers based on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Overall, 63.1% of the papers studied microplastics in marine ecosystems, followed by the study of freshwater ecosystems (18.2%), estuarine (13.6%) and terrestrial environments (5.1%). Biota samples were analyzed by 40.3% of the studies, while 34.4% studied sediment samples (beach sand and submerged sediments) and 25.3% focused on water samples. Over 80% of the papers that studied microplastics in biota samples analyzed fish. There was high variability in the reported parameters employed for characterizing environmental microplastics (color, shape, and concentration units), attributed to the lack of standardized analysis guidelines for microplastic studies. Additionally, most papers adopted few quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) protocols to avoid cross-contamination during the analytical process. At least four open access standard protocols and guidelines for microplastic analysis and monitoring programs were found since 2015, and 92% of the papers were published after said date. Nevertheless, most studies did not employ any standardized methodology for the analysis of microplastics. We recommend the adoption of a standard and QA/QC protocol for future microplastic studies in Latin America and the Caribbean to establish a cohesive baseline of microplastic data in the region and create long-term monitoring programs.