Citizen science approach on microplastic pollution in South Bay of Biscay

About me

Hello, welcome to my Professional Practice presentation! My name is Beatriz Ortiz, I am a first-year IMBRSea student. I have a background in Water Management and Aquatic EcoTechnology from HZ University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. I am passionate about fieldwork and lab work, and more specifically for invasive species. Working with microplastic pollution was an enlightening experience that I will cherish along my career.

The project

My Professional Practice project focused exclusively on microplastic pollution in the Asturias region, Spain. The project aims to increase public engagement in scientific data collection through a citizen science approach. The main objective of my research was to create a citizen science microplastic sand sampling protocol and test its correlation and reliability with the scientific sampling protocol. If this created protocol proves to be trustworthy, it will be applied in a citizen science project that collects a wide range of samples through the south Bay of Biscay to quantify microplastic pollution in the region.

Microplastic pollution

There is a current need to investigate the effects of microplastic contamination in the environment, livestock, and marine resources as plastic contamination have become a growing global matter. Microplastic is defined as plastic debris smaller than 2.5 mm. Plastic removal is limited to macro-plastics as microplastics are almost impossible to completely remove from the environment. An effective strategy to reduce microplastic contamination is raising popular awareness using a citizen science approach.

Citizen Science

The Citizen Science (CS) approach is an effective way of data collection over a large geographical coverage with an excellent cost-benefit scenario, as well as increased sampling power. This saves the researchers time and budget and provides public engagement in scientific research. If proven to yield scientific data, the citizen science approach may boost the identification of plastic hotspots globally and allow sampling in areas most affected locally.

The research

This research took place in the South Bay of Biscay where five beaches were sampled (Otur, Aguilar, Xagó, Rodiles, and Vega). These locations were specifically selected as previous studies on microplastic quantification were performed on these beaches.

Sampling

In each location, 40 samples were taken following both the created citizen science protocol and the scientific protocol. CS protocol includes the sieving on-site using a metallic tea strainer as seen in the picture above. This increases public participation in sample collection and decreases the lab analysis time of CS samples.

Lab analysis

Lab analysis of the scientific samples was performed using the protocol usually used in microplastic quantification research. The samples were left overnight to soak in a hypersaline solution and then filtered. The CS samples do not need filtration, thus the samples were directly placed in a Petri dish.

Microplastic counting

The filters and Petri dish of each sample were placed under a microscope for microplastic counting. Microplastics were categorized mainly by color (transparent, blue, black, red, green, etc.).

Results

The results of microplastic counting were displayed in a graph divided into the two protocols followed per location. In the graphs, Sc stands for scientific protocol and CS for citizen science protocol results. Rodiles and Vega had the highest microplastic content, which matches with previous research done in the areas.

In all the locations, transparent microplastics accounted for more than 60% of the total microplastics found. A significant difference is observed between the CS and scientific protocols in color content in all locations, except for Otur. Therefore, a graph containing the percentage of each color (without the transparent) per location was created and a chi-square test was done in each location.

This graph shows a pattern of primarily the color red being lost in the CS protocol compared to the scientific protocol. This potentially could be explained by the microplastic material. Only by looking at this graph, the microplastic color loss between protocol seems negligible and the CS protocol reliable. Therefore, a chi-square test was performed.

Apart from Otur, the null hypothesis stating that both protocols have no association between them and therefore are independent was rejected. The chi-square value indicates the differences among the protocols, and so the bigger the chi-square value, the higher are the differences between the protocols.

Conclusion

Based on the data displayed, the microplastic color loss was concluded to be negligible and the citizen science sampling protocol reliable for most of the locations. A consultation report was delivered to the research organization containing an extensive suggestion list on how to increase the reliability of the citizen science protocol and lab analysis of the samples. There is also a recommendation list on how to further engage the public in microplastic counting thus increasing population awareness of microplastic contamination.

Gallery

This gallery contains pictures taken during the activities performed in this research with all the personnel involved in this project. They are: Beatriz Ortiz and Inês Pereira (students), Eva Garcia-Vazquez (supervisor).

My experience

Challenges

Time was definitely the biggest challenge in this research. The high number of samples per location that had to be collected, prepared, and then having their microplastic content individually counted was overwhelming. In addition, not having any experience in microplastic identification or R analysis to better interpret the data was also challenging.

Teamwork

Teamwork showed to be the most important aspect for the completion of this project and to overcome the challenges. Together with my research partner, Inês Pereira, we worked hard to achieve the weekly goals and meet the deadlines set for each task. The help of our supervisor and other students working in the same lab was also essential for this project.

Summer internship

After my experience during this Professional Practice, I asked to stay longer in the organization to work on similar projects that quantify microplastic content in organisms. This summer internship has been enlightening so far and increased my skills in social and professional networking.