ArticlePolymers2021
Extraction and Identification of a Wide Range of Microplastic Polymers in Soil and Compost.
Article in Polymers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film degradation potential of marine fungi isolated from microplastics, beach sand, and coastal seawater.Biodegradation · 2026Article
- Extraction Methods of Microplastics in Environmental Matrices: A Comparative Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Review
- Current development and future challenges in microplastic detection techniques: A bibliometrics-based analysis and review.Science progressReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Microplastic pollution is globally widespread; however, the presence of microplastics in soil systems is poorly understood, due to the complexity of soils and a lack of standardised extraction methods. Two commonly used extraction methods were optimised and compared for the extraction of low-density (polyethylene (PE)) and high-density microplastics (polyethylene (PET)), olive-oil-based extraction, and density separation with zinc chloride (ZnCl2). Comparable recoveries in a low-organic-matter matrix (soil; most >98%) were observed, but in a high-organic-matter matrix (compost), density separation yielded higher recoveries (98 ± 4% vs. 80 ± 11%). Density separation was further tested for the extraction of five microplastic polymers spiked at different concentrations. Recoveries were >93% for both soil and compost, with no differences between matrices and individual polymers. Reduction in levels of organic matter in compost was tested before and after extraction, as well as combined. Double oxidation (Fenton's reagent and 1 M NaOH) exhibited the highest reduction in organic matter. Extracted microplastic polymers were further identified via headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). This method has shown the potential for descriptive quantification of microplastic polymers. A linear relationship between the number of particles and the signal response was demonstrated for PET, polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and PE (R
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.