• Danio rerio
• density separation
• ecotoxicology
• GPC
• HPLC
• locomotive response test
• microplastics
• microscopy
• nanoplastics
• perfluoroctansulfonic acid
• PFOS
• Py/GC/MS
• solvent extraction

In recent years, microplastics and nanoplastics – millimetric and lower size plastic materials - have been subjects to a growing interest within the scientific community. The present work introduces the reader to the complexity of the matter using a three part articulation.
The first one is a thorough state of art on the collection, separation and analysis methodologies currently present in the literature. The wide variety of analytical approaches and the lack of standardization in the collection and separation methodologies for microplastic analysis often produces conflicting results and prevents the comparison between the various studies. Furthermore, the methods used to indicate the degree of microplastic contamination vary widely in literature.
This section provides a general picture on the analytical methodologies used for collection, separation, and analysis, as well as outlining a conceptual roadmap about the need for uniformity and standardization within this field of investigation.
The second part is about the determination of the microplastic contamination of two sedimentary sand samples from the beach of Lecciona, in the municipality of Viareggio (LU), through different analytical approaches. The first approach, classic and widely validated in literature, uses a separation by density and the subsequent separation of fragments via optical microscope. These fragments were then analyzed and identified with FTIR and Py/GC/MS. The second approach, foresees the direct extraction of the microplastics from the sediment sample through the use of boiling dichloromethane and xylene. The extracts were then subjected to further purification procedures, analyzed, and any possible presence of plastic polymers was determined by GPC and HPLC/DAD. The obtained data was then compared to assess how much the results derived from the two analytical pathways differed between them.
The third part, held entirely in Denmark at the Ecotoxicology section of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) concerns a combined toxicological study of the perfluorottansolfonic acid (PFOS) and nanoplastics on Danio Rerio embryos. The embryos were exposed to different concentration solutions of PFOS and nanoplastics to evaluate the toxicological effects. Finally, the embryos were subjected to a combined exposure of PFOS and NP. This study, while requiring further analytical confirmations, shed clarity on the potential micro and nanoplastics could have in influencing bioavailability and toxicological effects of co-contaminants absorbed in living organisms.