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SFS Annual Meeting

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MICROPLASTIC PREVALENCE IN THE WATER, MACROINVERTEBRATES, AND TROUT OF THE KINNICKINNIC RIVER

This study utilized a novel method of quantification to assess the prevalence of microplastics in the Kinnickinnic River, a prized trout stream in Western Wisconsin. Flowing through the city of River Falls, the Kinnickinnic receives discharge from >24 stormwater outfalls and the local wastewater treatment plant. Trout, macroinvertebrates, and water samples were collected upstream, within, and downstream of River Falls. Samples were digested using wet peroxide oxidation, filtered onto 0.4µm membrane filters and stained with dilute Nile Red dye, which caused them to fluoresce when viewed under a fluorescence microscope. ImageJ software was subsequently used to quantify the microplastics on the filters. Although no differences were detected among water samples, trout collected upstream of the city had significantly lower levels of plastic particles than trout collected within and downstream of the city and macroinvertebrates collected in the city had significantly higher microplastic burdens than those collected upstream or downstream.

Claire Simmerman (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Wisconsin - River Falls, claire.simmerman@my.uwrf.edu;