Microplastics Analytical Techniques in Water, Sediments, and Biota

Identification and quantification of microplastics (MPs) pollution levels in all the environmental compartments including water, sediments, and biota are an hourly need. MPs analytical techniques in water, sediments, and biota consist of several laborious steps including sampling, sample handling, and analytical techniques for identification and quantification. Studies have employed a wide variety of techniques resulting in variation in MPs abundance and characteristics. MPs reporting techniques also vary between different studies. The sampling techniques, digestion reagents, the temperature applied, density separation reagents, and the techniques utilized cause significant impacts on the recovery rate of the MPs particles from samples. 20-10 μm has become the lower reliable, practical limit for MPs due to the limitations in identification methods. Since there is many more MPs research to be done, there is an urgency of establishing reliable and efficient standard methodologies for MPs monitoring enabling comparison of studies from different parts of the world.