A Review of Analytical Methods Used in Microplastics Quantification

Abstract

Microplastics are pervasive contaminants that have attracted the attention of researchers over the last decades. Studies have detected and investigated different sizes of microplastics in the environment. However, the methods used for sample collection and quantification of microplastics for similar environmental matrices differ, based on the resources and equipment available to the researchers. This variation makes the comparison of results from different regions or researchers challenging. This paper presents a review of some of the methods that have been employed in microplastics quantification. We highlight the advantages and disadvantages of some of the methods and recommend that standardized methods need to be developed in order to simplify inter-study comparison.