How do you study microplastics when they’re everywhere?

Microplastics, tiny shreds of plastic smaller than 5 mm, can now be found in nearly every corner of the earth.Since the term was coined in the early 2000s, scientists have found microplastics swirling in Arctic sea ice, transported through the air, and caught by plants.Microplastics have also found their way into human bodies. Although no direct evidence exists that they harm our health, researchers have found that microplastics can affect behavior and inflammation in mice.According to Our World in Data, the world produces over 450 million metric tons of plastics a year. As these plastics break down, scientists are rushing to get accurate real-world data on how microplastics spread and how exposed we are to them.For this, researchers must rely on field samples, for example tree leaves or muscle tissue from fish. But bringing field samples into the lab means they can get contaminated by common items such as gloves, water, and devices, all teeming with microplastics.One 2023 study found that the very reagents and commercial chemicals used to separate and prepare microplastics contained microplastics themselves (Sci. Total Environ., DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162610).“It's quite a problem,” says Elke Fischer, who heads a microplastics laboratory at the University of Hamburg. “There are several other steps where you have direct contact of the sample with the material, and that's a lot of plastics.”Beyond removing contamination, the field is still trying to develop robust analytical protocols and standards. The new methods, protocols, and standards are all needed to create robust and reliable data about the