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EcoExposure™ Water Platform: Field-Deployable Total Plastic Burden and Plastic-Type Assessment A Dual-Path Framework for Scalable Microplastic and Nanoplastic Water Monitoring
Summary
Scientists are developing a portable, smartphone-based testing tool that can measure how much plastic (both microplastics and even tinier nanoplastics) is in a water sample right on the spot, without needing a specialized lab. This matters because it could make it much easier and cheaper to track plastic pollution in drinking water sources over time and check whether filters or cleanup efforts are actually working, an important step toward understanding our everyday exposure to plastics. Note that this tool is still being developed and tested, so it's not yet available for widespread public use.
Microplastic and nanoplastic (MP/NP) monitoring requires different levels of information depending on the intended application. For large-scale environmental surveillance, the first practical questions are often not which individual polymers are present, but how much plastic burden is present, where elevated burden occurs, whether burden changes over time, and whether interventions reduce it. Polymer-specific characterization provides a complementary layer of information regarding plastic composition and potential sources. The EcoExposure™ Water Platform is being developed around these complementary objectives. Part I focuses on field-deployable assessment of total plastic burden, including microplastics, nanoplastics, and combined MP+NP samples, using a smartphone-centered workflow. Part II, currently in development, extends the platform toward plastic-type/polymer-specific characterization. Together, these capabilities are intended to support a scalable monitoring model ranging from individual water samples to large geographic sampling programs, hotspot identification, longitudinal surveillance, and evaluation of filtration, intervention, and remediation efforts.