Analytical and Detection Techniques for Microplastics

In recent years, microplastics pollution have raised concerns at the global level due to its non-biodegradable nature and unavoidable exposure to humans, animals, and the environment. Microplastics get easily transformed, transported, and accumulated in plants and organisms by various environmental factors. It causes direct or indirect impacts on individual species as well as at different trophic levels. There is an urgent need for its investigation and analysis. There are different techniques used for sampling and separation of microplastics in different environmental components (air, water, and soil). The physical analysis used for microplastic identification, detection, and quantification includes Visual analysis, Dynamic light scattering, and Laser diffraction. Chemical methods consist of different analytical and microscopy techniques. Analytical techniques involve Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Flow cytometry, Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS), Mass spectrometry, Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time of flight (MALD-TOF) mass spectroscopy, Pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and thermal analysis. Microscopic techniques (e.g., dissect, polarised, fluorescence, scanning electron, transmission, and atomic force microscopy) are among the most commonly used methods for identifying microplastics. This chapter provides a thorough analysis of the sampling and separation of microplastics, physical characterisation methods, and chemical characterization methods for their detection along with a list of the challenges that need to be addressed in the future.