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Subsampling microplastics for chemical characterization and confirmation: assessing efficiency and discussing reliability risks
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Researchers systematically reviewed subsampling strategies used in microplastic marine contamination studies and assessed how common approaches affect the efficiency and reliability of FTIR-based chemical characterisation. The study identified widespread use of subsampling and evaluated associated risks of sampling bias and inaccurate abundance estimates.
In microplastic sample analysis, subsampling strategies are habitual used, particularly when employing time-intensive spectroscopic techniques like Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. With the current technology, the manual transfer of putative microplastics for spectroscopic analysis is often needed and can be both laborious and time-consuming. To circumvent the need for more high-tech and expensive equipment, subsampling approaches have been used to streamline research processes and expedite data output. However, subsampling carries inherent risks, including the potential for sampling bias and inaccurate representation of abundances. This (ongoing) study systematically revises the current literature in microplastic marine contamination to identify common subsampling strategies and size (i.e., number of putative microplastics chemically analysed in relation to total putative microplastics identified in samples). Furthermore, it assesses subsampling efficiency based on the size of the subsample dataset, ranging from 25 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559323/document
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Subsampling microplastics for chemical characterization and confirmation: assessing efficiency and discussing reliability risks
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Researchers evaluated the efficiency and reliability risks of subsampling strategies for microplastic chemical characterization using FTIR spectroscopy, finding that while subsampling reduces labor-intensive manual transfer steps, it carries inherent risks of sampling bias and reduced representativeness.
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